English legal system

Examination papers and Examiners reports

2002, 2003, 2004

LLB 2650030

Examination papers and Examiners reports 2004

Examiners report 2004

Zone B General comments
Given the great spread of students around the world it is not unexpected but still disappointing to see that the standard of English lets down a considerable number. Question one This was not as popular as expected and produced a mixture of answers. The nature of the common law tradition is the background within which all topics make sense. Question two Willis is, of course, responsible for constructing the model of the three rules and this quotes comes from his 1938 article. Note comments to Q. 5 of zone A. This answer again was ideal for anyone taking a historical approach to understanding the process of statutory interpretation, all too often answers simply read: there are three rules.... Read the subject guide chapter and work through real cases and exercises on interpretation. Show you understand how judges operate! Question three This is an ideal opinion question and was fitted well the tenor of the subject guide chapter. All too often students did not address the issue of balance, or what is desirable there are political and ethical choices involved. Question four Again a topical question and many did reasonably well on this question. Question five A question that many clearly expected and did reasonably well on. However, this requires students to have read whatever is most current in terms of evaluating the changes (though of course to say that research is ongoing and it is too early yet to have a conclusive agreement is acceptable! Again a good answer structure could begin with a list of the objectives and use this as the template to judge the Woolf reforms by or use Lord Woolfs own criteria. Question six, section a This was frequently misunderstood, many students referred to article six, which gives the right to fair trial. Note that six is connected with the ECHR! Section 6 of the HRA imposes a duty upon a public authority
It is unlawful for a public authority to act in such a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.

English legal system

So the issue may well be what is the point of passing human rights legislation if the public bodies are not bound by it! In other words Section 6 is fundamental because whatever rights are conferred, they would be of little matter if a public authority did not have to put them into effect! (Note the chapter in Smith, Bailey & Gunn On the Modern English Legal System, lays this out clearly.) Section b This question amazingly was answered in about a third of the occasions as if it were the jury question. The jury could have been brought into the answer but could have been no more than an example and had to be contained in a line of argument. This question brought out the great difference between students who had worked through the subject guide and those who had followed some out-of-date tutor: Chapter 8: The Criminal Justice process provided the orientation to prepare well for this question, as indeed did several students who scored highly. Those who had prepared for a previous years examination paper, or who had some model answer, floundered and sank. Question 7 A good example of a question that is at the heart of the common law system but which appears to be treated by many students (or is it their tutors?) as if it were self-contained. Common law rules do not acquire their binding force through a single act of legislation, but by a series of related legislative acts. It is not so much that the common law continuously changes, but rather that the common law is continuously built up from the rationes decidendi of a series of cases. The body of law was not created in one law-making act instead it is the result of a series of such acts, a series which is still being continued. Some questions, such as the law-making role of the judge keep appearing, note Lord Ratcliffs comment: The judge should not be too outspoken about his legislative role. A judge who is seen to be developing the law runs the risk of undermining his authority by revealing that on occasions he acts as a legislator without democratic authority. Getting around an awkward precedent should not be beyond the intellectual possibilities of any judge that really tries: If a judge of reasonable strength of mind thought a particular precedent wrong, he must be a great fool if he couldnt get round it. (quoted, Paterson, Law Lords) There are a number of chapters in the subject guide which touch on this and the subject deliberately repeats certain themes in any attempt to get across a message. Question eight Same comment as Zone A; this was done very well by several students

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