Monday, January 27, 2020

Creating Law in the UK

Creating Law in the UK Parliament is the supreme law-making body in the UK. Statutes are above all, and Judges role is to apply and interpret the statutes. There are four rules of interpretation, which have developed throughout the history and some of which after long lasting disputes. Law in the UK is also dependant on the EU law, which should be stronger that domestic law. There are several courts in United Kingdom, on the top of the hierarchy lies the Supreme Court, any precedent set there, cannot be overruled by any other court. Judges job is to interpret statutes, and in some cases, to make law. But is it true that judges can make new law? Here I am going to discuss whether judges do in some cases make new law, or do they apply the existing statutes and common law cases. The Law in United Kingdom comes as legislation, from the Acts of Parliament, or, from Common Law decisions of the courts set as precedents. Legislation is superior to all other sources of law; judges job is to interpret and apply them in courts. Common Law is historically the oldest source of law in the UK, all the law used to be made by judges on authority of the monarch. Precedents ensure the development of the legal system. So, this raises a question: are judges still considered as law makers in United Kingdom? The traditional way of judicial law making is that judges should play no part in creative law making, they should just declare it. The declaratory theory of law, famously introduced by William Blackstone on the eighteenth century, stated the idea that judges do not make the law but only declare what it has always been[1]. The theory was famously opposed by John Austin in Lectures on Jurisprudence: Or, The Philosophy of Positive Law as childish fiction[2]. Nowadays the Decl aratory Theory is widely opposed, it does not seem to go together with todays changing society and technological development. In his book, Lord Reid called the opinion that judges only declare law and do not make it a fairy tale that is not believed anymore[3]. Therefore, there has been a lot of debate on whether Blackstones theory is correct and judges do not actually make law but merely declare it. After legislation comes Common Law precedents set by previous decisions of cases, which is also a source of law making in the UK. The Doctrine of Precedent It is based on two principles: position of a court in the court hierarchy and how similar is the mixture of law and fact in the two cases being considered. The key feature in common law cases is stare decisis, which means to stand by things decided. Highest is the Supreme Court (previously House of Lords), which is not bound by its own previous decisions. As said by Lord Chancellor Gardiner in The Practice Statement, that too rigid adherence to precedent may lead to injustice and restrict the development of the law, which is why House of Lords should be able to depart from previous decisions[4]. The Doctrine of Precedent is meant to lead to predictable and consistent development of legal principles, and the reason for the Practice Statement was that if courts are strongly bound by precedent the law cannot evolve. It is rarely use d, though, but sometimes controversially. Like the case of R v Howe[5] which overruled the case of Lynch v DPP for NI[6], and fundamentally changed the defence of duress. By decision made in the case of Howe, in my opinion, judges did not make new law, but rather complemented it. On the contrast, in the case of R v R[7], where marital rape was decided to be illegal, seemed like a making of a new law by judges. So, in some cases the courts can overrule a certain previous precedent and in some cases, make new law. The primary law in UK comes as statutes. Four rules have developed throughout history to interpret statutes: The literal rule, the golden rule, the mischief rule and the purposive approach, last one being the most modern. The Literal Rule states that the words of legislation should be given their ordinary natural meaning, though that might in some cases lead to an absurdity. Like in Fisher v Bell[8] where the flick knives sold were treated as an invitation to treat and was not therefore under the Act[9] which clearly had the aim of prevent the exact matter. The second one, The Golden Rule, was described by Lord Wensleydale in Grey v Pearson as that if a literal meaning leads to absurdity, the grammatical sense of the word may be modified to avoid it[10]. The Mischief Rule is laid out in Heydons case by four things to consider when interpreting statutes, which in summary consists of what was the common law before, what it was missing, and what is parliament trying to resolve [11]. Now , the most modern one of the rules is The Purposive Approach, which stresses the need to interpret legislation in a way to achieve its objectives. This approach gives judges a lot of flexibility of deciding cases, and might look like it gives judges the power to make law. About interpreting statutes, Lord Simonds stated in his opinion against interpretation of statutes other than in a literal way, that the duty of courts is to interpret words as they are, however ambiguous they are, it is still not up to the judges to travel outside them on a voyage of discovery [1] The Declaratory Theory of Law Oxford J Legal studies (2013) [2] The Declaratory Theory of Law Oxford J Legal Studies (2013), originally from John Austin: Lectures on Jurisprudence: Or, The Philosophy of Positive Law [3] Lord Reid, The Judge as Lawmaker (1972) 12 J Soc Public Teachers L 22 http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/sptlns12div=10id=page= > assessed 18 march 2017 [4] The Practice Statement, House of Lords [1966] 3 All ER 77 [5] R v Howe and another and another appeal [1987] 1 All ER 771 [6] Lynch v Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland [1975] 1 All ER 913 [7] R v R(Rape: marital exemption) [1991] 4 All ER 481 [8] Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394, [1960] 3 All ER 731 [9] Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959, s 1(1). [10] John Grey and Others, -Appellants; William Pearson and Others, -Respondents (1857) 10 ER 1216 [11] (1584) 3 Coke 7a 76 E.R. 637

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Motion Analysis – Jump Shot

Motion Analysis: Basketball Jump Shot The main joints involved in a basketball jump shot include the hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, elbow, and wrist. All of these joints flex and extend. The jump shot can be split into three parts: the set-up, the jump and release, and the post-release. The set-up involves a lot of flexion and extension of the hip, knee, ankle, and shoulder. Hip flexion occurs first and flexion of both knees until the thighs are parallel to the ground follows closely. Knee flexion occurs simultaneously with dorsi-flexion of both ankles to lessen the force of landing on the knees.The moment the subject’s feet are planted on the ground, flexion of both shoulders occurs until the tricep muscle is parallel to the ground. At this point, it is important to note that the elbow in the beginning of the set-up is already in flexion, forming a right angle between the forearm and upper arm. The wrist hyperextends so the ball is resting in the palm of the subject. In this cas e, the subject is right handed, so the ball rests primarily in the right palm while the left hand provides support. At this point, the subject is ready to jump.Four joint actions occur simultaneously at this time. Both knees, ankles, and the hip extend as the subject pushes off the ground, and the elbow flexes a little further back. When the subject is in the air, the dominant elbow extends and the ball starts to roll towards the tip of the fingers. When the elbow is almost entirely extended, the wrist begins to flex, which is when the release occurs and the ball leaves the palm of the hand towards the basket. After the release, the subject is drawn back to the ground.During this descent, the shoulders begin to extend back towards the anatomical position. This action continues through the landing. As the subject lands, the ankles begin to dorsi-flex. During the dorsi-flexion, the knees and hips flex slightly to absorb the force of landing. By the end of the landing, the hip and knee s are flexed, the shoulders are completely extended, and the feet are firmly planted on the ground. The hip joint flexes primarily due to the iliopsoas muscle. The knee is controlled by rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles. R. emoris is responsible for extension and B. femoris is responsible for flexion. The ankle dorsiflexes because of the gastrocnemius and plantar flexes due to anterior tibialis. Shoulder flexion occurs because of Pectoralis major and extension occurs because of Latissimus dorsi. Biceps brachii is responsible for elbow flexion and triceps brachii is responsible for elbow extension. Flexor carpi radialis and Flexor carpi ulnaris are responsible for wrist flexion and Extensor carpi radialis and Extensor carpi ulnaris are responsible for the extension of the wrist.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

European Tourism Essay

The article in question paints a perfect picture of the little country of Andorra, one of the few places remaining on earth where culture and sanctity has have not been overrun by the trappings of modern life. After reading the article, one comes away with a warm and happy feeling about what is going on in Andorra. It is a place, to be frank, that any person would want to visit in order to feel the beauty of the Pyrenees Mountains and understand the history of Europe. The author is careful to point out the fact that Andorra is certainly not stuck in the 15th century, though. It has updated itself to modern culture and although you cannot catch a flight to the country, one could certainly drive there to take advantage of a few conveniences. Among those are the shopping, which the author spends a great deal of time talking about. It is interesting that a place with such a richness and wealth of history and culture would have to offer bargain basement tax breaks for people to come and visit. In a way, this speaks to today’s culture, where people are more concerned with commerce than they are with culture. Andorra is a perfect mix of that commerce and culture, though. It is a place that is naturally torn and conflicted between two of Europe’s most traditional powers, yet it somehow maintains a measure of neutrality and independence. It is similar to plenty of other countries in Europe in regards to size, but does not share many similarities beyond that. Andorra is a place that, according to the author, every person should get to see because of the beauty and history that will immediately engulf the senses.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Corrective and Distributive Justice - 802 Words

I INTRODUCTION Corrective and distributive justice both provide a basis for which tort law operates, although corrective justice is more widely applied and acknowledged, as it generally controls the way damages operate in cases. However, as shown by some cases in tort law, it is not always applied and therefore is not the only principle that has shaped tort law into what it is today. II DISTRIBUTIVE AND COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE: HISTORY AND THEORY A Corrective Justice Corrective justice exists in the transactions between people, and follows an equation that ensures that one party does not have more than the other, and is therefore most relevant to involuntary transactions, such as torts . It is restorative in nature and is concerned with restoring parties to the pre-transactional state, rather than bettering their positions . Originally an Aristotelian principal, it was adopted by Thomas Aquinas to explain liability in terms of two actions: taking another’s property and causing another harm . However, some critics wish to extend the principle further than that of simple restitution, and argue that ‘commutative’ justice is more relevant, as it refers to both the structure of corrections, as well as the rules and principles that define the criteria of said correction . Some academics disagree with corrective justice, finding it difficult to see how holding the defendant liable for the plaintiffs loss is supposed to restore equa lity by neutralizing the relevant gains andShow MoreRelatedAristotle s Views On Politics1031 Words   |  5 PagesAristotle’s mind, politics is inevitable as being human requires us to live in a society, which means dealing with other people and their desires. 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