This introductory chapter traces the development of the European Union. Since its inception in 1952, the EU has matured and developed from a Community of like-minded states into a Union of a greater diversity of states, with a comprehensive legal system which is increasingly penetrating the national legal systems of Member States. From the six original members, the EU now counts 27 Member States. Eleven of the thirteen newer Member States are in Central and Eastern Europe, and have discarded their old Communist regimes, turning into democracies with the qualifications to join the Union. The latest developments and changes, including Brexit and the effects of Covid-19, are also discussed.
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George Patrick Nicholls
This chapter discusses the challenges of practising family law and the reforms enacted to address the crisis in the family justice system since the beginning of the twenty-first century. These reforms included the streamlining of the family courts into one unified single Family Court, the considerable reduction in available funding, and the introduction of protocols before issuing court proceedings. This chapter examines the Family Procedure Rules and the Family Law Protocol and what is required to comply with them. Legal aid, and the types of cases now eligible for it after the reforms and the legal aid statutory charge are discussed. It then considers the subsequent increase and consequences in the numbers of litigants in person and McKenzie Friends, examines the different types of non court dispute resolution, particularly mediation, and looks at the effects of Covid-19 on the judiciary and court staff.
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This chapter provides a case study of some of the implications in international human rights law of the SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 pandemic, considering positive obligations on States and obligations to work together, as well as a range of rights and freedoms including the right to the highest attainable standard of health, right to privacy, family rights, and freedom of movement. In contrast to earlier chapters which focused on one right/freedom or groups of rights holders, this chapter demonstrates the complexities of human rights in reality by overviewing some of the rights and freedoms engaged by the acts and omissions of governments responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Put broadly, insurance is a contractual process whereby risk is transferred from a person who might incur a loss to an insurer. Whilst insurance law is at root merely an example of applied contract, in fact it has some unique characteristics and practices and a terminology all of its own. In this chapter we will consider the key characteristics of insurance law. After examining the meaning of insurance, including the concepts of indemnity and insurable interest in liability and property insurance, we move to the structure of insurance policies. The ways the courts have interpreted insurance wordings and insurance warranties, conditions precedent, and basis of the contract clauses are dealt with before the extensive reforms wrought by the Insurance Act 2015 are introduced. Insurance policies, even so-called all risks policies, do not cover all causes of loss which an insured might suffer, so the concept of causation in insurance is particularly important and this is dealt with next. The chapter closes by reviewing insurance claims, including the effect of fraudulent claims, how the level of disclosure expected of an insured is far higher than in a non-insurance context, and how these issues have been the subject of substantial reform under the newInsurance Act.
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This chapter examines the principles and rules of the international law of treaties as reflected in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). It discusses the treaty as a legal concept and provides an overview of the regulation of who can conclude treaties, how consent to be bound by a treaty is expressed, the rules on entry into force, treaty reservations, the interpretation of treaties, amendments and modifications, the invalidity of treaties and the termination of and withdrawal from treaties. The VCLT is meant to be applied to all types of written treaties and it therefore governs treaties as diverse as a bilateral agreement to construct infrastructure as well as a multilateral document such as the UN Charter. In practice, however, the concrete application of the Convention may differ depending on the type of treaties.
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Gina Clayton, Georgina Firth, Caroline Sawyer, and Rowena Moffatt
This chapter focuses on the issue of immigration detention. The deprivation of liberty is one of the most serious infringements of fundamental human rights. In immigration law, individuals lose their liberty through the exercise of a statutory discretion by the Home Office or immigration officers. The chapter considers the statutory powers and executive guidelines, together with human rights and common law rules. The use of detention is an increasingly common phenomenon in the asylum process, and the key role of immigration bail is examined. The former use of indefinite detention for foreign terrorist suspects is discussed at the end of the chapter.
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This chapter discusses the system of human rights protection that has emerged since the end of the Second World War. It begins in Section 9.2 with the primary sources of human rights law before Section 9.3 discusses the different categories of human rights. Section 9.4 discusses the obligation on states to offer protection from acts of private actors. Section 9.5 provides an overview of the enforcement mechanisms in the UN and Section 9.6 focuses on the regional protection of human rights. Section 9.7 discusses the territorial scope of human rights treaties and Section 9.8 concerns the application of human rights in times of public emergency. Section 9.8 provides an overview of the international legal protection of refugees.
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Emily Jackson
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials offers exactly what the title says—all of the explanation, commentary, and extracts from cases and key materials that students need to gain a thorough understanding of this complex topic. Key case extracts provide the legal context, facts, and background; extracts from materials, including from the most groundbreaking writers of today, provide differing ethical perspectives and outline current debates; and the author’s insightful commentary ensures that readers understand the facts of the cases and can navigate the ethical landscape to form their own understanding of medical law. Chapters cover all of the topics commonly found on medical law courses, including a separate chapter on mental health law. This new edition, thoroughly updated, includes: coverage of important new cases in all chapters; the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications; the government’s White Paper on reform of the Mental Health Act; changes to the regulation of clinical trials and medicines in the UK as a result of Brexit; the change in the law on organ donation, which brought in an opt-out system in 2020; expanded coverage of data sharing and mobile technologies; changes to the law on abortion in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; proposals set out in the Law Commissions’ consultation on reform of the law on surrogacy; and the most recent Assisted Dying Bill in England.
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This chapter provides an overview of the contemporary health-care environment, with particular reference to the National Health Service (NHS) and its core principles, as well as its constitution. Access to health services, as set out in section 3(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006, is also discussed, together with the quality of care provided for individuals. In addition, the chapter looks at the findings of the Francis Report, which conducted a public inquiry into acknowledged failings in the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the government response to the report, and the future of the NHS. In addition, there is a section on public health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This chapter investigates the scope of the doctrine of frustration which was developed to deal with cases where events occur after a contract is made which render the agreement illegal, or impossible to perform, or which fundamentally change the nature of the obligations undertaken by the parties. The use and relevance of force majeure clauses particularly in light of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic is considered. The doctrine operates within strict limits and its use is restricted in cases where, although the commercial purpose of the contract has been drastically affected by unforeseen events, the performance of the contract is still possible. The position under the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943 and under the common law is examined, collectively demonstrating how the doctrine currently operates.
Book
Martin Partington
Introduction to the English Legal System 2021–2022 has been fully updated to consider the latest developments in the English legal system. The underlying theme is change and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the underlying approach is holistic. Changes to the criminal system (Chapter 5), the administrative system (Chapter 6), the family justice system (Chapter 7), and the civil and commercial (Chapter 8) justice systems are all considered. Developments in the ways in which the legal profession is regulated are also discussed (Chapter 9). Ways of funding access to justice and controlling the cost of litigating are considered (Chapter 10), as are the purposes and sources of law (Chapters 2 and 3). Chapter 11 offers a final reflection on a system in flux.
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Meghna Abraham
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the difficulties that states face when responding to public health emergencies. This chapter explores obligations under human rights law and health law treaties to prepare and prevent pandemics and the reasons that states have failed to meet these obligations. Next, it considers the challenges of responding to a pandemic and the difficulties of striking an appropriate balance between protection of life and health and enjoyment of other rights. Finally, the scope of the obligation to provide international assistance in the form of vaccines and other medical resources is discussed.
