This chapter addresses family provision, with particular reference to the Supreme Court’s decision in Ilott v The Blue Cross. Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, certain persons can apply for financial provision out of the deceased’s estate on the grounds that the deceased’s will or intestacy (or a combination of the two) does not make reasonable financial provision for the applicant. The persons entitled to apply are the deceased’s surviving spouse or civil partner, former spouses or civil partners who have not remarried or entered a subsequent civil partnership, children, children of the family, dependants, and cohabitants. The remainder of the chapter covers the powers of court to make orders; the ‘standards’ applicable to applicants and the ‘matters’ which the court must take into account in applications for an order under the 1975 Act; and anti-avoidance provisions of the 1975 Act.
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Jack Beatson, Andrew Burrows, and John Cartwright
This chapter discusses consideration and promissory estoppel. Consideration, a universal requisite of contracts not made by deed, reflects a variety of policies and serves a number of functions. First, enforceability may depend on the content of the promise or the circumstances in which it was made. Second, consideration has been said to identify which promises the parties intend to be legally enforceable. Third, consideration is sometimes seen as a requirement which ensures that a promisor has deliberately decided to contract and prevents parties accidentally binding themselves on impulse. Promissory estoppel is one strand in a broader equitable principle whereby parties to a transaction who have conducted their dealings in reliance on an underlying assumption as to a present, past, or future state of affairs, or on a promise or representation by words or conduct, will not be allowed to go back on that assumption, promise, or representation when it would be unfair or unjust to do so.
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Since 1973, the English legal system has been radically affected by what is now called ‘EU law’. EU law takes precedence over all national laws, including legislation. This chapter explains the basic structure and relevance of EU institutions, legislation, and case law, and how these affect the methods of legal analysis we employ. The discussions cover the sources of EU law; the institutions of the EU and their increasingly important role in our law-making; the main analytical techniques employed by European lawyers; and the legal method employed in the Court of Justice of the European Union and the effect of EU law on the drafting and interpretation of UK Legislation.
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This introductory chapter presents an overview of contract law. It discusses the definition of a contract; the problems arising in the life of a contract that must be addressed by contract law; the common law, statutory, and international sources of contract law; the nature of legal reasoning; the pluralistic values reflected in contract law that introduce tensions; the main theories on why contracts should be enforced; the reach of contract law and where contract law does not apply; contract law’s relationship to other branches of private law tort, property, and unjust enrichment; and the external influences on English contract law.
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This introductory chapter begins by setting out the book’s three principal aims: to provide an exposition of the rules that make up the law of contract, to explore the law of contract in its transactional context, and to explore English contract law from a transnational and comparative perspective. The discussions then turn to the scope of the law of contracts; the growth in the use of standard form contracts and the increasing complexity of the form and the content of modern contracts; transnational contract law; and conflicting policies that underpin the law of contract.
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This chapter discusses the construction of wills. The law of construction is a mixture of general principles and specific rules, developed mainly by the courts, but with some help from Parliament. To some extent, the general principles of construction can be regarded as broad guidelines to the court rather than as strictly binding. Consequently, some judges will feel that they have room for the exercise of a degree of discretion in achieving the result they think is merited on the facts of the case. Moreover, there is no universal agreement as to what constitutes a principle or a rule in this context. The remainder of the chapter covers the specific rules of construction and extrinsic evidence.
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This introductory chapter presents an overview of contract law. It discusses the questions addressed by contract law; sources of contract law and legal reasoning; values reflected in contract law; contract theory; the reach of contract law; contract law’s relationship to other branches of private law; and external influences on English contract law.
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Roderick Munday
Cross & Tapper on Evidence has become firmly established as a classic of legal literature. This thirteenth edition reflects on all recent changes and developments in this fast-moving subject. In particular, it fully examines new case law relevant to evidence of privilege, character, and hearsay. The inclusion of some comparative material provides an excellent basis for the critical appraisal of English law. This book remains the definitive guide to the law of evidence.
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This chapter aims to provide a rounded conception of what law is. It discusses the theoretical conceptualizations of law and the principles of the English legal system. It explains the distinction among different types of law including the distinction between criminal law and civil law, and the differences between public law and private law. The chapter also introduces several sources of law, including statute law, case law, and equity. This chapter provides the different meanings of the terms common law and civil law and clarifies that the English legal system refers to the legal system of England and Wales. The devolution of law-making powers is also discussed.
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Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This introductory chapter explains how contract law is structured and how it fits into the overall scheme of the law of obligations and into English law more generally. It explains the boundaries between contract law, torts and unjust enrichment and restitution. It also explains the wider range of situations covered by the law of contract, and puts the law of contract into its social and economic context.
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M P Furmston
This chapter discusses the law on contracting through agents. It covers the place of agency in English law; the formation of agency; the position of principal and agent with regard to third parties; unauthorized acts of the agent; and termination of agency.
Book
Lee Roach
Card & James’ Business Law provides analysis of the English legal system, contract law, the law of torts, company law, and employment law, with online chapters providing further discussion relating to the economic torts, corporate governance, the sale of goods, consumer credit, and the law relating to unfair and illegal commercial practices. All of this is discussed using relevant examples from the business environment, and the key legal cases to help develop a greater understanding of the interconnections between the law and the corporate setting. Part I of the book looks at the English legal system. Part II looks at the law of contract including the formation, terms, exclusion clauses, and remedies. Part III looks at the law of torts in detail. Part IV considers partnership and company law including business structures, the constituents of a company, shares, capital maintenance, shareholders remedies, and corporate rescue. Finally, Part V is about employment law.
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This chapter discusses the techniques and problems of analysing the structure of statutes. It describes how statutes are set out, what particular catch phrases mean, and how to make sense of the opaque language often used. It covers drafting styles and practices; the problems of drafting statutes in English law, comprehensibility, and awareness of how the courts are likely to interpret them; examples of drafting practices and how to approach them; techniques for amending earlier statutes, either wholesale or in section; other points on drafting; European legislative drafting; and the style adopted for EU legislation and the problems of ensuring compatibility.
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This chapter discusses the law and theory on burglary and blackmail. The offence of burglary is committed where a defendant enters a building as a trespasser with intent to commit one of the offences listed in section 9 of the Theft Act 1968. It is also committed where a defendant has entered a building as a trespasser and then committed one of a list of other offences. To be guilty of blackmail, a defendant must make unwarranted demands with menaces with a view to making a gain for themselves or a loss to another.
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Mens rea is the legal term used to describe the element of a criminal offence that relates to the defendant’s mental state. Different crimes have different mentes reae: some require intention, others recklessness, negligence, or knowledge. Some crimes do not require proof of any mental state of the defendant. It has often been suggested that mens rea plays the crucial role of ensuring that only blameworthy defendants are punished for their crimes; however, a defendant’s blameworthiness or state of mind is only part of the picture. This chapter considers the following concepts that are used throughout criminal law: (a) intention; (b) recklessness; (c) negligence; and (d) knowledge.
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This chapter examines breach of contract and the remedy of termination. It discusses: (1) what constitutes breach of contract; (2) the types of breach that will entitle a claimant to elect whether to end (terminate) the contract and sue for damages; namely, conditions and innominate terms the breach of which deprive the claimant of substantially the whole benefit expected under the contract; (3) how terms are classified into conditions, warranties, and innominate terms; (4) the nature and effect of terminating a contract; (5) when the claimant can insist on continuing with performance (affirmation) when the defendant does not want to perform the contract; and (4) the additional special remedies available to consumers in certain cases.
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Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This chapter first defines the trust concept. This is followed by discussions of the significance of the various aspects of this ‘definition’ and the ways in which it is contentious. Trust is defined as: a situation in which property is vested in someone (a trustee), who is under legally recognized obligations, at least some of which are of a proprietary kind, to handle it in a certain way, and to the exclusion of any personal interest. These obligations may arise either by conscious creation by the previous owner of the property (the settlor), or because some other legally significant circumstances are present. The chapter then explains the ways in which trusts can come about; the roles of the settlor, beneficiary, and trustee; the objectives of the trust; the need for obligations to be attached to property; trustees as fiduciaries; whether trust is an equitable concept; and the requirement that the trustee should know that a trust is being created.
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This introduction provides an overview of contracts and the law of contract. It first explains what the law of contract is about and why it matters before discussing the tasks of contract law. It then considers the role of debates in contract law, unity and diversity in contract law, and central issues in contract law. It also examines the main perspectives about contract that have influenced English law, including perspectives that used to be historically important. In particular, it explores the notions of bargains and the will. The chapter goes on to address two very different understandings of contracts: one that sees it primarily as a bundle of rights, and one that sees it as a relationship between the parties.
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This chapter examines the offence of burglary in addition to a number of related offences. It is a statutory offence that turns on the defendant having been a trespasser at the time he entered the building in question. The chapter examines how this term has been interpreted by the courts and also examines some other key issues that have arisen over the years, such as the definition of ‘building’. The chapter also examines a number of related offences.
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This chapter considers the liability of someone who aids, abets, counsels or procures someone else to commit a criminal offence. The chapter examines the actus reus and the mens rea that must be present before someone will be guilty as a secondary party. The chapter examines the now discredited doctrine of joint enterprise and considers the implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Jogee. The chapter evaluates the merits of the Supreme Court’s judgment and also considers past efforts at statutory reform of secondary liability.
