All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter addresses the far-reaching issues of ensuring the effective and efficient management of flats. Flat ownership is obtained by granting the flat owner a long lease of his or her flat, with the freehold reversion being held either by an independent landlord or by a company owned collectively by the flat owners. The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 introduced commonhold to offer a new framework for flat ownership, but, in many cases, it holds few advantages over the long lease where the reversion is collectively owned by the flat lessees through a corporate vehicle. The Law Commission has suggested comprehensive reforms, some of which are being considered by Parliament. These proposed reforms are considered in this chapter.
Chapter
24. Flat Ownership: Long Leases and Commonhold
Chapter
20. Regulating Leases and Protecting Occupiers
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter reviews the statutory protection potentially available to B if he or she has a lease. It is shown that, following the House of Lords’ decision in Bruton v London and Quadrant Housing Trust, B can be seen as having a lease (at least, in the sense used by a particular statute) even if B has no property right. A lease can give B status: the status of a party qualifying for statutory protection. As the Law Commission has noted, however, it is questionable whether the availability of such protection should continue to turn on whether B has a lease, rather than a licence, and a new approach has recently been taken in Wales.
Chapter
17. Opinion evidence
This chapter discusses the following: the general rule of common law that the opinion of a witness is inadmissible, and the exceptions for evidence of general reputation, the opinion of an expert witness within his area of expertise, and the opinion of any witness as a way of conveying facts within the competence of members of the public generally which do not call for specialized knowledge; principles of admissibility; competence; independence and objectivity; the weight of expert opinion evidence; the function of expert evidence; materials used by experts in forming their opinion; expert reports; common subjects of expert evidence; and the admissibility of non-expert opinion evidence. The developments since the Law Commission report on Expert Evidence (No. 325) are addressed, as are the impact of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 and the Criminal Practice Direction.
Chapter
12. Murder
David Ormerod and Karl Laird
Murder is generally regarded as the most serious crime (apart perhaps from treason) in England and Wales, yet it has not been defined by statute. Anyone of sound memory and of the age of discretion can commit murder, but a corporation or other organization cannot be tried for murder because it cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment, the only penalty allowed by law. This chapter discusses the offence of murder, who can commit murder, where it can be committed, who can be the victim and whether killing a foetus/child in the womb or in the process of leaving the womb is murder. It also examines whether a dead person is capable of being murdered, unlawful killing as an important element of murder, the mens rea of murder or ‘malice aforethought’, constructive malice, the sentence for murder and the Law Commission’s proposed reforms for the offence of murder.
Chapter
4. Shaping the legal system: the role of government
This chapter considers the principal government departments that shape the English legal system. Over the years, the Government has become increasingly involved in the English legal system. The leading department is the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for running and developing the courts and tribunals system. The chapter provides an overview of its functions. It also considers the Judicial Office, the Judicial College, and the Law Commission. The Home Office is responsible for many aspects of criminal justice policy. Mention is also made of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and other central government departments whose work impacts on the legal system.
Chapter
20. Regulating Leases and Protecting Occupiers
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter reviews the statutory protection potentially available to B if he or she has a lease. It is shown that, in some cases, B can be seen as having a lease (at least, in the sense used by a particular statute) even if B has no property right. A lease can give B status: the status of a party qualifying for statutory protection. As the Law Commission has noted, however, it is questionable whether the availability of such protection should continue to turn on whether B has a lease, rather than a licence, and a new approach has recently been taken in Wales.
Chapter
2. Intestacy
This chapter deals with the law of intestacy. The first section consists of an introduction to intestacy, dealing with the basic terms and rules, the incidence of intestacy, and the evolution and theoretical basis of the law. The second section gives a more detailed account of the current law. Considerable reference is made to relevant work of the Law Commission, particularly Intestacy and Family Provision Claims on Death (Law Com. No. 331, 2011), which was preceded by Consultation Paper 191 (2009) and sought to modernize the law of intestacy in light of contemporary social conditions. The Commission’s suggestions were largely enacted in the Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act 2014.
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17. Trusts of the family home
Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. Cohabiting couples could save themselves considerable legal trouble and expense if they make a written declaration of trust when acquiring a home to live in, but most do not. This chapter discusses the following: that cohabitation gives no special legal status; that a trust of land must be in writing; and that resulting and constructive trusts are an exception to the writing requirement. It also looks at the difference between the two categories of trust in Lloyds Bank v Rosset and the difference between the claim to an equitable interest in the property and the quantification of that interest as explained in Stack v Dowden.
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8. Books, journals, and official publications
This chapter describes the role of books (student textbooks, cases and materials books, monographs, practitioners’ books, legal encyclopedias and digests, dictionaries, revision guides), journals (general journals, specialist journals, practitioner journals, foreign journals), and official publications (Command Papers, Bills, Parliamentary papers, Parliamentary debates, Law Commission reports) amongst the secondary sources which may be encountered during legal studies.
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9. Finding books, journals, and official publications
There is a range of important sources of law beyond legislation and case law. These are materials that provide information on the content, meaning, and operation of the law and help students in their quest to understand the law. This chapter explains how to find these important supplementary resources. It covers books, journals, official publications, Halsbur
y’s Laws of England, Bills, and Hansard (Official Reports of Parliamentary Debates).
Chapter
8. Books, journals, and official publications
This chapter describes the role of books (student textbooks, cases and materials books, monographs, practitioners’ books, legal encyclopaedias and digests, dictionaries, revision guides), journals (general journals, specialist journals, practitioner journals, foreign journals), and official publications (Command Papers, bills, parliamentary papers, parliamentary debates, Law Commission reports) among the secondary sources which may be encountered during legal studies.
Chapter
9. Finding books, journals, and official publications
There are a range of important sources of law beyond legislation and case law. These are materials that provide information on the content, meaning, and operation of the law and help students in their quest to understand the law. This chapter explains how to find these important supplementary resources. It covers books, journals, official publications, Halsbury’s Laws of England, Bills, and Hansard (Official Reports of Parliamentary Debates).
Book
Nigel Lowe, Gillian Douglas, Emma Hitchings, and Rachel Taylor
Bromley’s Family Law has an enduring reputation as the definitive text on the subject. Its hallmark qualities of clarity, authority, comprehensiveness and readability have been relied upon by generations of readers. The text presents a broad treatment of the key issues relating to adult and child law. Each chapter provides an up-to-date critical discussion of the current legislative and case law position (including European Court of Human Rights’ decisions), proposals for reform and issues of current concern. Particular attention is also paid to the increasingly significant international dimension of family law, with a new chapter on this area covering the 1996 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and reflecting the UK’s departure from the EU. This edition has been updated to provide up-to-date coverage on heterosexual civil partnerships, religious marriage (non)-recognition, the 2020 Domestic Abuse Bill, forced marriage protection orders, female genital mutilation protection orders, stalking protection orders, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, online divorce, transgender parenthood, surrogacy, parental orders, child arrangement orders, radicalisation, and voluminous case law across all topics.
Chapter
12. Murder
Murder is generally regarded as the most serious crime (apart perhaps from treason) in England and Wales, yet it has not been defined by statute. This chapter discusses the offence of murder, who can commit murder, where it can be committed, who can be the victim, and whether killing a foetus/child in the womb or in the process of leaving the womb is murder. It also examines whether a dead person is capable of being murdered, unlawful killing as an important element of murder, the mens rea of murder or ‘malice aforethought’, constructive malice, the sentence for murder, and the Law Commission’s proposed reforms for the offence of murder.
Chapter
10. Duress, undue influence, and unconscionable bargains
Robert Merkin KC, Séverine Saintier, and Jill Poole
Course-focused and comprehensive, Poole’s Textbook on Contract Law provides an accessible overview of the key areas of the law curriculum. This chapter examines contracts that are tainted by illegality or otherwise contrary to public policy, and how illegality affects the parties’ positions following the hugely influential Supreme Court decision of Patel v Mirza. A contract may be illegal from the beginning, or illegality may arise as a result of statute (for example, express statutory prohibitions). Examples of illegal contracts are those intended to commit crimes or contracts prejudicial to sexual morality. As a general principle, illegal contracts cannot be enforced, and benefits conferred in the performance of an illegal contract cannot be recovered. There are some exceptions, however, such as where the parties are not in pari delicto (not equally guilty), or where the claimant can establish his right to the money or property transferred without having to rely upon the illegal contract. This chapter also examine the law’s treatment of contracts in restraint of trade, including exclusive dealing and exclusive service agreements.
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11. Illegality
Robert Merkin KC, Séverine Saintier, and Jill Poole
Course-focused and comprehensive, Poole’s Textbook on Contract Law provides an accessible overview of the key areas of the law curriculum. This chapter examines contracts that are tainted by illegality or otherwise contrary to public policy, and how illegality affects the parties’ positions following the hugely influential Supreme Court decision of Patel v Mirza. A contract may be illegal from the beginning or illegality may arise as a result of statute (for example, express statutory prohibitions). Examples of illegal contracts are those intended to commit crimes or contracts prejudicial to sexual morality. As a general principle, illegal contracts cannot be enforced and benefits conferred in the performance of an illegal contract cannot be recovered. There are some exceptions, however, such as where the parties are not in pari delicto (not equally guilty), or where the claimant can establish his right to the money or property transferred without having to rely upon the illegal contract. This chapter also examine the law’s treatment of contracts in restraint of trade, including exclusive dealing and exclusive service agreements.
Chapter
11. Illegality
Robert Merkin, Séverine Saintier, and Jill Poole
Course-focused and comprehensive, Poole’s Textbook on Contract Law provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter examines contracts that are tainted by illegality or otherwise contrary to public policy, and how illegality affects the parties’ positions following the hugely influential Supreme Court decision of Patel v Mirza. A contract may be illegal from the beginning or illegality may arise as a result of statute (for example, express statutory prohibitions). Examples of illegal contracts are those intended to commit crimes or contracts prejudicial to sexual morality. As a general principle, illegal contracts cannot be enforced and benefits conferred in the performance of an illegal contract cannot be recovered. There are some exceptions, however, such as where the parties are not in pari delicto (not equally guilty), or where the claimant can establish his right to the money or property transferred without having to rely upon the illegal contract. This chapter also examine the law’s treatment of contracts in restraint of trade, including exclusive dealing and exclusive service agreements.
Chapter
7. Acquisition of Interests in the Home
Co-ownership of land can involve a number of quite different relationships. One type of relationship, which has caused the most anxiety for courts, is that between cohabiting couples in an intimate relationship. Much of the case law dealing with the acquisition of interests in land has arisen in the context of disputes over ownership of the family home. This chapter, which explores legal issues concerning co-ownership of matrimonial property in England, focusing on acquisition of interests in the matrimonial home, first discusses the creation of co-ownership before turning to express declarations of ownership. It considers resulting, implied, and constructive trusts as well as joint ownership of the legal title, sole ownership of the legal title, contributions and resulting trusts, recent case law on trusts of the family home and the nature of inference and imputation under a constructive trust, and reform of the law on co-ownership.
