This chapter presents the skills needed to find cases. It first explains the meanings of case citations before moving on to discuss how to locate domestic cases. It then describes how to find decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the General Court.
Chapter
6. Finding cases
Chapter
4. Choice and use of authorities
This chapter focuses on the main tool of the mooter's trade — case authorities. It provides answers to the following questions: What is ‘exchange of authorities’ and is it appropriate to rely on the opponent's authorities? How should authorities be chosen? How should authorities be cited? Should research be delegated to others? Can other people's ideas be used? Should help be sought from tutors? In what ways can the law library be used in preparing for a moot presentation? What is the difference between square and round brackets in a case citation? How should electronic information resources be used? When and how should overseas authorities be referred to? What does the Latin mean in a law report? How can old cases be obtained? Is an authority ever too old to use? In addition to reading a report of a judgment of a case, should counsels' arguments also be read?
Chapter
10. Retained EU Law and Legal Method
Since 1973, the English legal system has been radically affected by what is now called ‘EU law’. Following the Brexit referendum the UK has now left the EU but there remains a legacy of nearly fifty years of EU-related legislation and case law to contend with. The solution has been to keep a large amount of that EU-derived law, termed ‘Retained Law’, as if it had been created by our Parliament and courts in the first place. The mechanism for dealing with how that has been achieved, and the implication for the future, is discussed here.
Chapter
2. Finding the Law
This chapter introduces the main resources and techniques needed for legal research, the development of legal ‘information literacy’, and the appropriate methods to undertake research: the capabilities necessary for learning and working in an information-rich, digital society. It demonstrates how digital technologies are changing the nature of law and legal information from physical to a virtual space, and with it the research process. Digital media have created new challenges, for example for intellectual property law, for data security and protection, and for the criminal law in responding to a wide range of electronic crime. The discussion of specific research tools and techniques covers literary sources; case law; legislation; EU law; and using a number of online resources.
Chapter
5. The Doctrine of Judicial Precedent
This chapter examines the use of case law to solve legal problems. In the study and practice of law we seek to analyse legal principles; and the ‘principles’ in English law are derived from pure case law or from case law dealing with statutes. The discussions cover the idea of binding precedent (stare decisis); establishing the principle in a case; the mechanics of stare decisis; whether there are any other exceptions to the application of stare decisis to the Court of Appeal that have emerged since 1944; whether every case has to be heard by the Court of Appeal before it can proceed to the Supreme Court; precedent in the higher courts; other courts; and the impact of human rights legislation.
Chapter
6. How Precedent Operates: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dictum
The aim of this chapter is to emphasise that legal analysis is not just a question of comparing facts or using a set of balancing scales to see if the facts weigh about the same. The situation is often much more complicated than that. This chapter discusses the following: the development of case law and why cases may be distinguished as well as applied on the material facts; defining ratio decidendi; perception and ratio; ratio and interpretation; obiter dictum; how precedents develop; answering legal questions on precedent; material facts; what can happen to a case; the postal rule cases; and the ‘uncertainty principle’ of cases.
Book
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Catherine Shephard, and Peter Goodchild
Legal Systems & Skills provides essential knowledge and skills for underpinning legal studies, providing a foundation for graduate employability both within and outside the legal service profession. It develops students’ understanding in three core areas: legal systems, legal skills, and professional development and commercial awareness. The first part of the book looks at legal systems, sources of law, legislation, case law, and legal services and ethics. The next part considers, in the context of academia and practice, how to read and understand law, legal research, problem solving, oral communication and presentations, client interviews and meetings, negotiation and mediation, mooting, advocacy and criminal advocacy competitions, writing and drafting, and revision and assessment. The final part examines employability skills, commercial awareness, business, economics and finance, law firms, and clients.
Chapter
7. Reading cases and legislation
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter describes how to read and understand primary sources of law in academia and in practice. It provides examples of legislation (statute and statutory instrument) and case law (including both new and older styles of reporting). Techniques are suggested to read and understand these primary sources of law effectively and efficiently. Annotations are provided to explain the features on which to focus and how to understand what information the sources is supplying, and where. Encouraging familiarity with the layout of a source in turn develops understanding of how to best navigate, read and understand the source. Practical strategies for reading are also included.
Chapter
11. Understanding Legal Reasoning and the Future of Law
This concluding chapter focuses on legal methods more conceptually. It aims to develop in readers a deeper understanding of what is involved in legal reasoning, understood primarily as the logical and argumentative forms of reasoning used in adjudication. It goes on to explore the question whether legal rules act as a significant justification for or constraint on judicial decision-making, as explained through the competing lenses of two important methodologies: legal formalism and legal realism. The significance of this conceptual debate about legal reasoning is illustrated with reference to current attempts to model legal decision-making through digital expert systems and AI, and these processes are used to highlight a number of themes and issues from earlier chapters in the book.
Chapter
2. Legal systems and sources of law
Scott Slorach, Judith Embley, Peter Goodchild, and Catherine Shephard
This chapter focuses on the sources of law in England & Wales, and is organised as follows. Section 2.1 describes the key jurisdictions relevant to lawyers in England and Wales. Section 2.2 deals with the issue of where the law comes from: sources of law. Section 2.3 reviews the development of the two ‘traditional’ sources of law in England and Wales: case law and statutes. Sections 2.4 and 2.5 consider the status and operation of EU and international law, including the potential effect of Brexit. Section 2.7 goes on to discuss public and private law, common law, and civil law, and other classifications used by lawyers. This is followed by a discussion of legal systems and their cultures across the world.
