Unit 25 English Legal System Assignment

Section 1

Explain the court system and its alternatives

You will need to:

• Explain the differences between criminal and civil law

                A simple comparison is needed here, with some examples of what is a criminal and what is a civil offence to illustrate the differences

• Enalyse the role of individual courts and assess their effectiveness within the court structure Here you need to, briefly describe the role/purpose/jurisdiction/personnel/procedures of:

                Criminal courts: Magistrates court; Crown court; Court of Appeal; House of Lords; European Court of Justice

                Civil courts: Small Claims court and jurisdiction; County court; High Court; Court of Appeal; House of Lords; European Court of Justice

• Evaluate court roles in live cases/case study material and present findings

                Select an actual case that you can research – ideally one that has some relevance to your organisation or business sector – and evaluate the role of the court(s) which processed the case

• Explain the meaning of ADR and analyse its usefulness

                This is about Alternative Dispute Resolution – you will need to discuss its meaning, how it attempts to bring about conciliation; mediation and arbitration processes used; the advantages and  disadvantages of the                    ADR approach

Section 2

Assess the finance of representation

You will need to:

• Explain sources of legal advice

                Here you will need to describe and explain the purpose of: sources of legal advice; the duty solicitor scheme; funding sources

• Assess implications of changes in funding

               In the UK recently there have been a number of significant changes to the funding of legal advice and legal defence – including a major change to what is known as “Legal Aid”

• Evaluate the role of solicitors, barristers and judges

               Just as asked – Describe and evaluate the roles of these

Section 3

Evaluate the different sources of law

You will need to:

• Evaluate the current day importance of the sources of law

                   Briefly describe how these operate and their advantages and disadvantages: judicial precedent, statute, delegated legislation; Rules of Statutory Interpretation; European law

• Analyse the application of the sources of law in live situations/a case study and present findings

                   Select an actual case that you can research – ideally one that has some relevance to your organisation or business sector – and identify and describe the sources of the law which led to the case being brought to court, and on which it was judged

• Assess the effectiveness of the rules of interpretation

                      Here you need to discuss how court interpretations (for example on the meaning of words, phrases, terms, or how a piece of legislation should be applied) and therefore decisions, are made. You will need to refer to Common Law, Statute, European Law, and International Law

Section 4

Evaluate how you would select an appropriate legal entity

You will need to:

• Evaluate the legal principles which influence choice of business entity in a given situation
• justify your choice of legal entity

 Very simply, describe the pros and cons of legal entity: sole trader; partnership; limited liability partnership; limited company; public limited company – and describe why one is the most appropriate choice for a particular type of organisation – and then justify your choice. Be careful, though, as such decisions are not always clear-cut and easy to make.