Law and Morality

Law and Morality

This assignment seeks explain and analyse the English legal system. This will be done by explaining its overall function and the court system. Furthermore describing and analysing the difference between law and morality in relations to two chosen cases.

The law represents a set of rules that can be enforced in the society. The enforcement of rules is formal and generally takes place in courts or tribunals. Curzon and Richards (2007)defined law as the body of rules which are recognised as binding among the people of a community or a state so that they will be imposed upon and enforced among those persons by appropriate sanctions. The law covers everyday situations such as parking and road traffic laws to international disputes such as debates whether Britain and the united states were acting legally in seeking to enforce the United Nations resolution prior to British troops entering Iraq in 2003.

The court structures in the United Kingdom vary according to jurisdiction. Whilst the structures in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales are quite distinct. The main focus is primarily upon the court structure in England and Wales. (See appendix) The criminal court structure includes the Magistrates' Court deals with more minor cases. More serious offences for example indictable offences are heard in the Crown Court before a judge and jury. Appeals from the Crown Court may be referred to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. The civil court structure includes the Magistrates' Court, County Courts tribunals and the High Court function as courts of first instance for civil cases. The choice of court will depend upon whether the subject of the dispute falls within a court's jurisdiction and the value of the claim, since the time and money expended will be greater if a case is taken to the High Court.

Magistrates' Courts deal with family matters, liquor licensing and regulation of gambling. The County Courts deal with other civil matters such as debt recovery, housing, divorce and adoption and breach of contract. The High Court is divided into three divisions, each of which technically has equal competence. However, as a result of various rules and statutory provisions the high court has separate jurisdiction in practice. The Queen's Bench Division deals with matters relating to contract, tort and commercial matters. The Chancery Division deals with equity, trusts, tax and bankruptcy. The Family Division as one might expect, deals with divorce matters concerning children and probate. The Divisional Court of each Division also has appellate jurisdiction in respect of relevant appeals from the County and Magistrates' Courts. Appeals from the County Courts or the High Court can be heard by the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal. The House of Lords now known as the Supreme Court constitutes the final domestic point of appeal on questions of law. In addition where the UK courts are unable to reach a satisfactory decision, a case may be referred to the European Court of Justice .Finally, where an individual is seeking redress for infringement of a right under the European Convention on Human Rights and has taken all possible steps in the domestic courts, an appeal may be made to the European Court of Human Rights. Following the Human Rights Act 1998, UK courts must now take any relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights into account in their decision-making.

Criminal law is regarded by Harris (2007) as being concerned with the liability of individuals for wrong doing against other individuals, society or state. A guilty defendant is punished by either incarceration in a jail or fine paid to the government. The criminal offences include Theft , assault, robbery, murder and drug trafficking. Furthermore only the defendant can make an appeal against court ruling in a criminal case. The prosecution cannot appeal if the defendant is found not guilty. Baker and Padfield (1998) potrays civil law as concerned with the rights and duties of individual towards each other. It deals with legal disputes between individuals or business for example disputes between employer and employee or an operation that has gone wrong and has caused injury to the person. The losing party has to reimburse the plaintiff the amount of loss which is determined