Custom Law Essay Examples

Can the criminal justice system be made to operate equitably in relation to race?

Conceptions of race within the criminal justice system have always been a controversial issue. Indeed, there is no denying that in terms of prison population ethnic minorities are grossly overrepresented: despite making up only 2% of the total population of Britain, black people still make up 15% of the population of prisons (Ashworth). If one assumes that these statistics represent overt racism within the administration of the criminal justice system then calls for reform and possibility of change will be high, however there has been a tendency to see these statistics as presenting the evidence of an irreconcilable problem, of deeper seated decay within, not just in the lower echelons of the criminal justice system, but society as a whole (Chelitotis and Liebling). If this is so then the answer to whether the criminal justice system can be made to operate equitably in relation to race may require a process of deeper reforms.

It is necessary to assess first the query of whether racism exists within the system and if so, to what extent. Bowling argues that there exists an "either, or" debate; whether the overrepresentation in the prison population is the result of a higher rate of black people committing offences, or, conversely, the result of an accumulation of bias throughout the criminal process. Waters, in his early article Race and the Criminal Justice Process, suggests that the debate can be further defined as those that fall into the "legal factors" camp, […]

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Is it inconsistent to argue that the aim of remedies for breach of contract is protection of the "performance interest" whilst denying that specific performance should be the primary remedy?

Specific performance is an equitable remedy of the English legal system, ordered at the discretion of the court and not available as of right, unlike an action for damages at common law. It is very much regarded as a secondary remedy, to be implemented only in cases where a pecuniary award of damages would be inadequate. However, some have argued that to subordinate the doctrine in this way is to act inconsistently with the underlying principle behind the law's remedies for breach of contract: the protection of the performance interest.

I will attempt to argue that whilst it would definitely be beneficial for the courts to shake off the traditional restrictive perception of the role of specific performance, the use of other remedies to settle a claim need not necessarily be inconsistent with the protection of the wronged party's performance interest. Furthermore, I will outline the theory expounded by Fuller and Purdue, who believe that the performance interest (or "expectation interest", as they have controversially labelled it) is the least deserving of the interests which are protected by remedies for breach of contract. If this is the case, then the lack of primacy of specific performance as a breach remedy is hardly surprising.[…]

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What purposes are served by the doctrine of vicarious liability? Are these purposes adequately reflected in the current law?

Vicarious liability is a system whereby A is liable to C for damage caused to C by B. The most commonplace scenario which arises in case law is the one in which A is B's employer, and B is in legal terms A's "servant". In such situations there is deemed to be a "special relationship" between A and B, which renders A liable for B's tortious acts. The criteria for establishing liability is as follows: A must stand in a particular relationship to B, B must commit a tort, and the tort must be referable in a certain manner to that relationship. A himself need not have participated in the tort, nor breached any duty of care to C.

The legal theory behind the doctrine is complex. It is too simplistic to say that an employer is liable just because his servant is liable - examples can be found of cases where A is held liable despite the fact that had C sued B his claim would have failed. Note Broom v Morgan, where B and C were husband and wife who were employed by the same firm (A); B negligently injured C at a time when the law did not allow wives to sue their spouses, but A was held liable for the injury nonetheless. See also the Canadian case of Buckley v Smith Transport where the question was raised as to whether an employer could be held liable for acts committed by an insane employee, providing no conclusive or authoritative answer. […]

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Does the court's case law on the grant of injunctions, the award of damages, and the application of national time limits by national courts, in connection with the application of Community law, suggest that the principle of procedural autonomy has given way to a principle of Europeanised hybrid remedies and procedures?

The starting point for granting remedies for breach of EC rights in Member States is the principle of national procedural autonomy, by which the remedies and procedures available before national courts are a matter of national law. However, as we shall see there is tension between the principle itself and its qualifications (the principles of equivalence and effectiveness). Much of this tension is caused by the fact that EC law is sui generis, cutting across the boundaries and classifications of national law; the principle of "equivalence" is thus not an easy one to assess. Furthermore, there are circumstances in which an equivalent domestic remedy may not exist. How far should the principle of effectiveness go in ensuring that effective judicial protection is afforded to those claiming Community rights in national courts? The early caselaw suggested absolutist interventionalist approach in cases such as Emmot, Factortame and Francovich. More recently however, and illustrated by the approach in Unibet, the approach seems more "hands-off", described by Tridimas as a policy of "selective deference to national rules of procedure." The overarching effect of the entire […]

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Twenty years ago, some residents of the town of Weatherfield formed an "action group", Weatherfield Wants a By-Pass (WWABP), to campaign for the building of a by-pass around the town (a non-charitable purpose). During the first few years of its existence, WWABP raised over £100,000, of which half was spent in presenting WWABP's views to a public enquiry. The money was raised by street collections in Weatherfield and elsewhere and by way of profit on various fundraising events organised by WWABP. In addition, WWABP received £10,000 from a local road haulage company. Members of WWABP paid an annual subscription of £5 each.

The by-pass has now been built and it is proposed to wind up WWABP, which still retains funds of some £50,000.

Advise Neville, the group's treasurer, as to whom he should distribute the funds to.

WWABP was set up with a view to campaigning for the building of a by-pass. An unincorporated association is a "group of persons who have come together for a common purpose, and who had not incorporated their combination under any of the special or general statutes conferring legal personality under English law" (Green, 1980). WWABP have, one would assume, not been incorporated under any such statute and as such we are dealing with a case of dissolution of an unincorporated association. In essence, the members have no more than a […]

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