CHAPTER 1: THE LEGAL SYSTEM

Feature of the English legal system

Antiquity and continuity (tính cổ xưa và liên tục cho đến hiện tại)
1066: When King William and his Normans conquered the country. King William did not impose
Norman law on the conquered Anglo-Saxons but allowed them to keep their own laws  The
last successful invasion of England
 These laws were not uniform throughout the kingdom
In the second half of the twelfth century: King Henry II introduced a central administration for
the law and began the process of applying one set of legal rules, ‘the common law’, throughout
England  English law has evolved piecemeal (đã phát triển từng phần)
 English law does not become inoperative merely because of the passage of time (không
trở nên vô hiệu theo thời gian)
 Historically based on customs  evolved into “common law”
The foundation of English law is the Magna Carta
Absence of a legal code
The whole of the law on a particular subject, for example, the law of property, can be found in
one document or code. Some such codes merely provide a framework for the law, others
attempt to provide a complete statement of the law
In most cases brought before an English court, a lawyer who is trying to establish a legal
principle will cite earlier cases to prove that the principle exists and that it should be applied in
the current case.
In general, the important cases in a particular area of law are not reported in one special
volume of law reports devoted to a particular area of law, such as the law of contract
Occasionally, Parliament codifies an area of law with a statute (hệ thống hóa một lĩnh vực luật
 một quy chế)
The law-making role of the judges
In most European countries the judges interpret the legal code. In doing this they do not
themselves deliberately set out to create law (thẩm phán không cố tình tạo ra luật)
 First, they interpret the existing law, which is to be found in legislation and previous
decisions of higher-ranking courts (giải thích luật hiện hành và những quyết định trước
đây của các toàn án cấp cao hơn)
  Second, they create the law by making legal principles which courts lower down the
hierarchy are bound to follow (tạo ra luật bằng cách đưa ra các nguyên tắc pháp lý mà
các tòa án cấp thấp hơn phải tuân theo)
Importance of procedure
If the correct procedure was not rigidly adhered to, then the claim would fail, even if the
substance of the claim was perfectly valid (Nếu quy trình không được tuân thủ chặt chẽ  yêu
cầu này sẽ không thành công kể cả khi nội dung của yêu cầu hoàn toàn hợp lệ)
If a litigant fails to follow the correct procedure it is possible that his claim will be struck out
(Nếu một đương sự không thực hiện đúng thủ tục thì có thể yêu cầu của đương sụ sẽ bị loại bỏ)
Absence of Roman law
From 55 BC to AD 430: The Romans occupied England  Roman law was extremely
sophisticated by the standards of its day (cực kì tinh vi so với các tiêu chuẩn thời đó). The other
European countries which were part of the Roman Empire have retained elements of Roman
law.
English law has almost no direct Roman law influence, BUT some areas of law have been
indirectly based on Roman law concepts
This influence has been brought about by the traditional alliance of France and Scotland 
Scots law has more of a Roman law influence than English law
 Interest in Roman law was largely absent in England
The adversarial system of trial (hệ thống thử thách những đối thủ)
The English system of trial is adversarial. This means that the lawyers on either side are
adversaries, who ‘fight’ each other in trying to win a judgment for their client  A battle
Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand
have retained the adversarial system of trial and most other features of the English legal system
In the United States of America, trials are adversarial, and some features of the English legal
system have been retained
If a lawyer in court makes a perfectly true statement of the law, such as the statement that all
goods sold during business must be of satisfactory quality, he must provide authority for this
statement. This means that the lawyer must quote the case or in this instance the statute,
which made the law
*Inquisitorial system: The majority of other countries  Think of as a detective (thám tử)
searching for the truth
Classification of English law
Public law and private law

Public Law: Decisions that are governmental
(liên quan đến các quyết định của các cơ
quan có bản chất chính phủ)
Constitutional Law (hiến pháp)
Criminal Law (luật hình sự)
Administrative Law (luật hành chính): giải
quyết tranh chấp giữa công dân và các cơ
quan Chính phủ
Private Law: Legal relationships of individual
citizens (luật tư quan tâm tới các mối quan
hệ pháp lý của cá nhân công dân)
Referred to as Civil Law (luật dân sự)
Contract Law (luật hợp đồng)
Tort Law (Tra tấn)
Property Law (luật tài sản)
Trusts (ủy thác)
Family Law (luật gia đình)

Common law and equity

Common-Law: Determines which countries Equity Law (luật công bằng)

have adopted English Law from those that do
not  popular in many countries which are
applied
Uses law determined by judges (sử dụng luật Emerge from the Church
do thẩm phán xác định)  Initial focused on behavioral elements
These judge-made laws are distinct from Originally it was intended to supplement the
statute law common law, to fill in the gaps
Common-Law developed over time
 The Judicature Acts 1873–1875: the two systems eventually merged
*Several disadvantages of Common Law:
Legal actions could only be commenced through the issuing of a writ (các hành động pháp lý chỉ
có thể được bắt đầu thông qua việc phát hành một văn bản)
The procedure was extremely hidebound (Thủ tục cực kì bí mật)
It had only one civil remedy at its disposal, the payment of damages (chỉ có một biện pháp khắc
phục dân sự theo hình thức của nó  thanh toán các thiệt hại)

Civil law and criminal law – relevant to business law

Punish: trừng phạt
Prosecute: truy tố

Compensate: bù lại, bồi thường lại cho ai đó

Sue: kiện
*Civil wrongs may not always be crimes
Tort Law (một phần của luật dân sự: gây hại trực tiếp cho người và tài sản)
The distinction between law and fact
Criminal law requires the prosecutor to provide evidence of both a criminal act and that the
defendant did so
Only statements of law can become precedents
Appeals can only be based on a point of law (specific to that case in legislation)– legal record
(you are guilty of that and prove it)
In jury trials (Crown Courts) they determine facts, whereas the judge applies the law  apply to
the fact

Source of English Law

Statutes (đạo luật) = Rule
Acts of Parliament
 Passed by the House of Commons (Hạ Nghị Viện), sent to the House of Lords (Thượng
Nghị Viện) must pass through both Houses of Parliament), then to Royal Assent (Hoàng
Gia)
 Once a Bill is passed it becomes law
 First Reading (đưa ra tiêu đề của Dự luật)  Second Reading (các nguyên tắc của Dự
luật được tranh luận, bàn bạc): giai đoạn này sẽ được thông qua bằng việc nhiều nghị sĩ
bỏ phiếu ủng hộ > phản đối và bất kì thay đổi nào cũng sẽ được báo cáo qua Hạ viện 
Third Reading (thực hiện những sửa đổi nhỏ về mặt nội dung của Dự luật và không sửa
đổi những nguyên tắc chung của Dự luật)
Codifying Acts
 Uncommon in English law (English law is not codified)
 Used to put together specific issues
Delegated legislation (luật được ủy quyền)
 Statutory instrument: is not passed as a statue (luật này không được thông qua như một
quy chế)
 Orders in council: are made by the Privy Council (Hội đồng cơ mật) – use to implement
emergency legislation when there would not be a time to have formal debate in the
Houses of Parliament (các viện của Quốc hội)
 Bye-laws: made by local authorities and other public bodies are another type of
delegate legislation (thực hiện bởi chính quyền địa phương và các cơ quan công quyền
khác cho do đại biểu)– introduce local rules of minor importance (Local Government Act
1972) – less power
 Advantages
It can be enacted without using up
parliamentary time (không cần sử dụng thời
gian của Quốc hội)
Particular expertise is held by those who
enact it
 flexible enough to deal speedily with
changing circumstances and
emergencies.
For example: a major leak of radiation
legislation might be needed quickly and
there would not be the time to pass a
statute and have debates in the Houses of
Parliament
Disadvantages
The government can pass legislation setting
out new principles by abusing the process
of delegated legislation (lạm dụng quy trình
của lập pháp được ủy quyền)
Some delegated legislation gives Ministers
the power to alter statues (trao cho các Bộ
trưởng quyền thay đổi các đạo luật)
Delegated legislation should not be subject
to judicial review by the courts

Interpretation of statues (Diễn giải của đạo luật về những quy tắc)
Literal Rule (luật có sẵn và áp dụng chính xác theo case đó)
 Used mostly for criminal or tax laws – how it works and action and brief it
 Wording is unambiguous (Cách viết rõ ràng)
The Golden Rule
 If wording is can be distorted and becomes absurd
 Used in combination with the literal rule
The Mischief Rule (sử dụng case tương tự với trường hợp đang diễn ra)
 Reflects on the Act
 Clarifies language
 The rules contradict each other to a certain extent, and it cannot be certain which rule a
court will apply (mâu thuẫn ở một mức độ nhất định)
European Union Law
EU Law is an inherently complex political agreement (legal frame – important)

The institutions of the European Union

The Council of the EU- Finance, Education, and Defense – the highest level
It is one of two legislative bodies and together with the European Parliament serves to amend
and approve the proposals of the European Commission
 Consists of government Ministers from each member state (and the President of the
European Commission)
 Decides overall EU policy
 Passes legislation (usually in concert with the European Parliament)
 Coordinates EU policies
  International agreements
 Approves the EU budget

The European Commission – Belgium

Responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding EU treaties, and
managing the day-to-day business of the EU
 Commissioners are appointed independently from the Member States
 Commissioners have individual portfolios (relating to a specific area of matter or policy)
 Commissioners are supposed to act unbiased but often work to guard or benefit their
Member State
 The Commission makes broad policy-making decisions
 The President of the Commission is the de facto figurehead of the EU and holds
significant political power (not the leader: get a press of the leader – don’t have a
significant power)

The European Parliament – Russia

Working with the Council, it adopts European legislation, normally on a proposal from the
European Commission
 The legislative branch of the European Union
 Works together with the Council in legislative matters
 Has a great deal of political and social influence – ability to get thing done
Sources of Community Law

The European convention on human rights

The Human Rights Act 1998
Incorporates the main parts of the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) into English law –
significant
Provide regular ideas and globally  focus on human rights and British law – regulation be fair
(labor law)  personal freedom (thought and press)
Tend to make the areas of no harm  In reality, it is not so much
European Commission  fundamental of human right
The European Convention on Human Rights
Consists of 17 important articles and 13 protocols
Largely is intended to offer a unilateral agreement on fairness for people

The European Court of Human Rights

Separate from the European Court of Justice
Limited legal powers

LM Lecture – Week 1
Course Overview
 The common law legal system
 Legal contracts
 Ownership and Agency
 Tort Law – part of business law (impact on many industries)
 Companies and Partnership
 Shareholders
 Expectations of companies – legal department
Delivery(n) (in-law meaning): the actual handing to another of an object, money or document
to complete a transaction
Case of Ginger beer: the foundation of Tort Law in the LM Tutorial – Week 1
EU: 28 countries  now: 27 countries (Brexit)  impact on EU function
EU economic: 6 countries beginning
7 commissions but we just go 3 out of seven
Law is current and dynamic
Statement of Law can become Precedents
Mens reus means – A guilty mind
Knowledge of Law: https://www.iclr.co.uk/knowledge/topics/the-english-legal-system/