Sources of Law 1 Common law and Civil

Sources of Law 1

Common law and Civil law unwritten law codes precedents judges make law enacted law statutes judges are investigators jury

Common Law X Civil Law Common law systems Civil law systems • precedent • codes • unwritten law • enacted law • judges make law • statutes • jury • judges are investigators

Common or Civil? Text in Exercise 2: Jigsaw reading: 1. Read the text and fill in your part of the chart. 2. Share the information with a colleague

common law the main source of law + other sources role of judges advantages history/ influences/ other typical features countries judicial decisions/precedents civil law codes and statutes + statutes/legislation create law arbiters between parties apply law investigators easier to adapt to new circumstances more flexible laws stated explicitly more stable and fairer after 1066: uniting the laws à common law, customs, rulings, jury Roman law emperor Justinian rulers producing comprehensive legal codes England, Australia, India, Canada (except Quebec), the United States (except Louisiana) - former English colonies Continental Europe former French, Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies Quebec, Louisiana

Which system is better and why? You are two old judges discussing law over a glass of wine in a pub at a conference. Whis system is better and why? - Vocabulary – friendly argument, not too colloquial

1 3 4 5 1. laws made by Parliament 2. the province in Canada with civil law 3. a written law 4. an official decision made by e. g. court 5. to make something law 6. to arrange laws into codes

1 3 5 A L E G I S L A 2 Q U E B E C T U T S T 4 R U L E N A C O D I I E N G C T F Y 1. laws made by Parliament 2. the province in Canada with civil law 3. a written law 4. an official decision made by e. g. court 5. to make something law 6. to arrange laws into codes EQUITY The word hidden in the crossword is ____ T I O N

equity [ˈɛkwɪtɪ] 1. being impartial or reasonable; fairness Rovnost, spravedlnost 2. a system founded on Právo spravednosti principles of natural justice and fair conduct. It supplements the common law and mitigates its inflexibility, as by providing a remedy where none exists at law Čisté jmění 3. the market value of a společnosti/kapitál debtor's property in excess of all debts to which it is liable

Equity • • 2. A feature of common law systems Dealing with inflexibility of common law King – the ultimate arbiter in a dispute (“the guardian of justice“) Remedy - common law courts x courts of equity

Types of remedy FINANCIAL COMPENSATION ORDER (NOT) TO DO SOMETHING FULFILLING THE CONTRACT

Pre-listening injunction a court order to do something, or to stop doing something specific performance a court order for a party to perform the actions required under a contract to prevail to take priority

Listening Exercise 5 1. b) 2. a), b) 3. b), c) 4. a) 5. a), c)

What? Who? … 1. In the late Middle Ages, litigants petitioned to the king because ___________. 2. The king referred the cases to the _________ who developed legal rules of his own called equity. 3. The court administering equity was called _________. 4. For centuries, equity and common law existed side by side. If in conflict, __________ prevailed. 5. In the 19 th century, the Judicature Act 1873 -1875 _________ the Court of Chancery. 6. In this century, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 abolished _____________’s judicial roles. 7. Nevertheless, even now, we speak about equitable remedies, e. g. ___________ or __________.

litigants petitioned to the King because they were not satisfied with the inflexibility of common law the king referred the cases to the Lord Chancellor the court administering equity was called the Court of Chancery if equity and common law in conflict, equity prevailed the Judicature Act 1873 -1875 abolished the Court of Chancery the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removed the Lord Chancellor’s judicial roles equitable remedies are e. g. injunction or specific performance

Correct the mistakes A judicial decisis refers to a decision of the court used as a source for future Chancery to follow in cases where the facts are the same. This is known as “stare judges” which can be translated from Latin as “to stand by what has been decided”. Source means the body of rules which was formulated and administered by the Court of common to supplement the rules and procedure of the common law. While civil law is mainly based on the idea of precedent, equity law is based on legislation as the principal precedent of law.

A judicial precedent refers to a decision of the court used as a source for future judges to follow in cases where the facts are the same. This is known as “stare decisis” which can be translated from Latin as “to stand by what has been decided”. Equity means the body of rules which was formulated and administered by the Court of Chancery to supplement the rules and procedure of the common law. While common law is mainly based on the idea of precedent, civil law is based on legislation as the principal source of law.