Essential points 35accused, but cannot direct them to convict. Juries do not give an explanation for their
decisions. If a jury acquits, an appeal cannot overturn this acquittal. This enables juries to
bring in ‘perverse acquittals’ if they think that the circumstances of the case so demand.
Juries play little part in civil cases. The absolute right to trial by jury in the Crown Court
for an indictable (serious) offence has also been breached. In March 2010 four men were
convicted of armed robbery in the Crown Court, without a jury, because there were serious
concerns about jury nobbling. Since then, two other trials for indictable offences have
been earmarked for trial in the Crown Court without a jury. However, in the near future
it is highly unlikely that more than a handful of such trials will be tried without a jury
each year.
Essential points
n Legislation is the name given to law made by Parliament.
n The literal rule of statutory interpretation says that words in a statute should be given
their ordinary, literal meaning, no matter how absurd the result.
n The golden rule gives the words in a statute their ordinary, literal meaning as far as
possible, but only to the extent that this would not produce an absurd result.
n The mischief rule holds that the judge can take into account what ‘mischief’ the statute
set out to remedy.
n The doctrine of judicial precedent holds that judges in lower courts are absolutely
bound to follow decisions previously made in higher courts.
n The ratio decidendi, loosely translated from the Latin as ‘the reason for the decision’,
is the part of the case which is binding on other judges.
n Statements of law which did not form the basis of the decision are known as obiter
dicta(other things said).
n A higher-ranking court can overrule a ratiocreated by a lower-ranking court.
n The United Kingdom joined what is now the EU in 1973. In order to be admitted as a
member, the UK Parliament passed the European Communities Act 1972. Under this
statute the United Kingdom agreed to apply EU law in UK courts.
n The Human Rights Act 1998 requires that all legislation is read and given effect in a
way which is compatible with the Convention rights, but only in so far as it is possible
to do this.
n The English courts are divided into civil courts and criminal courts, and the two sets
of courts have quite different purposes.
n The civil courts are designed to compensate people who have been injured by others.
The criminal courts are designed to punish people who have committed a crime.
n Unlike other European countries, England has two different types of lawyers –
barristers and solicitors.
n Judicial review is a legal procedure which allows the Administrative Court to examine
whether a public law decision, or the exercise of discretionary power by a public body,
is legal.
n In the Crown Court the jury decides whether the accused is guilty or not guilty.