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Judgments

Judgments. Sharon Turner & John Knowles. Why are judgments important?. Central feature of common law jurisdictions Central focus of legal study – understanding the law and the legal system Assessment exercise for Introduction to Law. 5 key things you need to know about Judgments.

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Judgments

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  1. Judgments Sharon Turner & John Knowles

  2. Why are judgments important? • Central feature of common law jurisdictions • Central focus of legal study – understanding the law and the legal system • Assessment exercise for Introduction to Law

  3. 5 key things you need to know about Judgments • Understand how judgments are recorded and the role of ‘Law Reports’ • Understand the ‘citation’ system for reported judgments & how find them in library & online • Know how to ‘read’ judgments • Understand the doctrine of ‘precedent’ • Understand the judicial process of ‘statutory interpretation’

  4. The ‘Law Reports’ • Each time a case is decided a ‘judgment’ is given • Not all judgments are formally recorded or ‘reported’ • Reported judgments become part of corpus of caselaw – precedent • ‘Law Reports’ contain the published judgments given in cases • ‘Unreported’ cases should not be ignored!

  5. Citation of Law Reports (NI) Northern Ireland Law Reports Case (and judgment) ‘cited’ as…. e.g., Robinson v Secretary of State for Northern Ireland [2002] NI 390 Northern Ireland Judgments Bulletin Cited as… e.g., Re Sherlock and Morris’ Application [1996] NIJB 80

  6. Citation of Law Reports (GB) • Appeal Cases – e.g., A v Home Secretary [2005] 2 AC 68(QB) • Weekly Law Reports – e.g., R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p Brind [1991] 2 WLR 588(HL) • All England Law Reports – e.g., R v Chief Immigration Officer, Heathrow Airport, ex p Salamat Bibi [1976] 3 All ER 843(HC)

  7. ‘Neutral’ Citations • Since 2001 judgments of CA, HL and more recently, HC – have been given ‘neutral’ EG: [2005] NIQB 1; [2005] NIFam 7; [2005] NICA 23 [2005] EWHC 235 (Admin Ct); [2005] EWCA (Civ) 34; [2005] UKHL 34

  8. Finding Judgments Online • Free access web-pages, .e.g, http://www.courtsni.gov.uk; http://www.echr.coe.int/echr; http://www.bailii.org/ • Subscriber online search engines • LexisNexis • WESTLAW

  9. Reading “domestic” cases • The name of the case • The court in which it was heard • The name(s) of the judge(s) presiding • The hearing dates • The headnote • Notes of cross-references to Halsbury • A list of cases referred to

  10. Reading “domestic” cases • Details of the appeal • The names of counsel appearing in the case • The judgments (majority; minority; etc) • Letters in the margin (numbered paragraphs)

  11. Judgments – the EU dimension • http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm • European Court Reports – e.g., Case 26/62, Van Gend & Loos [1963] ECR 1 • Common Market Law Reports – e.g., R v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, ex p First City Trading Limited[1997] 1 CMLR 250

  12. Reading EU judgments • Date of judgment, nature and name of case • Summary/headnote (including key questions) • Composition of the Court • Judgment – issues of fact and law • Judgment – grounds for decision • Opinion of Advocate-General

  13. Some points to note • “Single” judgment; therefore there are no dissenting opinions and the judges agree the text in advance • Advocate-General’s opinion? – reports normally place this at the front as it is delivered in advance of the judgment of the Court • Not binding on the court, although the court may adopt the opinion in whole or in part. However, even where not adopted, the opinion can still play an important role in the overall development of EU law

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