Aylesbury mushroom case
When the minister didn’t ask the mushroom Growers association when delegated legislation relating to them was made , declared ultra vires and the decision was overturned.
LNER v Berriman
When the claimants husband died while oiling the tracks and then tried to claim compensation however her claim failed as the judges used the literal rule and didn’t define ‘oiling’ as maintenance and the widow didn’t receive any compensation. This was an absurd result because of the literal rule.
Adler v George
When it was illegal to disrupt police in the vicinity of a prohibited place however 2 men were actually inside the prohibited place. Using the golden rule, the judges decided that it would be absurd if they weren’t held liable.
RE Sigsworth
When a son murdered his mother and was set to inherit her estate and fortunes. Using the golden rule, judges decided it wasn’t fair for him to inherit anything even though he was her next of kin.
Royal college of nursing v DHSS
Abortion act meant that ‘medical professionals’ ie doctors could only carry out abortions and not nurses. a women had an abortion done by nurses and using the mischief rule, judges decided it was ok because it avoided the mischief of unsafe abortions done by unlicensed medical professionals.
Quintavelle v HFEA
When the original statute was created, embryos could only be made inside the body but in 2003 an embryo was made by cell nuclear replacement (CNR) and judges decided that those embryos were covered by the statute because using the purposive approach, they concluded that it upheld parliament’s purpose.
Pepper v Hart
Allowed the use of Hansard when
1) legislation is ambiguous or leads to absurdity
2) the statements in Hansard relied upon are clear
1966 Practise Statement
Allowed the highest court to depart from its own previous decisions and thus gave it the ability to depart from the precedent set by itself. Judges were encouraged to continue following precedent, it should only be used in certain essential cases. It's because of encouragement to follow precedent. First major use was in Herrington v British Railway Board [1972] - 6 years after it was introduced which showed hesitation from judges.
Hill v Baxter
If a defendant carries out the actus reus of a crime involuntarily, they will not be guilty of the offence e.g. bee sting while driving.
R v Mitchell
A tried to jump the queue at the post office then B confronted him. A pushed B who fell into C who was elderly and C died. A convicted of manslaughter. e.g. of voluntary actus reus.
R v White
D put poison in his mothers’ drink with the intention of killing her however, she died of a heart attack first. Established the ‘but for’ test.
R v Pagett
D kidnapped his 16 year old girlfriend and shot her father in the leg. The police then began chasing him and then using her as a shield, he started shooting at the police. They shot back in self defence and the girl died.
R v Blaue
D stabbed V numerous times but V was a practising Jehovah’s Witness and couldn’t take the blood transfusion that would’ve saved her life. D liable for full extent of her injuries because her religion was her ‘thin-skull’.
R v Smith (MI)
V stabbed by D in the chest. While on the way to the hospital, V was dropped twice. At the hospital he was given CPR by a doctor which caused him to bleed out. D still found guilty of murder as MI rarely breaks chain of causation and the stab wound was a ‘more than minimal’ cause of V’s death.
R v Jordan (MI)
D stabbed V. V was taken to hospital and was recovering successfully from the stab wound. V was then given a large dose of antibiotics that he had already shown resistance to. V was allergic and died. D wasn’t liable for murder as the MI was so negligent that it broke the chain of causation and became a new cause of harm.
R v Roberts
D was sexually harassing V and she didn’t want his advances. V jumped out of the car to escape his advances and was injured. D was liable to the full extent of V’s injuries as her actions were foreseeable to the D.
Mohan
When the D has a strong desire to bring about a certain consequence. Direct intention
R v Nedrick and Woolin
Indirect intention.
In R v Woolin, the D threw his 3 month baby on the ground to stop him from crying.The D didn’t mean to hurt the child however he foresaw injuring the child. Child died.
Created a 2 part test for indirect intention:
1) was the outcome a virtual certainty of D’s actions
2) did the D realise the outcome?
Latimer
D meant to hit someone with his belt but it accidentally hit another woman’s face. D was liable for her injuries because of transferred malice. Same mens rea as D’s intended victim.
Pembliton
D aimed a stone at people. It smashed a window and D wasn’t liable for criminal damage as transferred malice wasn’t possible as the mens rea were different.
Fagan V MPC
D accidentally drove his car onto someone’s foot. He didn’t notice at first but when he was informed, refused to move it for a while. Became liable for her injuries under the coincidence rule as the mens rea came after the actus reus.
Strict liability offences
Offences requiring no fault
E.g. Alphacell - Factory owner caused polluted matter to enter into a river. He was unaware.
Harrow v Shah and Shah - sold lottery tickets to U16s
Transferred malice
When the mens rea of an offence can be transferred to another. e.g Latimer, Pembliton
Common law
Law that has been made from judicial decisions.
Green paper
official consultation documents produced by the government for discussion inside and outside of parliament
White paper
Provides a basis for further consultation and discussion with interested or affected groups and allows final changes to be made before a bill is presented to parliament.
Doctrine of parliamentary supremacy
The idea that Parliament is the most superior, most powerful institution in the legal system as its the only institution that can make or break any law - including that of previous parliaments.
Types of delegated legislation
Order in council - made by privy council
Statutory instrument - made by government minister
By-law - made by local authories e.g. barking.
Advantages of delegated legislation
Saves time for Parliament by allowing experts to create detailed laws
Allows for public input through consultation processes
Reduces the burden on Parliament, freeing up time for other important matters.
Disadvantages of delegated legislation
Insufficient parliamentary scrutiny
Overuse of legislation
Confusion
Undemocratic as laws are made by unelected officials
Doctrine of judicial precedent
A source of law where past decisions made by judges in individual cases create law for future judges to follow.
Examples of persuasive precedent
Courts lower in the hierarchy
Decisions of the judicial committee of the privy council
statements made ‘obiter dicta’ (other things said)
a dissenting judgment
what helps form precedent?
Ratio decidendi - a judge’s reasons for deciding something - reasons listed
obiter dicta - judges may speculate on what their decision may have been if the facts were different not binding precedent
What judges can do with existing precedent
Follow - make the same decision
Distinguish - make new precedent
Overrule - they replace the decision with precedent
Reverse - (if the judge sits in a superior court to the one the original precedent was made)
Court of appeal exceptions to following precedent
when past decisions made by CoA conflict, they can choose whether to reject or follow
where the supreme court decision overrules a CoA decision
Diminished Responsibility
A partial defence to murder where D claims that their medical condition was the main reason that they killed V. If successful - voluntary manslaughter
Loss of control
A partial defence to murder where D claims that they killed V because of V’s actions.
Loss of control triggers
1) Things done or said of extremely grave character to make D feel a justifiable sense of being wronged.
2) Acting out of fear.
R v Byrne
where it was shown that D acted abnormally due to the severity of the crime
R v Dietschmann
Couldn’t use the defence as jury believed it was due to intoxication
R v Wood
Alcohol dependency syndrome was D’s recognised medical condition so DR was avaliable.
Unlawful act manslaughter
When D commits a crime that leads to the death of V.
R v Mitchell (UAM)
Battery led to V’s death
R v Larkin (UAM)
Objectively dangerous act - threatening someone with a razor
R v JM & SM (UAM)
Dangerous act - fight with security members