Legal Aspects of Statute and Case Law: A Comprehensive Analysis

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes statute and case law, the UK court system, and contract law.

Assignment 1
1

Table of Contents
1. A report on the nature of the statute and case law explaining their applicability in both
criminal and civil cases and clearly explain how the court system operates.............................3
2. Report on Seed’s legal position..............................................................................................6
Reference List............................................................................................................................9
2

Introduction
The report explains the nature of the case and statute law along with their applicability in
civil and criminal cases. Both laws are important in resolving crucial cases. It explains the
operation of a court system.
1. A report on the nature of the statute and case law explaining their applicability in
both criminal and civil cases and clearly explain how the court system operates
Nature of statute law
It is a written law proposed by a legislative body. Statutes originate with local municipalities,
state or national legislature. These laws follow similar procedures for law enactment process
including committee hearing, debate and evaluation. The UK Government creates a statutory
law through a systematic legislative process and elected legislators (Soas.ac.uk, 2019).
Statutes begin as bills sponsored or proposed by legislators. If bills survive during the
legislative committee process, both houses of the legislature approve them. Bills become laws
when the state or federal Government signs (parliament.uk, 2019). The provisions mentioned
in a bill are called statutes after they become laws. Statutes passed by specific lawmakers are
the first to decide a particular law that can be applied to a case.
Contracts for which statutes prescribe a particular term refer to as statutory contracts. Statutes
govern the contract formed by public bodies. Statutes govern some contracts made by
individuals. Here one example can be cited in response to a letter of acceptance in contracts.
Ecay v Godfrey case came to the court in 1947, where the claimant purchased a boat from
the defendant (E-lawresources.co.uk, 2019). The boat found to be defective, whereas in the
contract the defendant mentioned that boat was sound and the claimant may survey it. Here,
the defendant made the claimant not to believe in the statement written in the contract. It is an
example of misrepresentation of contract and statutes have governed the case to resolve it.
The judiciary has the responsibility to interpret or enforce statutory law. The Acts developed
by statutes are codified, which indicates that they are given with reference numbers. When a
court tries to interpret statutes, it oversees the plain language mentioned in the law. It
assumes that the legislature purposes of giving meaning to each word. Statutory law deals
with criminal cases including property damage; negligence resulted from death or injury,
offences and others. Criminal conduct is wrong against a community for which Statutes
3

handle its consequences and preventions. Civil cases appear, when a company or individual
asks for settling problems involving a contract, concerning an inheritance, or family
problems. An individual may ask for compensation on behalf of the damage occurred from
others’ mistakes. For example, a person sues a plumber due to poor work that caused a flood
in his kitchen. The judge may ask the plumber to compensate the person for water damage.
Nature of case law
Case law refers to a set of rulings made by tribunals in response to meet jurisdiction rules.
These rules are regarded as precedents. The UK comes under common law nations for which
case laws and related judgments are important. It indicates that the judgement of cases can
bind different cases depending on the hierarchical level of the court. Therefore, case laws
become part of a system by developing legal precedents pr interpreting legislation. In order to
report a case, it is mandatory to introduce new rules or principles of law.
A case can be reported only in the presence of a legal significance. Cases with own particular
facts are not reportable. Criminal cases come under common law jurisdictions, and they begin
when an individual is suspected involved in a crime or charged with an offense by a district
attorney or prosecutor. Cases such as murder, assault, identity theft and others are taken into
Courts for judgments. In most of the criminal cases, the Government pays for settlement of a
case. When a crime occurs, the lawyer appointed for prosecution decides whether evidence
are present to accuse an individual of crime or not. No deadline is set for bringing criminal
cases into courts. The Government plays a major role in convincing a jury or judge that the
accused is guilt with enough evidence. If enough evidence cannot be presented in the court,
the accused will be found not guilty.
Operation of Court
The general court structure of the UK consists of the Supreme Court, The High Court,
Country Court and others. The Supreme Court refers to the highest court that makes final
decisions. It hears cases on arguable points. Senior Commonwealth justices and justices of
the Supreme Court make judgment with proper discussion. The High Court and Court of
Appeal comprise the senior courts of Wales and England. The Court of Appeal is divided into
two major divisions including Civil and Criminal. Criminal courts deal with cases that are
associated with crimes. They require proper evidence against offenders. Civil courts deal with
disputes between organisations or individuals. The dispute heard in civil courts can be
4

personal injury, repayment of the debt, breach of contracts, insolvency or bankruptcy,
housing disputes and others (open.justice.gov.uk, 2019).
Family courts deal with family disputes such as issue related to custody of children, domestic
violence, divorces, protection or adoption of children and others. Magistrates’ courts handle
some common offences including disorderly behaviour or monitoring offences. The
maximum punishment given to such offences can be fined up to £5,000 or six months in
prison (Judiciary.uk, 2019). Civil disputes that are brought to courts refer to as claims. When
a claimant is brought to a court, the organisational or person has fourteen days to take action
against the claim. The persons against whom complaints are brought; they may do nothing,
settle the disputes or challenge the case by making a defence.
Conclusion
The application of civil and criminal cases in accordance with case and statute law has been
demonstrated here. The report has presented the operation of High Court, Civil Court and
Criminal Court.
5

2. Report on Seed’s legal position
Introduction
The report states the legal position of Seed Store Limited by explaining the application of
contract law. It includes the difference between an invitation to treat and an offer. It states the
position of acceptance and offers when purchasing with an electronic media.
i) How is a contract made?
A contract is made when the parties agree to bound as per their promise legally. In order to
form a valid contract, a court considers three elements including acceptance, offer and
consideration (InBrief.co.uk, 2019). An offer refers to a clear proposal made by one party to
another. Acceptance means an offer agrees to enter into a contract based on certain terms.
Consideration refers to the benefit including property or money. The case shows Seed wanted
to enter into a contract by sending a quotation. Print responded the mail with a subject
contract confirmation but proposed Seed to send a formal contract.
ii) The difference between an offer and an invitation to treat
Offer Invitation to treat
 When an individual expresses his or
her will to do something by taking,
approval is known as an offer.
 When an individual expresses
something to others or invites them to
make an offer is known as an
invitation to treat (allaboutlaw.co.uk,
2019).
 The objective is to form and enter
into a contract.
 The objective is to receive offers and
negotiate on terms and conditions.
 An offer converts to an agreement
when another party accepts it.
 An invitation to treat converts into the
offer, when another party responds it.
Table 1: Difference
(Source: Created by the learner)
iii) The offer and acceptance position when buying using electronic media
6

Print claimed that it had already entered into a contract through email. The seed had replied
the mail with a heading namely “contract confirmation”. However, it claimed Print’s email is
invalid, as a formal contract requires a signature. With advanced use of electronic commerce
and internet, email contracts have gained popularity. In case of such contracts, the seller who
purposes to sell products should draft the nature of products, price and related contracts and
terms to the prospective buyers. The buyers interested in the products can accept the offer by
clicking on the “Click to agree” or “I agree” option. It indicates that the prospective buyer
signed the contract electronically. Electronic signatures can be done in different ways by
typing the name or putting the scanned version of signatures. Offer is an essential element
when purchasing is made through electronic media. An individual can make an offer by
sending an email or putting a notice on the official website. The acceptance can be made
through filling the requisite form or relying on email.
iv)The factors, which would have persuaded the court that there was an intention to
create a legal business relationship
Presence of an agreement determines that a contract has been made among parties. The
element converting any agreement into true contracts refers to as “intention to create a legal
business relationship. The court requires evidence that shows that parties are subjected to
bind by legal relationship. It means relevant evidence persuades the court to agree on the fact
that parties share a legal relationship. Social or domestic agreements do not create legal
business relationships. Commercial agreements having valid signature are legally binding.
Other factors persuading the court can be written the agreement, binding in honour clauses,
the difference between comfort letters, and others (E-lawresources.co.uk, 2019). A written
agreement shows that parties have signed the agreement formally before entering into a
contract. Presence of an honour clause states that an agreement is subjected to a formal
contract is the main factor to persuade the court that there is an intention for developing a
legal business relationship.
v) The conditions under which your client can terminate the contract
Three important conditions exist under which the client can terminate the contract. The
conditions are a termination by prior agreement, rescission and completion of the contract.
The client can end a contract if both parties have a written agreement to terminate it. The
provision for this condition is known as a break clause. The agreement must provide reasons
behind the termination of the contract. One party is liable to submit a legal notice for
7

terminating the proposed contract. Rescission of contracts occurs when an individual
misrepresents the agreement. Presence of fraud or illegal activities can be the reason behind
contract termination. A contract rescission may occur if a party is old enough to form a
contract or unable to make legal decisions (McKendrick, 2014). The essential condition for
termination is when the obligations mentioned in the contract are completed. The client must
have a proper document indicating that both parties have fulfilled their duties.
vi)Under what circumstance the contract could become unenforceable
Contracts become unenforceable because of certain terms of contracts or circumstances
caused by signing. Courts can declare a contract unenforceable if coercion has been used to
facilitate signing. For example, a client was forced to sign a contract by blackmailing. Courts
will be bound to declare that contract unenforceable. Presence of fraud or deception in the
facilitation of signing enables courts to declare contracts unenforceable (Dosi and Moretto,
2013). If one party withholds information related to the contract deliberately, courts may
declare them as unenforceable. If a contract is made for an illegal purpose, courts cannot
accept it. Contract terms must be aligned with the jurisdiction system. Courts declare
unenforceable to some contracts because of the penalties associated with a breach of terms
are unfair. If one or both parties perform a mistake while signing the contract, it can be
declared as unenforceable (e-lawresources.co.uk, 2019). As per the case, Print should not
respond to the mail with a heading “Contract confirmation”. Additionally, Seed should send a
formal contract in response to the statement made by Print. Both parties have mistaken the
contract.
Conclusion
The report demonstrated that both Seed and Print had mistaken the contract and quotation
made in the email. The contract made between them was not formal. Both of them should
reconsider the case and learn the requirements of a valid contract.
8

Reference List
allaboutlaw.co.uk 2019. [online] Available at: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/stage/study-
help/contract-law-offer-acceptance [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
Dosi, C. and Moretto, M., 2013. Procurement with unenforceable contract time and the law
of liquidated damages. The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 31(1), pp.160-186.
E-lawresources.co.uk. 2019. Ecay v Godfrey. [online] Available at: http://e-
lawresources.co.uk/cases/Ecay-v-Godfrey.php [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
E-lawresources.co.uk. 2019. Intention to create legal relations. [online] Available at:
http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Intention-to-create-legal-relations.php [Accessed 20 Apr.
2019].
E-lawresources.co.uk. 2019. Mistake. [online] Available at:
http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Mistake.php [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
InBrief.co.uk. 2019. Offer and Acceptance in Contract Law: Certainty in offer and acceptance
- InBrief.co.uk. [online] Available at: https://www.inbrief.co.uk/contract-law/offer-and-
acceptance-in-contracts/ [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
Judiciary.uk. 2019. Structure of the courts & tribunal system. [online] Available at:
https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/the-justice-system/court-structure/ [Accessed 20
Apr. 2019].
McKendrick, E., 2014. Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press
(UK).
open.justice.gov.uk 2019. [online] Available at:
https://open.justice.gov.uk/how-it-works/courts/ [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
parliament.uk. 2019. What is an Act of Parliament?. [online] Available at:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/acts/ [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
Soas.ac.uk. 2019. [online] Available at:
https://www.soas.ac.uk/library/subjects/law/research/file70250.pdf [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
9