Legal StudiesQ&A by dot point

The general elements of criminal liability: actus reus (including omissions and causation), mens rea (intention and recklessness), the coincidence rule, transferred malice and strict liability.

Murder (the actus reus and mens rea) and the two special and partial defences that reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter: loss of control and diminished responsibility under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

The general defences: insanity and automatism, intoxication, self-defence and the prevention of crime, consent, and duress by threats and of circumstances.

Involuntary manslaughter: unlawful act (constructive) manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter, their elements and leading cases.

The non-fatal offences against the person: assault and battery (common law), assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s47), malicious wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm (s20), and wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent (s18) under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Property offences: theft (sections 1 to 6 of the Theft Act 1968) and robbery (section 8), their actus reus and mens rea and the leading cases.

The enforcement of human rights through domestic courts, judicial review and the European Court of Human Rights, restrictions and derogations, and the debate on reform of human rights law in the UK.

The rules and theory of human rights: the nature, origins and justifications of human rights, their classification (absolute, limited and qualified rights), and the protection of rights in the UK before the Human Rights Act.

The European Convention on Human Rights and its key articles: Article 5 (liberty), Article 6 (fair trial), Article 8 (private and family life), Article 10 (expression) and Article 11 (assembly and association), and how qualified rights are restricted.

The Human Rights Act 1998: how it brings the Convention into domestic law through sections 2, 3, 4 and 6, the declaration of incompatibility, the duty on public authorities, and the relationship with parliamentary supremacy.

Delegated legislation: the three types (Orders in Council, statutory instruments and bylaws), the reasons for it, and the parliamentary and judicial controls including the ultra vires doctrine.

Judicial precedent: stare decisis, ratio decidendi and obiter dicta, the hierarchy of the courts, binding and persuasive precedent, and the methods of avoiding precedent (overruling, reversing, distinguishing).

Law reform: the influences on reform and the role of the Law Commission, and the European Union: its institutions and sources of law, and the post-Brexit status of retained (assimilated) EU law.

Parliamentary law making: the influences on Parliament, Green and White Papers, the legislative process through both Houses, and the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy (sovereignty) and its limits.

Statutory interpretation: the literal, golden and mischief rules, the purposive approach, the rules of language, and the internal and external aids to interpretation.

The extended evaluation essay (AO3): building a balanced critical argument with examples, weighing strengths and weaknesses, and reaching a reasoned and supported judgement that answers the question.

The legal problem scenario question (AO2): identifying the legal issues, stating the relevant law with authority, applying it to the facts, and reaching a reasoned conclusion using the IRAC or define-apply-conclude structure.

Using cases and statutes accurately (AO1 and AO2): citing authority correctly, stating the legal principle a case establishes, and deploying authority to support application and evaluation.

Liability in negligence: the duty of care, breach of duty (the objective standard and the risk factors), and damage (factual causation, remoteness and intervening acts).

Private nuisance (unreasonable interference with the use or enjoyment of land and the relevant factors) and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher (strict liability for the escape of a dangerous thing brought onto land in a non-natural use).

Occupiers' liability: the duty to lawful visitors under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and the duty to trespassers under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984.

Defences in tort (contributory negligence and consent / volenti non fit injuria) and remedies (compensatory damages, including special and general damages, and injunctions).

Vicarious liability: the requirement of a relationship of employment (or one akin to it) and that the tort was committed in the course of employment (the close connection test), and the policy reasons for the doctrine.

Access to justice and the funding of legal services: legal aid (civil and criminal) and its restriction under LASPO 2012, private funding, conditional fee agreements, and advice agencies.

The civil courts (County Court and High Court), the civil claims process and track allocation, and the alternative dispute resolution methods of negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration.

The criminal courts and the classification of offences, and the role, selection and evaluation of lay magistrates and juries as lay people in the criminal justice system.

The legal professions of barristers, solicitors and legal executives, their work and regulation, and the judiciary: the types of judge, their appointment, and the doctrine of judicial independence.

Law and justice: the meaning of justice and the main theories (Aristotle, Aquinas and natural law, utilitarianism, Rawls and Nozick), and the extent to which the legal system achieves justice.

Law and morality: the distinction between legal and moral rules, the overlap and divergence between them, and the Hart-Devlin debate on whether the law should enforce morality.

Law and society: the functions of law, legal realism and the consensus and conflict views, and the role of law in achieving social, technological and moral change.