The Paisley Snail
Radio 4’s excellent series on landmark cases continued last week with a great piece on Donoghue v Stevenson, available for a few more days on iPlayer. Not many centres do Tort at A2, but if you are one of them, this will be useful. If not, it’s a massive case and a great one for explaining the concept of common law/precedent etc, and particularly ideas like ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. From memory, Lord Atkin’s comments about the neighbour principle were actually obiter, but that didn’t stop the idea behind them spreading and developing into the modern, wide-ranging law of negligence.
Band arrested - a Thirst for justice?
This video clip is a good starting point for a discussion on whether police powers are abused - perhaps link it to stats showing that young males from ethnic minorities are far more likely to be stopped and searched… good for the whole liberty v security debate too. The story is that up and coming indie band The Thirst were arrested and detained for 12 hours due to a mistake by a council employee viewing CCTV footage.
Sorry about the pun!
Police making arrests just to get DNA?
This story is covered in the Guardian, Times and New Statesman today as a result of an independent report into the DNA database.
It has several useful applications for students:
read more...»Reform of libel law
Jack Straw is now looking at reforming Britain’s hugely expensive libel laws. Libel has long been considered rich man’s law, and it is argued that the powerful have used it to silence dissenters over the years. This could be an interesting example of law reform and also a nice illustration of the importance of access to justice.
Defamation cases, as your students should know, are always heard in the High Court in first instance, and usually before a jury, so the topic links nicely to both juries and civil courts and serves as a good illustation of costs as a barrier to access to justice for all. The Times describes our libel laws as “draconian” and notes several le examples which may interest students. The article also serves as a good example of jurisdiction shopping or “libel tourism”, suggesting that litigants seeking to take advantage of our libel laws are bringing cases in the UK on flimsy pretexts.
Proposals for reform include a £10,000 cap on costs, making an apology the chief remedy, and, importantly, changing the burden of proof so that, as in other civil cases, the claimant is required to demonstrate damage.
A good article from the Times, useful as a starter on civil courts or juries, and offering an opportunity for some differentiated questions to be put to your students.
Law in Action
Law in Action is a great reource for law teachers. Clive Coleman puts together broadcasts giving a real insight into key legal issues. Have a look in the archive and you’ll find programmes on A level-relevant topics - everything from murder to juries. Although not all the old programmes are available online, summary articles are available, and more recent programmes such as this interview with the Lord Chief Justice are still online - a good source of insight for students, in this case, on both sentencing and civil courts.
Tesco Law here we come?
The Legal Services Board‘s proposals on the future of legal services may represent a major signpost on the way to opening up the legal profession. A Level Students will already be aware of the Clementi Report (2003) into the future of the profession, which was followed by the Legal Services Act 2007. This week’s report brings the likelihood of new providers (known as Alternative Business Structures, or ASBs) entering the market ever closer. So, will Tesco Law be good for consumers, with low, transparent pricing, or will it hand over clients to less regulated, less experienced players, and affect adversely the quality of advice? Some solicitors were so excercised by this that they protested against it outside the High Court in May, handing out cans of beans to bemused passers-by and holding signs claiming that “not Tesco Law” and “Legal services by supermarkets is as ridiculous as lawyers selling beans.” 
Time will tell, but it seems clear that entities such as the Co-Op will be keen to capitalise on the “Big Bang”.
Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball Co
A2 Contract law teachers - for something different, Radio 4 have a fab 15-minute podcast on this famous case here. Why not do a listening exercise for the auditory learners in your class? Good for stretch and challenge too. Be quick though - it’s only on iPlayer for two more days!
Police Powers
The topic of police powers is an accessible one for students. For an example of (alleged) abuse of police powers, there’s a fantastic video below of the arrest of two “FitWatch” protestors. Very good for prompting a discussion of the need to balance liberty and security!
Simon Myerson QC on life at the bar and advice on getting pupillage
Podcast here - good stuff for teaching the legal profession - a bit of stretch and challenge!
Revision Presentation - Introduction to Criminal and Civil Law
This streamed revision presentation provides an introduction to the essential differences between criminal and civil law
