Cours de droit anglais

DROIT, CIVILISATION ANGLAIS

Introduction

World legal systems can be classified into several categories depending on the type of law on which they are based.

1. Civil law
2. Common law
3. Religious law
4. Customary law
5. Socialist law (rooted in Civil Law, some jurists consider it as a category itself)

In some countries the legal system is said to be hybrid: based on a mixture of laws. For example, in Canada, we can find both Common and Civil law.

1. In Civil law countries, the law is codified, and the role of the judge is to find the law that applies in a particular case. (France, Italy, Belgium, etc.)
2. In Common law countries, the role of judge is to find out how a similar case has been dealt with in the past and to make the same ruling. Common law or Case law is the body of laws derived from court decisions, which means that the judges are the ones who make the law.
3. Religious law endeavors to apply ethical standards and moral values upheld by God as laid out by jurists or sacred texts.
4. Customary law is grounded in either existing norms or rules prescribed by a chief.

This course is focused on the development and description of Common law legal systems; how Common law came to exist, how it is applied and how it has evolved.

Chapter 1: Becoming a lawyer in Common Law countries

We will be dealing with both legal studies and legal professions; how lawyers are trained in Common law countries and how legal professions are organized.

1. Legal education

At undergraduate level, we speak of bachelor’s degrees. There is a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) and LLB, which is more professionally orientated. Sometimes those three years of studying can be shortened to two if they have some work experience.
Once students have a bachelor’s degree, they might continue with a Master of Science, a Master of Arts or a LIM, which is again more professionally orientated. A Master’s Degree takes 1 or 2 years.
At Doctorate level, there is the PhD, which is research orientated, or the JD: Jurist Doctorate.
It takes 6 to 8 years to obtain a JD and 7 to 10 to obtain a PhD.

At undergraduate level in the UK, students apply for several universities the year they take the school leaving certificate, which is called A-levels. The application procedure is centralized at national level by a charitable organization called UCAS. University education is very selective in the UK. The website of Bristol University indicates that at undergraduate level, they receive about 2500 applications and only 145 home students (which includes EU citizens) and 50 international students get a spot. One reason why there are so many applicants might be the level of salaries in the legal profession. A lawyer earns about £34,577 a year and a barrister approximately £50,000. The fact that law education was so selective, it created resentment. Due to the frustration generated among prospective students, the LNAT (national admission’s test for law) was created. It’s been used in 8 major UK universities to make more transparent the admission criteria.

In the US, some universities offer law degrees after high school. In Common Law countries, you have to go to Law School and prepare for the bar examination. In the US, people start studying law after getting a bachelor’s degree at University, which is commonly called College.

In Melbourne, Australia, you have to take a 3-year-degree in something else before being able to go to Law School.

Students reading law in the UK are encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities, which is very important to create their own network. Those activities include moot court competitions and also the Bar Society. These are very important places for networking. In moot court, students are given a hypothetical case and they have to argue a point of law in groups in front of a panel of judges. Bar Societies are college-wide or university-wide organizations, which organize dinners for students to allow them to network with professionals. They provide information about legal careers and pro bono work, they organize writing contests and they often publish a students’ journal. They are often sponsored by law firms. To conclude, the global idea of Bar Societies is to boost students’ employability.

1. Legal professions

1. Lawyers

1. The distinction between barristers and solicitors.

1. In the US, attorneys do what barristers and solicitors do in the UK. They conduct legal business; they do everything that has to do with law and law firms. Attorneys prepare contracts and documents which may be of different types. They prepare wills and they are in charge of drafting trusts. They represent their clients in court and their functions include notarizing. Attorneys are also called attorney-at-law, which means exactly the same thing.

1. Corporate lawyers are lawyers who work in companies. There’s no need for them to be qualified because they don’t in court. They are sometimes called company lawyers or corporate attorneys. Their role is to make sure that the transactions carried out within the company are legal, or at least that the company will not be taken to court. This is why they are often qualified in subjects like contract law. They may be specialized in tax law, intellectual property or in the laws appropriate to the business of the company.
   example: if you work for an airline, who may be specialized in air law; if you work for an oil company, you might have more knowledge of oil law, etc.

1. Judges

1. Judges

In Common Law countries, judges are former lawyers. Judges in the US and in the UK are chosen among the most reputable/prestigious lawyers and a position at a high court may be considered as the crown in a lawyer’s carrier. Due to the fact that they used to be lawyers, they have a prestige that judges in France don’t have. They conduct trials, which they do impartially, sometimes with the help of a jury. Their job is also to hear the witnesses and to examine evidence. At the end, they issue a ruling and give a sentence. In Common Law countries, the legal system is said to be adversarial, which means that cases are heard by the jury. There’s no preliminary inquiry; it is a confrontation.
(In France, it is inquisitorial, which means that the judge leads the inquiry.)
The rule of judges is to interpret the law. They are quite independent from the executive, which is the result of centuries of history. In the 12th century, judges were court officials; they were chosen by the king, among his advisors, which means that they were not independent at all. Justice was carried out locally and judges moved from one locality to another. At the time, until 1154, there were very few judges. Justice was carried out locally and judges moved from one locality to another. They were just 18 judges travelling through the country. Now there is over 40,000 of them in England. Judges were commonly members of the clergy, but then they were gradually replaced by barristers and solicitors, because they knew the law. The powers, function and training of judges very much depends on the country and on the jurisdiction. Though they have common features. They commonly wear black or red robes, which is a sign of differentiation and also to represent the authority and dignity of justice. In England, they wear wigs like barristers. During trials, they sit on a platform (a higher chair), which is called the bench. Judges enjoy a particular prestige in Common law countries, because they are successful and experienced professionals.

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