Easy Law

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#666699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="07d00840erlcjm.gif"> <div> <B>Easy Law</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/partridge/9/redhot/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/pa"><U><B>Built by RedHot© Web Design</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" background="07711c00egdysm.gif"> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0824f500.gif" border=0 width="79" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Latin"><U>Latin</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Formation of contract"><U>Formation of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Validity of contract"><U>Validity of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breach of contract"><U>Breach of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Impossability"><U>Impossability</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Termination of coract"><U>Termination of coract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Misrepresentation"><U>Misrepresentation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Restrictive covenent"><U>Restrictive covenent</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Exclusion clause"><U>Exclusion clause</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sale of goods"><U>Sale of goods</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Delict"><U>Delict</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Retention of title "><U>Retention of title </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Employment law"><U>Employment law</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Emp. Law, your questions"><U>Emp. Law, your questions</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Selfemployment"><U>Self-employment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basic roghts work"><U>Basic roghts @ work</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Employment status and contracts of emplo"><U>Employment status and contracts of employment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rights to pay"><U>Rights to pay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maternity rights at work"><U>Maternity rights at work</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dismissal"><U>Dismissal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dismissal and benefits"><U>Dismissal and benefits</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Redundancy"><U>Redundancy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bank and public holidays"><U>Bank and public holidays</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holidays and holiday pay"><U>Holidays and holiday pay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IP Law"><U>IP Law</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bibliography and Links"><U>Bibliography and Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">var site="s16triedalaw"</script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2" src="http://s16.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=s16triedalaw"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://s16.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s16triedalaw" target="_top"> <img src="http://s16.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s16triedalaw" alt="Site Meter" border=0></a> </noscript>    </div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Welcome to Easy Law</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Latin"><U>Latin</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Formation of contract"><U>Formation of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Validity of contract"><U>Validity of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breach of contract"><U>Breach of contract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Impossability"><U>Impossability</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Termination of coract"><U>Termination of coract</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Misrepresentation"><U>Misrepresentation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Restrictive covenent"><U>Restrictive covenent</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Exclusion clause"><U>Exclusion clause</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sale of goods"><U>Sale of goods</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Delict"><U>Delict</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Retention of title "><U>Retention of title </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Employment law"><U>Employment law</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Emp. Law, your questions"><U>Emp. Law, your questions</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Selfemployment"><U>Self-employment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basic roghts work"><U>Basic roghts @ work</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Employment status and contracts of emplo"><U>Employment status and contracts of employment</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rights to pay"><U>Rights to pay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maternity rights at work"><U>Maternity rights at work</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dismissal"><U>Dismissal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dismissal and benefits"><U>Dismissal and benefits</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Redundancy"><U>Redundancy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bank and public holidays"><U>Bank and public holidays</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Holidays and holiday pay"><U>Holidays and holiday pay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IP Law"><U>IP Law</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bibliography and Links"><U>Bibliography and Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>This web page has been designed to make law easy.  It is sutable for both undergraduates and postgraduates.  You can have a look into the Scottish Law beginnings and how the courts work.   The basics of the law of contracts, and the history of intilectual property law.  </I></div> <bR> <div> <I>It was written by Trieda Hill BA, CLE, PhD, LLM ,(BOLD)and all copyright is reserved.  If you wish to use this page for educational purpases, copy or sell, you must have permission to do so.  all references are named in the footnotes and bibliography. Do Not Infringe this copyright notice.</I><I> </I></div> <bR> <div> <U>Brief History of Scots Law</U></div> <bR> <div> The sources of Scottish history before AD 1100 are rare and difficult to interpret and the same is also true for the sources concerning law and other institutions.  Nevertheless, and despite the fact that an entirely Scots Law does not appear until the 13th century, many of its components can be traced a lot earlier. </div> <bR> <div> During the Middle Ages, there were four major political forces in the area that today constitutes Scotland: the Picts, the Scots of Dalriada, the Britons of Strathclyde and the Angles of Northumbria. In the 9th century (and more specifically in 843), the Picts united with the Scots and formed under the kingship of Kenneth Mac Alpin of the Dalriadic Dynasty the kingdom of Alba or Scotia which in the 11th century also included the other two people of the area (Angles and Britons). The four people of Scotia had different laws, but since the driving force behind it were the Scots, their laws were soon to prevail. </div> <bR> <div>  From the 11th century on, Scotland became a feudal kingdom where land was granted in return for services, such as <I>e.g. </I>military service. The monarch (called "ard righ" in the Gaelic tongue of the Scots) was responsible for dispensing the so-called "secular justice", <I>i.e.</I> criminal and non-criminal or civil justice, but only in theory. This task was actually performed by the local "sheriffs" while the courts were presided over by the local landowners. Meanwhile, the church courts, which applied canon law, had jurisdiction to judge various matters including family matters and the inheritance of moveable property. At that time, due to the absence of universities in Scotland until the 15th century Scots lawyers were educated in Europe. They studied mostly in Flanders, France and the Netherlands, where Roman law was taught. </div> <bR> <div>  The structure of the judiciary began to take form in the 16th century, when the 15 Lords of Council and Session became Senators of the College of Justice who sat together in one court with a wide civil jurisdiction. Moreover, the Faculty of Advocates and the Writers to the Signet evolved and were given the exclusive right to plead in court (as advocates) and to act as solicitors. </div> <bR> <div>  In the late 17th century, Lord Stair, Lord President of the Court of Session (and the first of the so-called "institutional writers"), published his Institutes of the Law of Scotland. In doing so, he set out the whole of Scots law as a rational, comprehensive and practical set of rules. These rules were deduced from common-sense principles, reported Scottish decisions and statutes, Roman law, canon law or the Romano-Germanic systems. Stair was followed in later centuries by other institutional writers such as Erskine, Bell and Hume, whose work incorporated new law developed by judges' decisions or enacted in statutes. </div> <bR> <div> In <A HREF="http://www.catalyst-highlands.co.uk/wallace/1707act.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.catalyst-highlands.co.uk/wall"><U><U>1707</U></U></A>, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a result of the Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England. Gradually, English law began to replace Roman law as the main external source of Scots law, since the majority of Scots students now studied in England. The House of Lords became the final court of appeal for Scots civil cases, and the English principle of judicial precedent (known also as <I>stare decisis</I>) came to be more strictly applied. The reform of the Court of Session in the early 19th century further contributed to the move towards adapting English legal methods. </div> <bR> <div> As Scotland's industrial, commercial and cultural life began to resemble more and more that of England, English law appeared to be a more relevant source of law than Roman law. The influence of English law continued to grow and although Scottish and English courts are not bound by each other's decisions, they consider them persuasive especially if the decisions interpret United Kingdom statutes. </div> <div>  Still there are differences between the Scottish and the English legal system. The civil law in Scotland is based on more generalised rights and duties than in England and Scots law argues deductively from principles and still holds the distinction between legal process and substantive (<I>i.e.</I> actual) law. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The Scottish Legal System; The Courts</U></B></div> <div> The Union of <A HREF="http://www.catalyst-highlands.co.uk/wallace/1707act.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.catalyst-highlands.co.uk/wall"><U><U>1707</U></U></A> may have abolished the Scottish Parliament, but it preserved the Scottish court system. In 1707, the principal courts were the Court of Session (for civil cases) and the High Court of Justiciary (for criminal cases) and they continued operating exactly as before. The lower courts were preserved in less absolute terms. </div> <bR> <div>  Today the courts in the Scottish Legal System are the following: </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The Court of Session</U></B><U> </U></div> <div> The Court of Session is the supreme civil court in Scotland and it is both a first instance court and a court of appeals. It sits only in Parliament House in Edinburgh and consists of two houses - the Outer and the Inner House, each one with its own jurisdiction. </div> <bR> <div> The Outer Court consists of 17 junior judges called 'Lords Ordinary'. It deals exclusively with cases for the first time and sits alone without a jury. Its jurisdiction is very wide and includes all kinds of civil claims, unless expressly excluded by law. The Inner House is made up of two Divisions, each with four judges, presided over by the Lord President of the Court of Session and the Lord Justice-Clerk. Both Divisions act as appeal courts for decisions of the Outer House or other inferior courts. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The High Court of Justiciary</U></B><U> </U></div> <div> The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland and it is both a trial court and a court of appeals. There is no appeal from it to the House of lords. The judges are the same as those in the Court of Session but wear different robes and the Lord President as head of the High Court is called 'Lord Justice-General'. As a trial court, it sits in Edinburgh but also travels to different parts of Scotland, <I>e.g.</I> Glasgow, Stirling, Oban, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Perth, etc., whereas as an appeal court, it only sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh. </div> <bR> <div> The High Court has jurisdiction over all Scotland, and covers all types of crime not specifically reserved to another court. Its exclusive jurisdiction covers all major crimes (treason, murder, rape, incest, piracy, offenses under the Official Secrets Act, breach of duty by magistrates, and obstruction of officers of the court). Normally only one judge sits at a trial, but in cases of importance or difficulty two or more can sit, and there is always a jury. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The Sheriff Courts</U></B><U> </U></div> <div>  The sheriff has a very long history in Scotland, going back to the early 12th century. Originally a king's officer in a particular district ("sheriffdom"), he, or his depute, presided over a court which dealt with all judicial business arising in the sheriffdom. </div> <div> Today there are six sheriffdoms in Scotland, each with its own sheriff principal. The sheriffdoms are in turn divided into sheriff court districts, each having its own sheriff court building. The sheriff court deals with the bulk of civil litigation in Scotland and the sheriff who presides over it is a legally-qualified judge. </div> <bR> <div> The sheriff court as a first instance court in civil cases has a very wide jurisdiction; in fact, there are relatively very few cases which cannot be begun in the sheriff court so long as the court has jurisdiction over the defender by virtue of residence in the sheriffdom, and over the subject-matter of the action. The criminal jurisdiction of the sheriff court is also wide, but it is excluded from the major crimes (murder, rape, treason and piracy), and its powers of sentence are limited. </div> <bR> <div>  <B><U>The House of Lords</U></B><U> </U></div> <div>  The 'House of Lords' is actually the Appellate Committee of the house of Lords, which is made up of Lords of Appeal chosen by the Lord Chancellor, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary and other peers who have held high judicial office. They are informally called the 'Law Lords'. </div> <bR> <div> The House of Lords hears cases at first instance, only in breach of privilege, disputed claims to a peerage and impeachment. It is the final court of appeal from the civil courts, although subject to decisions of the European Court of Justice on European Union law matters. </div> <bR> <div> Normally, five Lords of Appeal sit to hear an appeal, the minimum fixed number for it being three. Usually at least two of them are Scottish, but since there is no rule for that, a Scottish appeal may be decided by a majority of non-Scottish judges with little or no knowledge of Scots Law. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>The European Court of Justice</U></B><U> </U></div> <div>  The European Court of Justice exists to ensure the correct interpretation and observation of the European law. It has one judge from each member-state and two judges from one of the larger states. The court may sit as a whole or with fewer members, depending on the type and importance of the case. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Courts of Special Jurisdiction</U></B><U> </U></div> <div>  These are: </div> <div> The Court of Exchequer: It deals with tax disputes. </div> <div> The Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms: It has jurisdiction over the right to bear coat-of-arms. </div> <div> The Registration of Voters Appeal Court: It deals with appeals from the sheriff concerning the registration of parliamentary elections. </div> <div> The Election Petition Court: It hears petitions to set aside the election of Members of Parliament on the grounds of corruption, illegality, etc. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>