the development of common law and statutory law

the development of common law and statutory law

Module 1

Module one discussed the development of common law and statutory law. It also highlighted the relationship between the legislature and the law-making process. Common law is the body of legal rules that are derived from the decisions made by the judges while ruling on a case (Friedman & Hayden, 2017). Under stare decisis (the doctrine judges consider when making a universal law), familiar law judges must consider prior decisions that are similar and base their judgments on the precedent. If this is not done, then the choices will likely be overruled later on in the legal process.

An example is when the court decided that people who have lived together for over ten years have the right to share their assets. Statutory laws, on the other hand, is a body of law that is written and passed by a body legislature (Friedman & Hayden, 2017). Examples include criminal codes, tax laws, company formation regulations, and traffic regulations. A proposal to change or repeal an existing law or make a new lawyer is presented to the legislature as a bill (Friedman & Hayden, 2017). In the U.S. the legislative power is vested on Congress. The president has the ability to veto laws passed by Congress, and at the same time, Congress also has the potential to override a veto by a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Module 2

Module two talked about the essential elements of a crime and the common defenses used to avoid criminal responsibility. There are four crucial elements of crime, which include actus reus (physical act), social Harm, Causation, and Mens Rea (mental state) (Haun & Baker, 2013). The court must prove that a person or organization performed a physical act that intended to cause harm or led to common injury (actus reus). An example is Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (Silver, 2014). A crime must also involve social harm illegally caused to a person either in body reputation, mind, or property (social damage).

An example is Section 44 of IPC (Silver, 2014). There must always be a person committing the crime who the court should still identify (causation). A court cannot prove a person guilty if he or she does not have a criminal mind, which is referred to as men’s rea. For example, section 300 of IPC entails various kinds of acts that amount to the murder offense (Silver, 2014). The defense team must always be provided with an opportunity to justify why the accused committed the crime. Some of these common defenses include the defense of sanity and self-defense. For example, the defense team can argue that the accused had a mental problem at the time of the crime, thus had a challenge of differentiating the right from wrong. Self-defense is used to justify that the offender committed the crime while protecting his- or herself.

Module 3

Module three was about the classification of crime and the concepts of jurisdiction. It also addressed how crime classification relates to authority. The degree of a crime is used to classify it under three categories, which include infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies (Curriculum Technology, 2014). Violations are petty offenses that attract fewer fines and are heard and determined at the Justice of Peace or Municipal Courts. Examples include running a red light, failure to stop correctly at a sign stop, and littering citations. Misdemeanors are classified as second-degree offenses that are less serious than felonies and more serious than infractions. Misdemeanors cases are heard and determined at the County Courts. Examples include simple assault, prostitution, petty theft, public intoxication, discharging a firearm within city limits, vandalism, and trespassing. Felonies, on the other hand, are high degree criminal cases, which are heard and determined at the District Law Courts. Examples include manslaughter, impersonating someone online, and possession of 4 ounces to 1Ib of marijuana. Jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear and determine a case (California Courts, 2020). For instance, in the U.S., petty criminal offenses (infractions) are usually heard and determined by the lower courts. High-degree crimes (felonies) are listened to and determined by the higher courts.

References

California Courts (2020). “Jurisdiction and Venue: Where to File a Case.” The Judicial Branch of California. Retrieved from: http://www.courts.ca.gov/9617.htm

Curriculum Technology (2014). Title 13 Arizona Criminal Code, Annotated, and Abridged   Student Edition. Retrieved from: http://ct2learn.com/els/resources/ebooks/title-13-     Arizona-criminal-code-annotated-and-abridged-student-edition

Friedman, L. M., & Hayden, G. M. (2017). American law: An introduction. Oxford University Press.

Haun, W. J., & Baker, J. S. (2013). “The Men’s Rea Component Within the Issue of Over-            Federalization of Crime.” The Federalist Society. Vol. 14, Issue. 2.

Silver, S. (2014). C.J. in the USA. An Introduction to Criminal Justice 2^nd Edition. Curriculum       Technology.