One of the things many students find difficult when first studying law is the need to apply the principles to the facts of a situation, regardless of personal feeling. The need for certainty and consistency is emphasised, and it is generally acknowledged that justice would be seriously undermined if every judge made a personal decision in the instant case based simply on the fact that he/she thought it fair, popular or convenient. The same should be true for a rugby referee.
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It’s no secret that I’m not a particular lover of Tort. I dislike those nasty negligence cases but, as a longtime lover of Land law, I have always enjoyed the Torts of nuisance and trespass. The other day I happened upon a newspaper article explaining the basics of trespass as they related to one’s garden. The article was interesting, and legally correct, and no doubt extremely helpful to many people. I can see that not everyone is aware that it is a trespass to lean a bag of rubbish up someone else’s fence or wall, or to grow plants up the structure, or to paint it – unless you have express permission. If you ask me, Alan Titchmarsh and Co. have a lot to answer for here – as I recall dear old Ground Force didn’t have too many qualms about applying a uniform stain to all of the fences around a garden, regardless of ownership! Continue reading →
Summer. That wonderful time of year when you can take time out, enjoy the seaside, watch the Tour de France on TV and generally enjoy yourself. The time when exams are over, classes are finished and students don’t keep emailing you with revision questions.
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As the Summer series of exams roll around again, it’s worth just reminding yourself to pay attention to the structure of your answer in the exams. I won’t go on at length (again) about the virtues of answering the question, but do see earlier posts on this subject! A key tip is to always sketch out a rough plan of your answer before you start writing. By doing this you avoid what I like to refer to as ‘The Eric Morecambe’….all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!
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I’ve admitted before that there’s nothing I enjoy more than an excuse for a little trip to the seaside and a cup of tea at the Weston Seaquarium, where you can gaze out to sea in one direction and across Beach Road to Ellenborough Park on the other. It does wonders to refresh one’s enthusiasm for the joys of Land law!
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From William Langland’s Piers Plowman to the sports pages of The Independent, and the glory of headlines like “Elwood excels as England are Engulfed” (why can’t they show this one on ESPN Classic?) I’ve always enjoyed a good bit of alliteration. However, until now, I hadn’t really considered its possibility as a viable learning aid in the study of law. It appears I was wrong….
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Right now I should be doing my lecture notes on burglary (a wonderful subject, not least for the joys of Lord Edmund Davies’ description of the facts in R v Collins, available on www.bailii.org [1972] EWCA Crim 1) but, as usual, I’m struggling to get my mind past theft and, in particular, the case of Hinks. Yes, I know this one has been done to death in the academic journals and everything that can be said about it has probably been said, but, in the interests of saving my husband’s sanity (“oh no, you’re not onto that again are you?”), I’m going to attempt to get out some of my frustrations here….
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It’s that time of year again. The last college class before Christmas. Always fun, but for the hapless law lecturer it does have its hazards….. Usually I count my blessings because I work with mature students and not 16 year olds but, at this time of year, it has it’s dangers….namely the gin! Let me explain..
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Lots of students feel that they need a bit of extra help with certain subjects, especially when the dreaded exams are looming, so they decide to find a personal tutor. This can be an excellent idea – if you find the right person who has a knack of explaining the difficult subject in a way you understand, it can make a world of difference.
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OK, I admit it, I’ve been ducking this moment for some time. Over the years I have become pathetically attached to the law of provocation. I’ve found the ins and outs of personal characteristics in relation to the second limb of the objective test fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoy teaching the subject. Not any more. Thanks to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, provocation is no more. We have a new partial defence of “loss of control” and I need to update my lecture materials to take this into account, like it or not.
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