Comprehensive OCR A-Level Law Revision Notes

County Court and High Court
    - County Court: Handles the majority of civil matters including contract disputes, tort actions (e.g., trespass), compensation claims for injuries, and Equality Act 2010 matters. It generally hears cases valued between $5000$ and $15,000$ .
    - High Court: Comprised of three divisions:
        - Queen’s Bench Division (QBD): Contract/tort cases, judicial review.
        - Chancery Division: Specialist cases like company law, patents, and professional negligence.
        - Family Division: Cases involving children (Children Act 1989) and wardship.
The Three Tracks
    - Small Claims Track: Straightforward claims up to $10,000$ (personal injury up to $1000$ ).
    - Fast Track: Claims between $10,000$ and $25,000$ .
    - Multi-track: Over $25,000$ up to $50,000$ . Complex claims over $50,000$ go to the High Court.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
    - Negotiation: Private, direct resolution between parties.
    - Mediation: Neutral third party facilitates without offering an opinion.
    - Conciliation: Neutral third party actively suggests compromises.
    - Arbitration: Independent third party (arbitrator) makes a binding decision.

Court Hierarchy
- Magistrates’ Court: Hears 97\text{%} of all criminal cases. Functions: trials for summary offences, plea-before-venue for either-way offences, and first hearings for indictable offences.
- Crown Court: Deals with serious (indictable) offences like murder and robbery. Trials involve a jury of 12 citizens.
Offence Classification
    - Summary: Least serious (e.g., common assault). Sentenced to max 6 months' imprisonment or fine up to $5000$ .
    - Triable-either-way: Intermediate (e.g., theft, ABH). Can be heard in either court.
    - Indictable: Most serious (e.g., murder). Only in Crown Court.
Lay People
- Magistrates: Unpaid volunteers; sit in benches of three. Six key qualities include good character and logical thinking.
- Juries: 12 local people decide the verdict based on facts. Independent since Bushell’s Case (1670).

General Principle: Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea (An act is not guilty unless the mind is also guilty).
Actus Reus: The physical act or omission. Omissions only count if a duty exists (e.g., R v Pittwood, R v Stone and Dobinson).
Causation:
- Factual: "But for" test (R v White).
- Legal: Contribution must be more than de minimis (R v Kimsey). Thin skull rule applies (R v Blaue).
Mens Rea: Types of intention:
    - Direct Intent: Aim and purpose (R v Mohan).
    - Oblique Intent: Prohibited consequence is virtually certain and D realizes this (R v Woollin).
    - Recklessness: Subjective appreciation of risk (R v Cunningham).
Strict Liability: Offences requiring no fault for the actus reus (e.g., Harrow LBC v Shah concerning lottery tickets to minors).

Murder: The unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought (intent to kill or cause GBH).
Voluntary Manslaughter (Partial Defences):
- Loss of Control: Under s 54 Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Requires a qualifying trigger (fear or anger).
- Diminished Responsibility: Under s 52. Abnormality of mental functioning arising from a recognized medical condition substantially impairing self-control or judgment.
Involuntary Manslaughter:
- Unlawful Act Manslaughter: Unlawful, dangerous act causing death (R v Church).
- Gross Negligence Manslaughter: Breach of a duty of care creating a serious and obvious risk of death that is exceptionally bad (R v Adomako, R v Broughton).

Assault: Causing V to apprehend immediate unlawful personal violence.
Battery: Application of unlawful force.
s 47 ABH: Assault or battery causing actual bodily harm (hurt or injury interfering with health/comfort).
s 20 and s 18 GBH: Really serious harm or wounding. s 18 requires specific intent to cause GBH or resist arrest.

Theft: Dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with intention to permanently deprive (Theft Act 1968).
Robbery: Theft plus use or threat of force immediately before or at the time of the theft.
Burglary: Entering a building as a trespasser with intent to steal/GBH/damage ( $s 9(1)(a)$ ) or entering then stealing/GBH ( $s 9(1)(b)$ ).

Legislative Stages: First Reading, Second Reading, Committee Stage, Report Stage, Third Reading, House of Lords (similar), Royal Assent.
Statutory Interpretation Rules:
    - Literal Rule: Grammatical meaning used regardless of absurdity (London and NE Railway v Berriman).
    - Golden Rule: Modified literal rule to avoid absurdity (Adler v George).
    - Mischief Rule: Addressing the gap the law was meant to fill (Smith v Hughes).
    - Purposive Approach: Seeking the underlying purpose/intention (R v Registrar-General).

Duty of Care: Modern test established in Caparo v Dickman (1990):
    - 1. Reasonably foreseeable damage.
    - 2. Proximity between parties.
    - 3. Fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty.
Breach of Duty: Standard of the "reasonable man." Factors include degree of risk, seriousness of harm, and cost of precautions (Bolton v Stone, Latimer v AEC).
Damage: Must not be too remote. Type of harm must be foreseeable (The Wagon Mound).

Occupiers’ Liability: Duties to visitors (1957 Act) and trespassers (1984 Act).
Private Nuisance: Unreasonable interference with usage of land.
Rylands v Fletcher: Strict liability for non-natural accumulation of hazardous material that escapes and causes damage.
Vicarious Liability: Employers are liable for torts committed by employees in the "course of employment."

Law and Morality: Contrast between Hart (positivism - law/morals separate) and Devlin (natural law - law should enforce morals).
Law and Justice: Distinctions between formal, substantive, distributive, and corrective justice. Rawls' social contract theory.
Law and Society: Durkheim's repressive/restitutive law. Use of social engineering (Roscoe Pound).