Determining a Suicide under Australian Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Jowett ◽  
Belinda Carpenter ◽  
Gordon Tait
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Practical Matter ◽  
The Law ◽  
Recent Government

This article examines the role of coroners in making legal determinations of suicide in Australia. Research indicates that the requirement to make findings of intent and capacity in unexpected, violent deaths can be difficult for coroners and recent government inquiries have suggested that the law contributes to the problem. A review of laws and commentary that guide coroners in Australian states and territories reveals not only that coroners are the only persons tasked with making routine legal determinations of suicide, but that such legal guidance lacks clarity. This article concludes that law reform would aid coroners by clarifying definitional issues, removing inconsistency between state jurisdictions and increasing the transparency of case law. Along with requirements for a determination of intent, which is a practical matter previously raised by the Victorian Coronial Council, such changes would go some way to ensuring that Australian suicide statistics are more reliably created.

scholarly journals A tale of two citizens: The Brey-Dano proportionality gap in UK courts and tribunals

2021 ◽  
pp. 138826272110049
Author(s):  
Victoria E. Hooton
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
National Level ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The Law

The role of proportionality and individual assessments in EU residency and welfare access cases has changed significantly over the course of the last decade. This article demonstrates how a search for certainty and efficiency in this area of EU law has created greater uncertainty, more legal hurdles for citizens, and less consistency in decision-making at the national level. UK case law illustrates the difficulty faced by national authorities when interpreting and applying the rules relating to welfare access and proportionality. Ultimately, the law lacks the consistency and transparency that recent CJEU case law seeks to obtain, raising the question of whether the shift from the Court's previous, more flexible, case-by-case approach was desirable after all.

scholarly journals Diminished responsibility and alcohol

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuwan Galappathie ◽  
Krishma Jethwa
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Life Sentence ◽  
The Law ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

SummaryIn England and Wales diminished responsibility is a partial defence to the charge of murder. If successfully argued by the defence, it reduces the charge from murder to manslaughter and thus avoids the mandatory life sentence. Alcohol has been reported to be a feature in up to 80% of all homicides but for many years the judiciary have set an almost unattainable threshold for the disease of alcoholism to amount to a finding of diminished responsibility, in accordance with other aspects of criminal law. Reform of the law on murder is likely to take many years but it is timely to recap the current law on diminished responsibility and review advances in case law in England and Wales on alcohol.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.1 Africa: Coordinated by Jan L Neels and Eesa A Fredericks, 16 Morocco: Moroccan Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaher Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Statutory Law ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines Moroccan perspectives on the Hague Principles. In Morocco, the sources of private international law applicable to international commercial contracts are both of a national and an international nature. International sources include mainly treaties and, to a lesser extent, international customs to which the Moroccan courts may refer in particular cases. National sources are statutory law, case law, and scholarly writings. Case law has always played a vital role in the development and the interpretation of the rules applicable to international commercial contracts. It is indeed the role of the courts to determine the scope of law chosen by the parties and to delimit the boundaries of international public policy as a limit to the application of the law chosen by the parties. Moroccan courts consider international customs as important sources in respect of international contracts and arbitration. Having frequently used the universally accepted principles of private international law, Moroccan courts could easily draw on the Hague Principles to find solutions to certain questions that have not been addressed by the legislature.

scholarly journals Servants or Masters? Linguistic Aids in Legal Interpretation

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-102
Author(s):  
Paulina Konca
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
Correct Interpretation ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ordinary Meaning ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
The Law

This paper presents the role of some intrinsic sources in legal interpretation. Some of linguistic aids follow from provisions of the law and other from the commonly accepted ruling practice or views expressed in literature. The position of those aids was verified through the analysis of case-law, literature, and provisions of law. The first section and second section focus on the priority of plain meaning rule and intrinsic sources in legal interpretation which is strongly emphasized in legal literature, case-law and the interpretative provisions of many countries. Next, it presents how certain linguistic tools work in case law practice, what problems they can cause and what problems they can solve. The third point addresses the use of dictionaries as tools of linguistic interpretation. The fourth section explores the role of selected interpretative canons often found in legal regulations and case law practice: ordinary meaning canon, gender/number canon, ejusdem generis canon, presumption of consistent usage and prefatory-materials canon. It is concluded that the priority of a linguistic interpretation is not absolute and can never be understood as its exclusivity. Linguistic tools are not in themselves determinants of correct meaning. In order to make a correct interpretation, it is necessary not to be guided, by indications labelled as objective, sometimes artificially imposed, but by the intention of the legislator, which such tools may discover and should only be used for that purpose. 

Law Reform

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The Law ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Law Commission

This chapter assesses the process of law reform in France. Although a full-time Commission has been set up in France to deal with the codification of the law, no similar permanent institution exists for keeping the law under review and for making recommendations for its systematic reform. There is thus no French equivalent for the Law Commission such as in other countries. Therefore law reform initiative has been left entirely to government departments and Members of Parliament and this is confirmed by the 1958 Constitution. Consequently, in practice, the majority of bills have their origin in government departments, and in particular the Ministry of Justice, whose function it is to deal with the organisation of the civil and criminal justice system. The role of supreme courts in reforming the law is also highlighted in the chapter.

15. Undue Influence, Unconscionability, and Equality of Bargaining Power

2021 ◽  
pp. 500-533
Author(s):  
André Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Undue Influence ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines undue influence, which is largely about pressure and influence arising from a relationship. It begins with the basic role of the law on undue influence before moving to the substantive case law. The case law is divided into three categories, which are based on the different ways of proving undue influence. The first relates to what is known as ‘actual undue influence’, which is where a complainant proves undue influence. The second is where undue influence between two parties can be presumed from the circumstances. The third category has been a major problem in modern cases and it involves undue influence coming from a third party. The chapter then turns to the wider issues that complete the ‘bigger picture’. The first of these is the area often referred to as ‘unconscionability’, which is about the exploitation of weakness. The second is the attempt to create a wider ‘inequality of bargaining power’ principle. Finally, the chapter looks at the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Practices Regulations 2008, which can cover conduct otherwise classed as duress, undue influence, and harassment.

9 SUMMARY This chapter has been concerned with introducing, in some depth, common law/ case law, the second major source of English legal rules discussed in this book. The role of the judiciary in the development of English law has become apparent as the chapter has progressed. This chapter has also indicated the central importance of a careful dissection of the law reports to ensure that the correct aspects of the case are correctly summarised for a case note and further use. Taken together with Chapter 3, the foundations of an indispensable ‘how to’ approach have been laid. It is now appropriate in the next chapter to place this foundation in its European context looking at the law relating to European human rights and fundamental freedoms and the law relating to the European Community. In Chapter 9, three sources of English law (legislation, case law and European Community law) are further developed by being brought together in a case study. 4.10 FURTHER READING As already mentioned in Chapter 3, if you are a law student the ground covered by this chapter will also be covered in English legal system courses and constitutional or public law courses. Coverage of reading cases can be found in the following excellent texts relating to both the theoretical and practical aspects of legal method. • Sychin, C, Legal Method, 1999, London: Sweet & Maxwell, Chapters 7 and 8. • Twining, W and Miers, D, How To Do Things With Rules, 4th edn, 1999, London: Butterworths, Chapters 7 and 8.

2012 ◽  
pp. 126-126
Keyword(s):  
European Community ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
English Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Student ◽  
Law Reports

Der Arzt im Konflikt zwischen Fehleroffenbarungspflicht und Selbstbelastungsfreiheit

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Medical Errors ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Medical Negligence ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Patients Rights ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Law ◽  
Treatment Contract

For a long time, there was a diffuse body of opinion in the literature and case law regarding the physician's duty to disclose medical errors. With the entry into force of the Patients' Rights Act 2013, further discussion has become superfluous. In the course of the law reform, a corresponding right of the patient to information under the treatment contract was included in the German Civil Code. However, given the earlier controversy on this issue, it is hardly surprising that it is one of the most controversial provisions of the Patients' Rights Act. In addition to clarifying a number of legal uncertainties, the paper also provides a constitutional review of this provision as well as alternative incentives for dealing openly with medical negligence.

Conducting Law Reform Research: A Comparative Perspective

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Melville
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Technical Process ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Commission

AbstractLaw Reform Commissions are permanent bodies which operate in common law countries, and are charged with the task of recommending law reform. The Commissions conduct research into the need for law reform, and it appears this research is guided by a common set of broad principles. A comparison of the ways in which the New Zealand Law Commission and the recently defunct Law Commission of Canada put these principles into practice reveals that different Commissions use different approaches when putting these principles into practice.These different approaches reflect the ways in which the role of law within society and the role of the Law Commissions in shaping the law are conceived. For some Commissions, legal reform is a technical process driven by a desire for increased efficiency and effectiveness. For other Commissions, legal reform is seen as directing, rather than merely reflecting, social and legal norms, and is self-consciously aimed towards achieving the goals of social justice.

Vertical restraints, the single market imperative and UK competition policy after Brexit

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-129
Author(s):  
Patrick F. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Competition Policy ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Single Market ◽  
Vertical Restraints ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Uk

After Brexit, the United Kingdom is unlikely to continue pursuing integration with other Member States of the European Union, including through competition policy. As a result, the time is ripe to reconsider the role of the single market imperative in competition law, in particular in relation to vertical restraints where the goal of market integration plays a pivotal role. This article shows that recent European vertical restraints decisions and case law, in particular concerning territorial and online restraints, have been motivated in whole or in part by the single market imperative (SMI). It then examines how the law in the UK might follow a different path post-Brexit, taking the Ping case as an example. However, a similar change is not likely to be forthcoming in relation to the law governing pricing restraints, which are not obviously linked to the SMI and which have been the subject of much enforcement in the UK both before and during the UK's membership of the EU.

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