Summer work for Law
Welcome to BTEC Law! We are delighted you have chosen to study this subject - it is an amazing course and we are sure you will love it.
We have a lot to cover over the two years and as a department we have high standards and expectations as to the amount and quality of independent work you complete. It is therefore important that you complete your summer work so that you arrive in September ready to get the most out of your lessons.
Law involves research and careful reading. These tasks should give you an idea of what will be expected of you. Please attempt all the questions.
Write your answers in this Question Sheet:
Task 1 - Research task - vicarious liability
Find the case of Lister v Hesley Hall and answer the questions below.
The full judgment of the case is here, but there are lots of other references to it on the internet: House of Lords - Lister and Others (AP) v Hesley Hall Limited (parliament.uk)
1(a) Which court was this hearing held in?
1(b) How many judges decided the appeal?
1© Who was Mr Grain?
1(d) What was Hesley Hall Ltd?
1(e) Who was Lister?
1(f) How many judges heard the appeal?
1(g) What legal principle was established by this case? See paragraph 28.
Task 2 – Theft Act
Look up the Theft Act 1968:
Theft Act 1968 (legislation.gov.uk)
Using the definitions in the Act, briefly explain:
2(a) The differences between theft and robbery
2(b) The differences between theft and burglary
2(c) The difference between burglary and aggravated burglary
Look at section 2. Would the following people be found guilty of theft? Give a reason for your answer.
2(d) Jane picks up a blue coat at the end of a party, thinking it is hers. It turns out it belongs to Natalie, not Jane.
2(e) Jack works in the same office as Joe. They are good friends. Jack takes some of Joe’s coffee from his jar.
Look at section 4. Would the following people be found guilty of theft? Give a reason for your answer.
2(f) Jim picks some wild orchids and sells them at the market.
2(g) Jenny is moving out of her flat rental into a new house. She takes the washing machine with her.
Task 3 - Summary
Your task is to summarise a chunk of text.
Here’s an example. The text is long (345 words):
What types of loss can a victim recover damages (compensation) for?
There are 3 types of loss: physical loss, consequential economic loss and pure economic loss. The distinction is important because (with exceptions) C can recover compensation for physical and consequential economic loss, but not for pure economic loss.
Physical loss is loss of something tanglible, e.g. a car, or damage to a car. The victim will receive compensation to put them in the same position they would have been in if the damage had never happened, so if it will cost £450 to fix their car, the claimant will get £450 in compensation.
Consequential economic loss occurs when the C suffers a money loss as a result of losing something physical: the economic loss is a ‘consequence’ of the physical loss. For example:
- taxi fares a victim has to pay to get to work while his car is being fixed after the defendant bumped into him,
- a worker who loses wages because he has been injured by the D’s negligence
- profit a victim would have made on selling something which he can no longer sell as a result of the defendant’s negligence or
- a taxi driver who loses fares because his taxi has been damaged by the D’s negligence.
In all of these cases, the D’s negligence caused physical loss or injury which led to money lost.
By contrast pure economic loss is a stand-alone economic loss: there is no item of physical loss. It’s sometimes called ‘damage to the wallet’. The claimant is less well off than he would have been if the negligence had not occurred e.g. loss of profits, and unwise investment, a loss of financial benefit or payment and a loss in value of items, but there has been no damage done to anything physical.
An example would be if the defendant’s negligence causes a traffic accident which closes the road, thus preventing people getting to the claimant’s café. The claimant, as a result, loses takings. The claimant has suffered a money loss but no physical loss or injury and therefore his loss is purely economic loss.
Here’s a 57-word summary of it:
What types of loss can a victim recover damages (compensation) for?
There are 3 types of loss:
- Physical e.g. damage to car – recoverable in compensation
- Consequential economic loss e.g. taxi fare while car is being fixed – recoverable in compensation
- Pure economic loss, not lost as a result of physical damage e.g. the money a business loses when the road is blocked – NOT recoverable in compensation.
TASK – Summarise this text (359 words) into 60 – 80 words.
What is the role of the legal advisor in the Magistrates’ Court?
Magistrates are judges who are not qualified in law. As they have no legal training, it is essential that they have ready access to advice from an expert in the court who can tell them what the law says and what the procedure is that they should follow, and who can explain it to the magistrates so that they can understand it. The legal adviser must be a solicitor or a barrister with at least five years of experience, so they are well qualified to give good advice to the magistrates. Their duty is to guide the magistrates on questions of law, practice and procedure, but not to tell them whether they should find the defendant guilty or not guilty. They also should not advise the magistrates on what sentence they should give the defendant. That is for the magistrates to decide independently when they ‘retire’ into the retiring room to make their decisions.
This is why, in court, the legal advisor does not normally ‘retire’ with the Magistrates while they come to their decision. If the Magistrates need help from the legal advisor in the retiring room, they can ask them to come in for as long as it takes them to explain whatever the Magistrates need to be explained, but no longer. This is because ‘justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done’. Everyone who is in the court while the Magistrates are coming to their decision (the public, the Defendant and their family/friends, the victim and their family/friends, the court reporter etc.) can therefore see with their own eyes that nobody is influencing the Magistrates and they are coming to an unbiased decision based only on the evidence and their own judgment. This means that the justice system can be seen to be fair, and the Magistrates, who are normal members of the public, can be seen to come to a decision which is not affected by officials or non-magistrates. The legal advisor stays in court, where the other people in court can see them. This helps the defendant, the victim and the public trust that the legal system is fair.