...against his or her distinguished predecessors. The Rouse Ball Professorship of English Law has been held in the past by a long series of distinguished scholars, from Sir Percy Winfield to my immediate predecessor, Sir Jack Beatson whom we are delighted to welcome back today. Their work has influenced generations of lawyers. They certainly influenced me. Before I encountered Criminal Law: The General Part,1 a great little volume by Professor Glanville Williams, Learning the Law, was my ‘Guide, Philosopher and Friend’ (as it still says on the cover of the latest edition, now edited by my colleague Professor Tony Smith)2 as I approached the study of law. Another Rouse Ball Professor, the late Sir William Wade, had a formative effect on my understanding of land law and administrative law both through his famous books, Megarry and Wade on the Law of Real Property (now edited by a former Fellow of Downing College, Dr. Charles Harpum)3 and Administrative Law (now in the hands of my colleague Dr. Christopher Forsyth),4 not to mention the lectures that I attended as an undergraduate in (softly be it said) the University of Oxford. Two wonderfully stimulating and enjoyable books by the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor and * Rouse Ball Professor of English Law in the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. This is a revised version of the inaugural lecture delivered in the Faculty of Law of the University of Cambridge on Thursday 10 March 2005. I am grateful to Mrs. Beverley...
Words: 10282 - Pages: 42
...Constitutional Law Define 5th Amendments The fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Officials that infringe on these liberties. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, represents five distinct liberties the that Framers attempted to safeguard from majoritarian impulses: (1) the right to be indicted by an impartial Grand Jury before being tried for a federal criminal offense,(2) the right to be free from multiple prosecutions or punishments for a single criminal offense, (3) the right to remain silent when prosecuted for a criminal offense, (4) the right to have personal liberties protected by Due Process of Law, and (5) the right to receive just compensation when the government takes private property for public use. Right to Due Process The Due process is the interactions between government and individuals and other criminal inquires often involves constitution...
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...Hamdi v. Rumsfeld Issue When a U.S. citizen is labeled as an enemy combatant, is he entitled to the constitutional protections of due process? Holding and Reasoning(O’Connor, J.) Yes. A U.S. citizen accused of being an enemy combatant must be afforded an opportunity to be heard by a neutral decision maker. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right to due process under the law. Furthermore, absent suspension, all persons detained in the United States have the right to habeas corpus. This means that an individual accused of criminal activity cannot be detained indefinitely, with no trial, no counsel, and no ability to petition for freedom if he is wrongfully imprisoned. In the case of a citizen, like Hamdi, who is alleged to be an enemy combatant and the right to habeas corpus has not been suspended, there are competing interests: on one hand, there is the individual’s personal interest in physical liberty; on the other hand, there is the government interest in the safety of the American people, and preventing enemy combatants from committing further crimes. These interests must be carefully balanced in coming to a decision about the constitutionality of detaining enemy combatants. Therefore, this court finds that a citizen-detainee must be afforded notice of the crimes with which he is charged and the factual basis for them, and he must also be given an opportunity to refute the charges before a neutral decision maker. Under these criteria, Hamdi has...
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
...CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LAWS 1112 Y (1) UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS ACADEMIC YEAR 2011/2012 Lecture 1 DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW * The role of law * “Law is not merely a matter of the rules which govern relations between private individuals (for example between the employer and employee or between landlord and tenant). Law also concerns the structure and powers of the state.” A W Bradley and K D Ewing: Constitutional and Administrative Law * Constitutional Law has the basic role of governing the structure and the powers of the state. It therefore organises the powers of the state in an attempt to prevent abuses of power by those in power. * Emergence of Constitutional Law - Enlightenment * The term “constitution” was coined recently with the emergence of the new nation state. During the 18th of century, political revolutions in France and the US led to the emergence of the new nation state and the need was felt for a document reflecting the beliefs and the political aspirations of the heralders of the new political and legal order. * Major ideologies (constitutionalism, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke) started perceiving power of the state and freedoms of individuals as being conflicting such that only a proper balance between the two would lead to political and social stability. According to those ideologies, to maximise individual freedoms and liberties, the power of the state had...
Words: 2367 - Pages: 10
...A. Object and Scope of the Study of Constitutional Law Constitutional Law in this concept more emphasis on objects which are the subject of studies in Constitutional Law itself. In connection with the definition of the Constitutional Law on the corner of the object of this study Van Vollenhoven (Netherlands) in his book "Staatrecht Over Zee" states: Constitutional Law is the law that governs all people, law-top to bottom, which in turn determines the area neighborhood people, determine ruling bodies, authorities and functions within the legal community. While Paul Scholten (Netherlands), in his book "Staatrecht, Algement Deel", defines that the Constitutional Law is a law that regulates the state organization or organizations of a country....
Words: 1843 - Pages: 8
...SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, FACULTY OF LAW SEMINAR PAPER ON COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW COURSE TITLE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PROVISIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY (CHAPTER 2) 1999 CONSTITUTION OF NIGERIA AND THE 1992 CONSTITUTION OF GHANA. PRESENTED BY: IWEBAFA GIFT ODIBO MAY 2014 I. Introduction Chapter two of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as Amended) and Chapter Six of the Ghanian Constitution of 1992, both made provisions for the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which are intended to guide all citizens, Parliament, the President, the Judiciary, the Council of State, the Cabinet, political parties, and other bodies and persons in applying or interpreting the Constitution or any other laws.[1] The directive principles cover political objectives, economic objectives, social objectives, educational objectives, cultural objectives, international relations, and duties of citizens. The main issue that relates to the directive principles is their constitutional status; whether they are justiciable or not justiciable and this is applicable to both Ghana and Nigeria. A policy is a guide to the achievement of an objective. By constitutional policy, we mean the principles and objectives set out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (CFRN 1999) which act as a guide to achieving governmental objectives. A government without a guide is like an aircraft...
Words: 4486 - Pages: 18
...OUTLINE INTRODUCTION TO CONSTITUTIONAL LAW There were four main purposes of the Declaration of Independence: • Getting reluctant colonists to realize that loyalty to Britain was a lost cause • Explaining the colonists' position on the purpose of human government • Listing the colonists' grievances against King George III to show the legitimacy of their actions to others • To encourage foreign nations to help them UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SERVES TWO MAJOR FUNCTIONS” It creates the three branch of the federal government (example the legislative, executive, and judicial branches) and allocates powers to these branches. It protects individual rights by limiting the government’s ability to restrict those rights. PREAMBLE Recognizing Almighty God as guiding our ancestors to this land to establish of their descendants, not a Colony, but an independent sovereign Christian nation, destined by Him to occupy a commanding place among the nations of the earth, and to protect and defend liberty in all the Western Hemisphere, and recognizing that the foundations of the nation were laid in the perils and hardships of the first fifty years by our ancestor settlers of that period, rather than in the years that followed, and recognizing that necessary to that end for which our ancestors came was a patriot progeny in the time of the Revolutionary struggle, out of which our country came to be independent and our nation came into being, for ourselves and those who may associate with...
Words: 371 - Pages: 2
...Constitutional Law Introduction Many people assume that a government acts from a vague position of strength and can enact any regulation it deems necessary or desirable. This chapter emphasizes a different perspective from which to view the law: action taken by the government must come from authority and this authority cannot be exceeded. Neither Congress nor any state may pass a law in conflict with the Constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law in this country. The Constitution is the source of federal power and to sustain the legality of a federal law or action a specific federal power must be found in the Constitution. States have inherent sovereign power—that is, the power to enact legislation that has a reasonable relationship to the welfare of the citizens of that state. The power of the federal government was delegated to it by the states while the power of the states was retained by them when the Constitution was ratified. The Constitution does not expressly give the states the power to regulate, but limits the states’ exercise of powers not delegated to the federal government. Chapter Outline I. The Constitutional Powers of Government Before the U.S. Constitution, the Articles of Confederation defined the central government. A. A Federal Form of Government The U.S. Constitution established a federal form of government, delegating certain powers to the national government. The states retain...
Words: 8496 - Pages: 34
...Presidential Power of Pardon in India I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they do no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases.- Lord Acton (Quoted by Justice Krishna Iyer in Maru Ram v Union of India) The Power of Pardon was historically vested in the British monarch. At common law, a pardon was an act of mercy whereby the king “forgives any crime, offence, punishment, execution, right, title, debt, or duty.” This power was absolute, unfettered and not subject to any judicial scrutiny. From this source, it came to find a place in the Constitutions of India and the USA as well as the Constitutional structure of Britain. However it could hardly survive in its unrestrained nature in the democratic systems of these states. Over a period of time, it became diluted in the U.K. and U.S.A. to a limited extent through the exercise of judicial scrutiny. But its greatest dilution has occurred in India. The Supreme Court has conclusively established in the landmark cases of Maru Ram and Kehar Singh that the power of pardon is subject to judicial scrutiny. In subsequent cases, the Court enumerated specific grounds on which such scrutiny could be exercised. However the Court has wisely stopped short on laying down any explicit guidelines for the exercise of this power. This article seeks to analyse the Court’s jurisprudence with respect...
Words: 2659 - Pages: 11
...Constitutional Law Research Paper Warm Up Activity: Check any of the following statements that strike you as something you strongly agree with or disagree with. It may lead you to a research topic! * There are nasty criminals out there who commit horrific crimes; such people who are convicted in a court of law should be executed. Or… The death penalty should finally be put to death by the Supreme Court. * Though I’m patriotic and love the pledge, it’s simply unconstitutional and needs to be removed from schools. * Abortion is wrong; it shouldn’t be legal. Or… The right of a woman to control her own body is a private matter. * Too many guns out there… we have to start doing something about it! Or…The 2nd Amendment is pretty darn clear… * The government needs DNA records of all people born in the US, or entering into the US; hospitals should simply take a DNA swab of all infants born… * Digital Privacy doesn’t exist, nor should it. The government needs to be able to search anyone’s computer or device any time, no questions asked! * People ought to be able to marry whomever they want to marry… * Bring Back Corporal Punishment in Schools! Teachers ought to be able to whack kids who deserve it! (Corporal punishment IS indeed legal… no kidding.) * Animals have rights, too, you know! And so does Mother Nature! * I should be able to get all the music I want on line for free; who cares about private property when it comes to music-...
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
...independent branches of the federal government Constitution ensures that each branch maintains a separate sphere of power to prevent any one of them from obtaining undue power and monopolizing government control Constitution also establishes a system of checks and balances Each branch’s powers keep the other branches from dominating the government Constitution does not explicitly allow courts to review legislative and executive actions to determine whether they are constitutional, but early common law established a process called judicial law Judicial law is the power of a court to review legislative and executive actions, such as a law or an official act of a government employee or agent, to determine whether they are constitutional Established in 1803 U.S. Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison Also allows courts to review constitutionality of lower courts’ decisions Supremacy clause, located in Article VI of Constitution, provides that the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the U.S. constitute the supreme law of the land...
Words: 2852 - Pages: 12
...that the limitation imposed on a person in the enjoyment of the right should not be arbitrary or of an excessive nature. In order to be reasonable, the restriction must have a reasonable relation to the object, which the legislation seeks to achieve, and must not go in excess of that object. Therefore, while a citizen has a fundamental right to carry on a trade or business, he has no fundamental right to insist upon the government not to make any law to regulate any business in public interest. Article 301: Freedom of trade, commerce and Intercourse: - Subject to the other provisions of this part, trade commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India shall be free Therefore, “All obstructions or impediments, whatever shape they may take to the free flow or movement of trade or non-commercial intercourse offend Article 301 of the constitution” Article 302: Power of Parliament to impose restrictions on trade, commerce and Intercourse: - Parliament may by law impose such restrictions on the freedom of trade, commerce or intercourse between one state and another or within any part of the territory of India as may be required in the public interest. Article 303:...
Words: 566 - Pages: 3
...The nine young African Americans were recognized as the “Scottsboro boys” They were accused of raped of two white women on a train toward Alabama in 1931. The white jury convicted eight of them. All except one, the youngest at 12 years old, and were sentenced to death. The story of the Scottsboro Boys is important not only in civil rights history, but also in the evolution of constitutional law, for it was this case that led to a more wide-reaching, interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection under the law" and of "due process of law." The case also expanded the scope of the Sixth Amendment's assurance of a defendant's right to "have the assistance of counsel." Specifically, the case ultimately resulted in...
Words: 568 - Pages: 3
...Compare and contrast the theories and practice of absolutism and constitutional monarchy during the 17th century. The seventeenth century saw the evolution of two new types of government mainly because of the instability that was caused by religious wars. One type of government was a constitutional monarchy in which rulers were confined to the laws of the state, giving the people some liberties, best exemplified by William and Mary during the Stuart monarchial rule. Constitutional monarchy was successful in mainly in England because of the Magna Carta, which kept the king’s power in check. The other type was absolute monarchy, in which the king has power over everything, shown by the French under Louis XIV. Although these two different types of monarchies had some similarities, ultimately the constitutional monarchies were more successful because they allowed civilians to have more freedoms in everyday life and made the government less prone to rebellion. Though the systems of government differed in monarchial power, there were many similarities. Both constitutional and absolute monarchies were headed by single rulers, which allowed for some sort of corruption through their power. Since they usually ruled for life, rulers were able to spend large sums of money for personal gain as shown by Louis XIV with his palace of Versailles. To be effective, monarchs had to find ways to control the treasury, maintain a standing army, control religious protests, and expand a...
Words: 709 - Pages: 3
...to see why minorities can't obtain loans. If minority applicants were approved for bank loans, they will receive a higher interest rate than Caucasian entrepreneurs. What happen to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act? In this case, The United Kingdom is a democracy and all people have equal rights. By using tax money, minorities and white people help the government bailout the Britain Banks. Therefore, all people should be treated equal. Another critique that I found from the database is money laundering in Nigeria. Money laundering is when money is concealed by the unethical source when transferring money illegally. Lots of money can only be transferred as cash throughout banks, or legal firms. The country created anti- money laundering laws and establish anti-money laundering agencies but has not brought about professional simplicity and ethical...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
