Unit 3 of Legal Writing and Legal Language (syllabus: Module III — the divisions of the law, case-law technique and interpretation of statutes; Lord Denning on locus standi; moot problems and memorials; reservation and the Uniform Civil Code). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- How is English law divided, and what is meant by common law and by equity?
- What are the meanings of ratio decidendi, and how is the ratio of a case found?
- By what devices may a court avoid a binding precedent?
- What are the three classic rules of statutory interpretation, and what is wrong with each?
- Which canons of construction should be quoted, and what Indian examples fit them?
- Who may bring a case before the court when power is abused?
- What are the parts of a memorial, and what does each part do?
- How does the Constitution enable reservation, and what force has the direction to secure a uniform civil code?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
Leading cases
- Maneka Gandhi v Union of India
- K.M. Nanavati v State of Maharashtra (1961)
- Seaford Court Estates Ltd v Asher (1949) against Magor and St Mellons RDC v Newport Corporation
- Municipal Council
- S.R. Bommai v Union of India (1994)