Principles of Constitutional Law
This assessment assesses the following Unit Learning Outcomes: Learning Outcome 3: Read Statutes and identify key legal principles provided by those statutes Learning Outcome 4: Read Case Law and identify key legal principles provided by those statutes Learning Outcome 5: Explain the principles they have identified in outcomes one to four above in writing Background and Context: Finding, reading, and extracting key information from legal documents will underpin all your studies in law. This element of the assessment will support you in gaining those skills for success in your future studies. Assignment Details and Instructions: You will write a case summary of the following case: R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) (Appellants) v Secretary of State for International Development (in substitution for the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary) (Respondent) [2018] UKSC 32 The word limit is 1000 words. Directions 1) Find the case 2) Read the case, using the following table to make notes and form your structure. Relevant facts:- the events that resulted in the case being brought to court. Procedural history: -this includes: (1) the type of claim: eg. a claim for judicial review of administrative action, which in the UK would be made in the High Court (Administrative Division) or an application to the European Court of Human Rights (2) the history of any appeal process that has taken place and a summary of decisions that were made by previous courts lower in the hierarchy. Relevant law:-The law that is in play (either legislation or case law) in the case. This might be a section of an Act or an Article in a convention. In terms of identifying the point of law decided, it is necessary to identify the part of the law upon which the determination of the case rests. For ECHR articles, note down what type of right it is. It may not say in the judgment, but you will be able to tell from the way that the right is applied. The issues in the case:-these are the legal issues (points of law) that the judge has to decide. For this exercise, make sure you cover: a) The type of ECHR rights in play b) Thewaytheyneedtobeapplied c) The issues surrounding the application of the Human Rights Act The argument of the parties:-an explanation of the arguments made by each side The ratio of the case:-this is the legal decision that the case centres upon. It is the point of law decided by the court and will be a point of law that has been made on the material facts of the case. This should refer back to the issues. The ruling in the case:- this is the end result in the case. Eg that the claimant won or lost their claim/application or their appeal. Again, refer back to the issues you identified earlier. . Then use the headings and your notes to shape this into a full case summary. Do not submit this in table form. 4) Please use Oscola referencing for this. This will be a very easy start to OSCOLA for you as you have a very limited range of sources to reference here. Please refer to the support section for resources on OSCOLA referencing.
