Gavin Howe
The principles of law are established doctrines that guide judicial decision-making and interpretation. They are crucial in shaping legal outcomes and can be understood as existing on a spectrum from core to penumbral. Core issues are those that can be resolved with legal advice or at trial, while penumbral issues may need to be resolved at the appellate level. Legal principles are distinct from values, with principle suggesting rightness or wrongness derived from a higher command, prohibition, or permission. These principles are applied in various ways depending on the context and values of the jurisdiction. For example, the principle of legality is a cornerstone of modern legal systems, ensuring that laws are established and enforced justly, protecting human rights, and providing court accessibility. Another example is the principle of agency, which is significant in corporate law, employment, and real estate, and involves different types of agency relationships and their associated liabilities and responsibilities. Understanding the principles of law in a case is essential for interpreting judicial decisions and predicting future outcomes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Legal doctrines | Precedent |
| Statutory interpretation | |
| Equity | |
| Rule of law | |
| Principle of legality | Acts as a check and balance on the enactment of retrospective legislation |
| Safeguards court accessibility | |
| Ensures consistency and coherence in the way statutes are interpreted | |
| Ensures laws are enforced in a just manner | |
| Requires laws to be publicly available and communicated effectively | |
| Prevents the arbitrary exercise of power by authorities | |
| Ensures legislative precision and compliance with the principle of the hierarchy of legal rules | |
| Principle of agency | Express agency |
| Implied agency | |
| Apparent agency |
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What You'll Learn
Precedent
There are two types of precedent: long-held custom and case law. Custom can be so deeply entrenched in society that it gains the force of law, and courts may take notice of it even if no specific case has been decided on the same or similar issues. Case law, on the other hand, is granted more or less weight depending on various factors. These include whether the precedent is "on point," meaning it deals with identical or very similar circumstances, and the timing and jurisdiction of the precedent.
The use of precedent provides predictability, stability, fairness, and efficiency in the law. It is central to legal analysis and rulings in countries that follow common law, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.
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Statutory interpretation
Legal principles are established principles of law that guide judicial decision-making and provide a framework for interpreting legal rules. One such principle is statutory interpretation, a process by which courts interpret and apply legislation.
In the United States, there are two main theories of statutory interpretation: purposivism and textualism. Regardless of their interpretive theory, judges use many of the same tools to gather evidence of statutory meaning. Judges often start by looking at the ordinary meaning of the statutory text, applying the usual and ordinary meanings of the words. If the meaning of the statute remains unclear, they then attempt to ascertain the intent of the legislature by looking at legislative history and other related sources.
In common law jurisdictions, the judiciary may apply rules of statutory interpretation to both legislation enacted by the legislature and delegated legislation, such as administrative agency regulations. Statutory interpretation first became significant in common law systems, of which England is historically the exemplar.
In the construction (interpretation) of statutes, the principal aim of the court must be to carry out the "intention of Parliament". To assist them in this task, English courts developed three main rules: the mischief rule, the literal rule, and the golden rule.
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Equity
In England, prior to the Judicature Acts of the 1870s, there were two complementary court systems: courts of "law" and courts of "equity" (or chancery). The former could only award monetary damages and recognised only the legal owner of property, while the latter could issue injunctive relief and recognised trusts of property. The Judicature Acts ended the institutional separation of these two bodies of law, but they did not fuse the actual laws.
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The principle of legality
The judiciary invokes the principle of legality when ambiguity arises in statutory interpretation. This presumption stems from parliamentary sovereignty, acknowledging that Parliament creates legislation with common-law principles in mind. When applying this principle, courts generally favour interpretations that protect common-law rights, as seen in the case of North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency Limited v Northern Territory (2015).
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The principle of agency
Agency relationships are common in many professional areas, including contract negotiation and promotion (business management), publishing, fashion, music, movies, theatre, show business, and sport. An agent in commercial law (also referred to as a manager) is a person who is authorised to act on behalf of another (the principal or client) to create a legal relationship with a third party. A legal entity may also act as an agent. For example, two corporate groups may assign an M&A transaction to a business agency, acting as a third party, to finalise the deal.
There are different types of agency, including express agency, implied agency, and apparent agency. Express agency occurs when the agent's authority is explicitly stated by the principal, often in a written agreement. Implied agency occurs when the agent's authority is inferred from the principal's conduct or the circumstances surrounding the agency relationship. Apparent agency happens when a third party acquires the belief that an individual is acting as an agent, which may lead to liability for the principal, even if no formal agency relationship exists.
The role of an agent and the scope of their authority affect how the agent is described. For example, universal agents are authorised to perform all lawful acts that the principal could personally perform. A principal may be bound by the actions of an agent if apparent authority existed, even if they explicitly stated that the agent could not do that act. A principal is responsible for any action or inaction by their agent. The liability of the principal to a third person upon a transaction conducted by an agent is based on factors such as whether the agent had power arising from the agency relation and not dependent on authority or apparent authority.
Agency is a basic concept in legal transactions in the United States and most of the world. It is inherent in every employment relationship, most sales relationships, most organisations, and business structures.
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