Treasure trove: a lawyer's view

Antiquity ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 56 (218) ◽  
pp. 199-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Sparrow

Mr Hammond's recent note on treasure trove examined the decision of Mr Justice Dillon in the case of Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster v. G. E. Overton (Farms) Ltd [1981] Ch. 333 (hereafter Overton). That decision has been affirmed by the Court of Appeal [1982] 2 WLR 397. It is therefore now settled, first, that the law of treasure trove does not apply to any metal other than gold and silver and, secondly, that a treasure trove object must contain a 'substantial' amount of gold or silver.

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 607-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
John McCaughran

This article is about the implication of terms into contracts based upon the presumed intention of the parties. It is particularly concerned with the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Attorney General of Belize v. Belize Telecom Limited,1 a number of recent Court of Appeal decisions thereafter, and whether there has been any change in the law. Before getting to Belize, it is necessary to consider, as briefly as possible, what went before.


1968 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Collier

The law surrounding the doctrine of act of state is perhaps one of the most confusing parts of constitutional law, for both its meaning and application are susceptible of several different interpretations. In particular the rule that act of state can be no defence against an action by a British subject, or, to put it more precisely, that there can be no act of state between the Crown and a British subject is one whose limits are not entirely clear. The recent case of Naim Nissan v. Attorney-General has brought the matter to the fore in what is thought to be a novel situation, wherein the question arose whether act of state can be a defence to an action by a British subject if the act has been executed by the Crown outside the Crown's dominions. The case gave rise to a difference of opinion between the judge at first instance and the Court of Appeal, and now that leave to appeal has been granted to the House of Lords, there arises an opportunity to examine act of state in several of its aspects.In this discussion it will be argued that the law as it appears now to stand is not necessarily a correct interpretation of the precedents, and that if it is, occasion now presents itself for a fresh formulation of the rules upon a more logical and up-to-date basis.It is first proposed to explain what is meant by the term “act of state” in this context, to try to establish its relationship with the prerogative, and to examine two aspects of it, that is (i) where a claimant is attempting to use an act of state as the foundation of his action, and (ii) where the Crown is attempting to defeat an action by an individual by the plea of act of state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Francis

This brief considers the February 2020 judgment of the Court of Appeal of England & Wales in Akhter - v - Khan, an appeal brought by the Attorney General against the decision at first-instance to grant the petitioner wife, Akhter, a decree nisi, or provisional decree of divorce. The decision of the Court of Appeal was against the backdrop of the Law Commission holding a public consultation into the status at law of certain 'religious-only' marriages (including Islamic weddings) and whether, absent a contemporaneous or succeeding civil marriage, they are to be regarded as void (entitling petitioners to ancillary relief, such as spousal support) or 'non-marriages'.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 150-185
Author(s):  
Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

In 2013, in Lim Meng Suang and Kenneth Chee Mun-Leon v Attorney-General1 and Tan Eng Hong v Attorney-General,2 the High Court of Singapore delivered the first judgments in the jurisdiction considering the constitutionality of section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalizes acts of ‘gross indecency’ between two men, whether they occur in public or private. The Court ruled that the provision was not inconsistent with the guarantees of equality before the law and equal protection of the law stated in Article 12(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. The result was upheld in 2014 by the Court of Appeal in Lim Meng Suang and another v Attorney-General3 with slight differences in the reasoning. This article examines the courts’ analysis of equality law, and submits in particular that the courts ought to re-evaluate whether they should apply a presumption of constitutionality, refuse to assess the legitimacy of the object of the impugned provision, and rely on a standard of mere reasonableness or lack of arbitrariness when determining if a rational relation exists between the provision’s object and the differentia underlying a classification used in the provision.


2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 434-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cath Crosby

This article considers the basis upon which a person should be held to be criminally liable, and to do so, it is necessary to examine the leading theories of character and choice that underpin the State holding a person to be culpable of a criminal offence, i.e. the link between culpability and fault. The case of R v Kingston1 is used to examine the application of these leading theories and it is observed that choice theorists would not excuse such a defendant from criminal liability even though his capacity to make a choice to refrain from law breaking was made extremely difficult by external factors beyond his control. Only character theory could possibly offer exculpation in such circumstances on the basis that the defendant acted ‘out of character’ and his deed did not deserve the full censure and punishment of the criminal law. The Court of Appeal in R v Kingston would have been prepared to excuse, but the House of Lords, and most recently the Law Commission have adopted a pragmatic approach to the involuntarily intoxicated offender. This case serves as a reminder that while justice is the aim of the criminal justice system, it is not an absolute standard.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-271
Author(s):  
Emile Zitzke

In this article, I trace the development in the law of delict of recognising general damages claims on account of psychiatric lesions with the aim of making suggestions on how to transform it. Using the tragic case of Michael Komape as a springboard for the discussion, I argue that even though the Supreme Court of Appeal has recently brought clarity on the law on psychiatric lesions, more transformative work still needs to be done. More specifically, this article contends that the constitutional right to bodily and psychological integrity might require us to rethink the high evidentiary threshold that courts have set for proving the element of harm in cases related to psychiatric lesions. I argue that this can be done in at least three ways: First, by very cautiously bringing about a development that would involve protecting victims of psychological harm whose expert witnesses are shown to be inadequate despite all other facts indicating the existence of a psychiatric lesion. Secondly, by lowering the requirement of “recognised psychiatric lesion” to “grievous mental injury”, in line with similar arguments made in England. Thirdly, and most controversially, by acknowledging that perhaps the time has come for our law to recognise claims for so-called “grief in the air”.


2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun D. Pattinson

It is argued that the application of the doctrine of undue influence to patient's decisions in the context of medical treatment is ripe for development. The doctrine is capable of providing much needed protection for vulnerable patients if developed along lines suggested by its use in other contexts. Unfortunately, the Court of Appeal has recently missed an opportunity to develop the law in this way and it may be some time before another suitable opportunity is presented to the courts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
E. Yu. Boyko

The article is devoted to the directions of improvement of appeal proceedings in the civil process, identified in the analysis of legislation and practice of its application, in connection with the reform of the judicial system. The author not only considers the questions of implementation of the court of appeal of its powers, justifies the need for disclosure of criteria allowing the direction of the court of appeal the case for a new trial in the court of first instance, the limits of choice in the exercise of judicial discretion outside of the petition of appeal, the improvement of term of making a petition of appeal, eliminate of the term “appeal determination”, enshrined in the law of procedure of familiarization with the act court of appeal and its further complaints, but also indicates ways of solving them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 56-65
Author(s):  
Oktasari Putri Pramisela ◽  
Yulia Hesti

A crime or criminal act, usually perpetrators of criminals because of an encouragement based on the importance of fulfilling the necessities of life that is relatively difficult to fulfill. In principle the crime problem does not stand alone, but it relates to other issues such as social, economic, political and cultural which is as a phenomenon that affects each other. To tackle crimes and criminal acts such a thorough enforcement and anticipation policy is required. One of the most common criminal acts in the community is the violence of violent blackmail. Perpetrators can be assessed by the community, therefore it is necessary to be handled by the law enforcement officers intensively with the severity of the criminal that was dropped. The problem in this study is how the judge's consideration in dropping a criminal against perpetrators of criminal offenses with violence against motorcycles belonging to others, what are some factors causing perpetrators of criminal extortion with violence. The method of study used is the normative juridical approach and empirical approach obtained directly at the District Court of Kls II Kalianda, state Attorney of South Lampung. Based on the results of the study can be concluded that the judge's judgment in the criminal offence against the perpetrator of violent criminal offence is in accordance with the element contained in article 368 paragraph (1) of the criminal CODE and was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Factors affecting the cause of perpetrators of criminal extortion in violence are environmental factors, economic factors on society, the law enforcement. The advice given is to be expected to the Tribunal, the attorney general and the police in providing or establishing the article can be in accordance with its elements and actions, to the rationing punishment against the defendant is considered fair and give a deterrent effect so that the defendant can not repeat it again. There is cooperation between law enforcement and the community in minimizing the crimes that occurred.


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