Reference no: EM132285112

Analysis of a Legal Judgement

You are required to critically review the following legal judgement:

• NHS Trust and others (Respondents) v Y (by his litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) and another (Appellants) [2018] UKSC 46
In your analysis you should consider the following:
• Has the case been named?
• Has the court of jurisdiction been identified?
• Has whether this is trial hearing or an appeal been identified?
• Who are the parties involved in the case?
• What is the case about?
• What are the facts of the case?
• Why has the case been taken?
• What was the decision of the court?
• Were any rules or tests applied in the case?
• Did the case create any new tests or precedents?
• Has the case been appealed?
• What is the impact of the judgement?
• Was there any social or legal impact arising out of the decision of the court?
• Do you agree or disagree with the judgement - give your reasons.

READING CASE LAW By Mary Kirwan - Barrister at Law

How to Read a Legal Case
Reading and understanding cases or judgements can be difficult and a little overwhelming at first. To make it easier it is best to tackle it in two stages.

Stage 1: Read the Case
Firstly read the case from start to finish. At this point don't worry about understanding it. Don't get bogged down in legal terminology or concepts. You are simply aiming to get a feel for what the case about. Resist the urge to highlight or write anything down.

Stage 2: Re-Read & Write a Case Note
Now is the time for the highlighter and the pen! When reading the case for the second time you should make a case note.
A case note is a brief analysis of a case. It identifies the key elements of a decision and places them in context.

To write a case note as you re-read the case, answer the following 10 questions:

1. Start with the name and citation of the case e.g. Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91

2. Assess which court has jurisdiction? Where is the case being heard - Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Circuit Court or District Court. In the above example Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital [1989] IR 91 the case was initially heard in the High Court and subsequently appealed by the defendants to the Supreme Court.

3. Is this a trial hearing or is the case being heard on appeal?

4. Who are the parties involved in the case? Who is the plaintiff (the person taking the legal action) and who is the defendant (the person defending the legal action)? In the above example Dunne is the plaintiff and the National Maternity Hospital is the defendant.

5. What is the case about? Is it about medical negligence, consent, defamation, breach of confidentiality? Keep in mind there can be a few areas of law pleaded in a case e.g. the case could be about consent and medical negligence. Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital was a medical negligence action.

6. What are the facts of the case? Why has the case been taken? Irish court reports usually lay out the facts of the case at the start of the report. Layout may differ when reading cases from other jurisdictions.

7. What was the decision of the court? This is usually at the end of the report under the heading "Decision". Again sometimes you may have to work a little harder to find the decision within the body of the case. The layout may differ if reading cases from other jurisdictions.

8. Were any rules or tests applied in the case. Did the case create any new tests or precedents? e.g.The Dunne Principles arose out of Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital case.

9. Has the case been appealed or has either party been granted leave to appeal? If so it may override the decision and legal findings of the trial court e.g. Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital the case was appealed but on the 16th day of the appeal it settled out of court. The Supreme Court summarised and clarified the Dunne Principles.

10. What is the impact of the judgement? Evaluate if there is any social or legal impact arising out of the decision of the court e.g. in Dunne v. National Maternity Hospital the legal principles established now apply to all medical negligence actions.

You now have successfully analysed the case. As a result you should understand the facts of the case, the legal issues that arise within the case, what the decision was and any social or legal impact the case has had.

APPLYING LAW
How do you apply law to your legal analysis and writing?
The handy acronym IRAC widely used as a methodology for legal analysis.
IRAC stands for:
Issue
Rule
Application

Conclusion

1. Issue - Is there a legal issue or problem that needs to be addressed? If so, identify the issue.

2. Rule -Which rules or laws apply to your issue? Identify the international law, constitutional law, legislation, statutory instruments, case law (precedent) which apply to your case.

3. Application- You now analyse and apply the law that you have identified to your legal issue.

4. Conclusion-At this stage you can answer the legal problem you posed and draw your conclusions. You still may not be able to answer your initial legal question. An example would be where there is no legislation or case law governing the problem. In such a case you can draw your own conclusions as to how a court may decide.

Attachment:- Instuctions.rar