Leducate Explains: What is a legal precedent
Leducate now has articles explaining how laws are made in parliament along with an article explaining the separation of powers. We would like to explain the principle of precedent and why it is important.
Some ideas of what to include:
How is the UK court system set up?
Supreme, high, county etc.
What are the differences between judge seniority?
Lords, Circuit, Recorders, District
Why is this important?
What is precedent?
How does this enable the legal system to function?
Why did this exist - when laws were created by judges
Examples of precedent - e.g. the definition for murder still exists solely in precedent - Justice Coke.
The above are guides of what we think will fit well in the article but are not prescriptive. The aim of the article is to give the reader an idea of how the judicial system works and what precedent is in that context.
The article should be ~750 words and should be an accessible explanation of the issue, in simple terms for to engage 16-18-year-olds without a legal background.
NOTE: We have found that it is essential for articles of this kind to be written with limited legal terms, and to be clearly defined when they are used, to make them as accessible as possible. We would ask, therefore, to limit complex legal jargon to ensure that the article is easily digestible by the targeted audience.
Remember - The law can be scary, at Leducate we hope to make it as accessible as possible!
Be sure to let us know if you are interested in writing this article below.