Author: Reese Bannister

The concept of insanity differs from medical to legal, and it is not that every form of insanity or madness which is recognised by law is a sufficient evidence to excuse.A man may be suffering from some form of insanity in the sense in which the term is used by medical men but may not be suffering from unsoundness of mind as described in Section 84.If the facts showed that the accused knew that he had done something wrong, it did not matter how, though he might be insane from the medical point of view, he could not be exonerated under Sec. 84. image source: pcwallart.com ADVERTISEMENTS: Medical insanity means “the accused’s consciousness of the bearing of his act on those affected by it”.Legal insanity means “the accused’s consciousness in…

The term “property” is used in different senses. In its most comprehensive sense it includes those things, whether animate or inanimate, which belong to a person. It includes all legal rights of whatever description. In this sense a person’s life, liberty, reputation and estate constitute his property. Image Source: i.ytimg.com ADVERTISEMENTS: This usage has become obsolete and finds place only in the works of the older jurists like Blackstone, Hobbes and Locke.In its narrower sense it means only proprietary rights but not personal rights. Thus, land, chattels, shares, debts, copyright, etc., constitute one’s property but not his life, liberty or reputation. In this sense, property includes any right, which has an economic value.In its oldest and narrower sense the term “property” includes nothing more than corporeal property, i.e., the ownership…

The authority of judicial precedent, observes Salmond, has always been a distinguishing charac­teristic of English law and the great body of the common or unwritten law is almost entirely the product of decided cases enshrined in various law reports. Image Source: britishconstitutiongroup.comA judicial precedent in England has authority of law it is not merely evidence of law but is its source and the courts must follow it when established. Neither Roman law nor any other modern system of law allows such importance or authority to precedent. ADVERTISEMENTS: Professor Kecton observes that the following of precedent is easier in England than in many other countries, firstly, because the system of justice is centralized and there is a comparatively small number of reported cases; secondly, because there is no written con­stitution which…

Precedent is common parlance means anything said or done which furnishes a rule for subsequent conduct. According’ to Osborn, precedent is a judgment or decision of a court of law cited as an authority for deciding, a similar set of facts. It is a case which serves as an authority for the legal principle embodied in its decisions. Image Source: eclnotes.laws.londoninternational.ac.ukIt is a fundamental principle of judicial practice of Anglo-Americium legal system that the decision of a court should have binding force on subsequent judicial decisions. It is, however, only the ratio decided (reason for decision) that has the force of saw; obiter dicta (statements of law which go beyond the requirements of the case) “do not even bind the lips that utter them”. ADVERTISEMENTS: As Salmond observes, the concrete…