Daily Report 29.10.2015

Smt. Ligi, teacher of Legal language and legal writing came to the class in the first hour. A doubt was raised whether Legal writing and legal language was included in the first semester, because this paper was not included in the syllabus as told by Smt. Premalatha, teacher of Law of Torts yesterday. Smt. Ligi replied that she was under instruction of Principal to teach this topic and that she was also not sure whether the syllabus of first semester includes the same. In the first post we had given the link to the 3 year LLB syllabus of the University of Calicut as available from the University site. The details as available from the site are as follows.

FIRST SEMESTER (3 YEAR LL.B. COURSE)
Sl.No	Paper No.	Name of Paper	Duration	Marks W/IA	Total Marks
1	CP-01	Legal Language & Legal Writing	3 Hrs	80/20	100
2	CP-02	Law of Contracts-1	3 Hrs	80/20	100
3	CP-03	Law of Torts	3 Hrs	80/20	100
4	CP-04	Jurisprudence	3 Hrs	80/20	100
5	CP-05	Code of Civil Procedure - I	3 Hrs	80/20	100
6	CP-06	Consumer Protection Law	3 Hrs	80/20	100
Total			600 Marks
W – Written Examination IA - Internal Assessment – Marks to be distributed as follows. 5 Marks – Attendance (Refer Item No.2 of the Guidelines for Internal Assessment for further details). 10 Marks –Class Room Assignments: Eg. Written Assignments/Seminar Debates etc. 5 Marks – Test Paper

Thus the University syllabus includes Legal language and legal writing but not Family Law 1 as stated by Smt. Premalatha, teacher of Law of Torts.

If the above information is still correct our topics and teachers for the first semester shall be as follows.

1	CP-01	Legal Language & Legal Writing	Smt.  Ligi
2	CP-02	Law of Contracts-1	Smt. Suma
3	CP-03	Law of Torts	Smt. Premalatha
4	CP-04	Jurisprudence	Smt. Premsy
5	CP-05	Code of Civil Procedure - I	Smt. Praseeda
6	CP-06	Consumer Protection Law	Smt. Smitha

Smt. Ligi then taught us the following points.

1.       You may find some legal terms in the syllabus of 5 yeal LLB English. Learning those words alone shall be sufficient for Legal language and legal writing for 3 year LLB students.

2.       There are two types of acts namely substantive acts and procedural acts

3.       There are 511 sections in the substantive act Indian Penal Code 1860 (IPC). Lord Macaulay has drafted it.

4.       IPC contains offences and their punishments. Punishments are imprisonments with or without fine.

5.       The procedural law of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) is the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Knowledge of the Criminal Rules of Practice is also necessary.

6.       CivilProcedure Code, 1908 and Civil Rules of Practice are the corresponding codes in the civil side.

7.       There is no internal minimum for a pass in the three year LLB course. But 10% internal marks are necessary in for a pass in the five year LLB course.

8.       The practice in the college is to give internal marks for each paper in 3 year LLB are as follows.

5 marks for attendance

5 marks for submission of assignments

5 marks for the presentation of assignments.

5 marks for test papers / internal examinations.

Now the practice is to fix an Internal Examination Week to complete the internal tests. This is to end all illegal practices in the Examination.

For a pass in LLB 50% marks are necessary.

9.       If the attendance falls to 65% to 75% a student may apply for condoning of attendance and if the student has less than 65% attendance, he shall undergo detention, that is sit with the junior batch. Practically this will take off at least two semesters as admission is available only once in a year.

10.   The teacher did not answer properly whether medical certificates may do any good in these cases.

11.   During the process of legislation the law makers can only see the anticipated events and they lack the practical cases. But the judiciary has practical events before them, necessitating judicial interpretation of statutes.

12.   There are two main types of judicial interpretations namely Literal Interpretation and Golden Interpretation. Literal Interpretation often fails to bring justice. Then Golden Interpretation is applied in accordance with the facts and circumstances of the case. Such interpretations may bring people justice.

13.   Legislature, executive and judiciary do not function in water-tight compartments and they may overlap their jurisdiction examples are ordinances and introduction of new guidelines by courts etc.

14.   There are numerous hazardous steps in the making of law. In times of urgency, the executive may promulgate an ordinance.

The first hour ended there and Smt. Smitha, teacher for Consumer Protection Laws came in the second hour. Her lecture contained the following points.

1.       As per the legal maxim  caveat emptor, the manufacturer had no liability.

2.       As per Laissez-faire policy state had no role in contractual relationships.

3.       The position of the consumers then was very vulnerable to exploitation.

4.       Consumers were uninformed laymen.

5.       Without adequate information, taking due care was impossible.

6.       This situation gave rise to consumer movement to protect their rights.

7.       The consumer movement took origin in the United States of America mainly in the fields of food products and meat products. U.S.A. Government started legislation to assure safety and quality in these products.

8.       When the electronic products were launched in the market, they even affected human life. So safety became prominent and laws were made in this regard.

9.       In a presidential speech John F. Kennedy, then President of the U.S.A., on March15th, 1962 (now celebrated as the World Consumer Day) recognized four consumer rights namely

1.       Right to Safety

2.       Right to Information

3.       Right to Choose

4.       Right to Fair Hearing

As a result of further consumer movement four additional rights were also recognized namely,

5.       Right to Redress

6.       Right to Healthy Environment

7.       Right to Consumer Education
8.   The right to satisfaction of basic needs

10.   Right to Safety : Every product shall not injure the consumer when the directions as prescribed by the manufacturer are followed.

11.   Right to Information : Information for the proper use should be given to the consumers. Eg. Do not put in direct sunlight.

12.   Right to Choose : Consumers must have a right to choose from among many manufacturers. This right is against monopolization of products. State shall make laws to restrict monopoly.

13.   Right to Fair Hearing : Whenever there is a change in the policy of the Government affecting the consumers, Government shall hear the opinion of the consumers.

14.   Right to Redress : If the manufacturer neglects their duty to give quality products to the consumers, consumers have a right to redress including right to sue against the manufacturer.

15.   Right to Healthy Environment : No manufactured product should threaten the healthy environment.

16.   Right to Consumer Education : Consumers should have the knowledge of their rights and privileges. The right to satisfaction of basic needs : This right demands that people have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water, and sanitation.

17.   In 1985 UN General Assembly passed  a resolution regarding the consumer rights and issued a guideline to protect the rights of the consumers (United Nations Guidelines forConsumer Protection ). These guidelines prescribe steps to be taken by Governments to protect the consumers against exploitation and monopoly of manufacturers/ sellers. All the member countries of U.N. shall be liable to follow these guidelines.

18.   In Great Britain the consumer rights were protected under tortuous remedy. According to Law of Torts consumers were able to approach courts and get remedies. The Judgments in consumer cases were considered under Law of Torts.

19.   Donoghuev. Stevenson 1932 case is considered as the bible of consumer protection. A lady and her boy friend entered in a beer parlour to drink some ginger drinks. The lady opened a bottle and drank some of the drink and poured the rest in a glass wherein she saw to her astonishment a decomposed snail. She suffered physical and mental agony. Then the Boy friend Donoghue sued the manufacturer of the drink M/s Stevenson.

The company argued that they had no contract with the consumers. According to the law of contract only a party to contract can sue against a breach of contract. This principle is called the Privity of Contract. Here sale was a contract between the retailer and the consumer. The company argued that the manufacturer had no contract with the consumer.

The court found that the manufacturer when making a product was liable to the ultimate consumer. When the manufacturer makes a product he has a duty to ensure the safety of the ultimate consumer. His duties are twofold 1. To contemplate and 2. To ensure.

In this case the bottle was opaque and it was not seen from outside. There was no chance at all for the interference of any other person in the product.

This case remained as the base of all consumer protection cases.

20.   Prior to Donoghue v. Stevenson 1932 dishonesty alone made the manufacturer liable to the consumer. In that case the manufacturer was not dishonest, but was only reckless and negligent.

21.   Then a question was raised, “If dishonesty is the main element, has that dishonest action come under Criminal Law?”

22.   The answer was, “Mental element is applicable both in Criminal Wrong and Civil Wrong.”

When asked Smt. Smitha replied that the students may use any reference texts and that she has no recommendation.

The second hour ended there Smt. Praseeda, teacher of Civil Procedure Code came in for the third hour.

As an introduction she said that the information she gives now may not be available from text books. Her points were,

1.       Suppose you students agree to sell your class room to your teacher and refuse to do so later, she can only take civil action against the students.

2.       Civil Procedure Code is a Procedural Law.

3.       SubstantiveLaw defines the rights, duties and obligations.

4.       Procedural or practical application of Substantive Law is called Procedural Law.

5.       Criminal Procedural Code is the Procedural Law of Indian Penal Code.

6.       All the laws are interconnected.

7.       In a Civil case, an interested party may plead himself or through an advocate.

8.       Article39A of Constitution provides free legal aid to the poor.

9.       An offence/ crime against a single person is considered as an offence/ crime against the whole society and thus State takes up the role of the petitioner.

10.   The Procedural Law of the Substantive Law Indian Contract Act is Civil Procedure Code.

11.   THE NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES ACT, 1985 (NDPS Act), ThePrevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 , Kerala Building Lease and Rent Control Act, 2013 are substantive Laws.

12.   In the monitory case of a promissory note the aggrieved party may approach a Civil Court.

13.   As per Section 420 of IPC a cheating case may be taken under criminal law on the dishonour of a cheque.

14.   Civil and Criminal cases may be initiated simultaneously in a cheque dishonour case.

15.   In a case of dispute on land, a Civil Court may be approached.

16.   Units of the following law are called as follows

Constitution             Article

Act                         Section

Rule                        Rule

Manual                    Para

17.   Smt. Praseeda then raised a problem before us that a if A gives B money without any evidence and on default by B where can A approach? The students are asked to give answer in her next class.

Smt. Suma, teacher of Law of Contracts came to the class in the fourth hour and taught the following.

1.       There is difference between right and damage.

2.       If you are an aggrieved person, you can access the appropriate authority for damages against the infringement of your rights.

3.       All other persons have a duty to protect the right of a person.

4.       Aggrieved person is a person whose right is infringed. He can approach the appropriate forum.

5.       A court shall always ask, “What type of remedy do you need?”

6.       Defamation stands as a crime under Section 499 of IPC. It stands as a civil wrong under Law of Torts.

7.       If the nature of the remedies arising out of the same cause of action is different, the aggrieved parties have the right to approach for all these remedies.

8.       Damages may be awarded as compensation plus restitution.

9.       Court has discretionary powers.

10.   Restitution is taking back to the previous position.

11.   The cases of compensation and restitution are civil.

12.   The difference of Tort and Contract is that in Contract the compensation is for liquidated damages. But in Tort the discretionary power of the Court is upheld.

13.   There are two types of Rights, namely Right in Rem and Right in person.

14.   If  A has a property of 10cents, A has many rights such as the right to title, right to property, right to protection, right to peaceful enjoyment, right to dispose etc. It is the duty of the whole world to protect the right of A. Such a right that has to be upheld by the whole world is called a Right of Rem.

15.   Right in Person is a case where a person / some persons only are liable to protect the right of a person.

16.   CivilRights are a combination of Right in Rem and Right in Person. They are always clubbed together.

17.   Indian Contract Act 1872 was drafted by James Stephen.

18.   Before 1872 the common law principles were applied in the case of agreements/ contracts.

19.   Equity, fairness and consciousness etc were the main aspirations of common law.

20.   In issues where Indian Contract Act is silent, common law shall be applied in contracts.

21.   Each and every clause of Indian Contact Act are the outcome of the precedents of the English Courts.

22.   Sometimes the court has a law making power where statute is silent.

23.   That ratio (ratio decidenti) will stand as a law in the succeeding years in the same nature of cases in lower courts.

24.   Cessation of the law made by court may happen in the cases of

1.       Subsequent legislation

2.       Revision by the Court issuing that ratio or its superior court.

25.   Law has many sources such as 1. Precedents 2. Customs and usages

26.   Sometimes customs overcome statutes.

27.   We may even refer to foreign laws in case the statute is silent.

28.   There shall always be a base case law and subsequent latest case laws that all students must know.

Morning session concluded and there was no class in the afternoon.