ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM & SKILLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM & SKILLS - Essay Example The initial grounds of appeal by the appellant was that he was denied his right to legal representation1 by the school board which amounted to gross violation of his rights under the European Convention on human Rights that among other rights provide for a right to a legal representation2. Legal issues upon which G’s case was heard at first instance The legal issue to be proved at first instance was whether there was any form of sexual contact between the claimant and the boy. They had to establish whether there was any form of improper contact that would attract disciplinary action against the claimant. On founding of a disciplinary action, a report would be forwarded to the Secretary of State to consider any future employment of the claimant especially in any employment position that would put him in any kind of contact with school going children. The panel should consider whether the actions constitute an abuse of trust of his implicit position in the school and consequentl y constituting gross misconduct. Legal issues identified in the appeal in the Supreme Court One of the legal issues that were identified by the Supreme Court was whether the claimant’s rights had been violated at the hearing in the first instance. It has to consider whether the denial of the claimant’s legal representation amounted to a violation of his rights. The claimant had been denied representation by his counsel in the hearings at the tribunal. In fact the tribunal went ahead to make a decision having denied her this right. In any case involving the determination of a person’s civil rights as well as obligations of any criminal charge against him, he is entitled to a public and fair hearing that should be conducted within a reasonable time by an impartial and independent tribunal that has been established by law. Another principle issue for determination is the question on determining the kind of connection that is required to exist between the proceeding s in A that do not determine civil rights and obligation and proceedings B which determined civil rights and obligation. The court has to determine whether the connection is strong enough to determine the proceeding’s outcome. Another issue for determination was whether the proceeding by ISA which went ahead to include his name in the children barred list would violate his rights under article 6 (1). Another issue for the Supreme Court to determine was what statutory regulation to apply. Regulation 4 of 2003 regulations could not apply in a case where the secretary had not invited representations by 20th January 2009. The Ratio ‘decidendi’ in the case An appeal can be made to the Supreme Court only on the grounds that the ISA has erred on a point of law or erred in a finding of a fact that it has made and the decision was based on that finding of fact. The decision on whether it was in order for an individual to be included in a barred list is not a question of l aw or fact as per section 4(3). The court decided this case based on the decision in Austrian case3 that held that it must be shown that the dispute relates to civil rights and obligations. Relevance of Article 6 (1) of the European Convention to this case This Article safeguards a person’s right to a fair trial. The article in criminal cases as well as in civil cases safeguards the right to a