Sebastian Su Kar Wai

This is a module that I have generally found insightful and illuminating. My justification for claiming so lies in the belief that each lesson has imparted upon me valuable knowledge of the Legal Structure and Operation in the United Kingdom, which greatly resonates with that of Malaysia. The legal systems of both countries are largely analogous and provide a historical context and understanding to each other. With the love of history I've always had, coupled with my intentions to practice law upon qualifying as a lawyer, this module took on particular importance to me. A video attached below summarizes the topic of judicial precedent in six minutes, which I believe to one of the more important topics in the study of the English Legal System. While carrying out study to better comprehend the English Legal System, I have come to realize that the court structure and hierarchy, as well as the certainty the law provides through the principle of res judicata by following the key legal principles (ratio decidendi) of judgements in higher courts is the backbone of the practical operation of the English Legal System. I gained a lot of knowledge from the case law in Judicial Precedent, as I understood how the doctrine was applied firsthand in cases and the exceptions which allow for greater flexibility in instances where a legal principle is wrongly applied, as set out in the case of Young v Bristol Aeroplane (1944). Other key components of English Law I learned were the court hierarchy and the Supreme Court's usage of the Practice Statement. The development of this knowledge will no doubt enable me to compare and contrast the English Legal System with the Malaysian Legal System upon completion of Semester 2, but also to understand the foundation of the system from which the Malaysian Legal System was derived from and critically evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, for example, the great financial expense to take a case to court and its rigidity deter people from pursuing court cases they may know the outcomes too, which may constitute a benefit; but it means that the Law experiences a slowness in growth for the above reasons as well, since cases are expensive and lower courts are bound by the decisions of higher courts. It is analysis and evaluations such as this which supplement my knowledge on other areas of law to give me a better and fuller picture of what the law is and how it works in reality. The reason I believe that the English Legal System is particularly important when practising law is due to its practical and informative nature. While subjects like Contract and Tort Law expose me to legal principles, that alone is insufficient other areas of knowledge, such as how the Criminal and Civil court hierarchies work, how judges and magistrates are selected and trained, and what is needed to qualify as a solicitor and barrister in the United Kingdom. This knowledge is crucial in making me a better, more knowledgeable lawyer who is able to describe and understand the legal system, instead of just blindly following it, for example, knowing how magistrates are selected and trained puts to rest doubts about their supposed inexperience when compared to High Court and Court of Appeal judges. My opinions on the legal system are also more substantive and more pronounced given this information, such as how it is extremely expensive to qualify as a barrister in the United Kingdom and the candidates who usually end up studying for the Bar are not representative of the legal community as they usually are from elitist backgrounds, resulting in a barrier to entry being formed.