Legal System of Ireland

According to Business Dictionary (2017), the legal system refers to a regime in the legal framework of a country. It consists of following five entities:

• An oral or/and written constitution.
• Primary legislation endorsed by lawmaking body which is established by the Constitution.
• Supplementary legislation prepared by organization or person who is authorized by primary legislation.
• Applications of customs by courts on the groundwork of traditional practices.
• Principles and application of Roman, common, civil or any other code of law.

Dainow (1966) explains that every legal system, in its respective society, has the similar function, as any other legal system, of balancing and regulating its human movement and it is the same system which not only forms the cultural norms, civilization and history but also the life of people living in it. Nevertheless, there are many distinctions and similarities between different legal systems of territories and countries because of various events of various kinds in history (ibid).

Generally, there are two main legal systems establishments in the world, which are basically often a central part of comparative law studies. These two systems are known as civil and common law legal systems. The practice of common law appeared and was acted upon from the middle era age and was subsequently spread and validated across British colonies all over the world (University of California n.d.). The civil law was developed in the main continent of Europe, during the same era of common law development as well, by European monarchs such as Spain and Portugal and was spread out to their colonies. Later on, during the 1800s and 1900s, countries with unique legal customs also embraced civil law as well in order to get economical and political power and be competitive to Western European nations and examples of such countries are Japan and Russia (ibid).

This piece of writing will be discussing the legal system of Ireland and Spain. Furthermore, three aspects of law and their implication for international hospitality and tourism will be thoroughly explored and discussed.

The Irish legal system belongs to, a family of legal systems, common law.  Common law legal system gives significant importance to decisions made by courts on previous legal cases and decisions (Byrne & McCutcheon 2001). This results in lawyers working in the jurisdiction of common law to have an extensive knowledge and work closely with case-law. Additionally, Irish courts are obliged to abide by the principal of stare-decisis, which means the previous court decisions (The bar of Ireland n.d.).

As per (Nicell), there are four sources, in Ireland, which influence Irish Law:

Constitution:

The Constitution of Ireland was endorsed in the year 1937 which is actually an essential legal document, through a string of  50 articles, outlining how the country should be administered. In Ireland, the Constitution is titled as “Bunreacht na hEireann” (Citizen Information 2015). It is the Constitution, which sets out the branches of the government in Ireland and also narrates the basic rights of citizens of the country. Bunreacht na hEireann not only establishes the courts but also makes sure how these establishments should operate. An important article of Irish Constitution affirms that national parliament, Oireachtas, will not be able to endorse any law which is abhorrent to Constitution and that such law will be invalid. However, according to article 46, if the change or amendment in Constitution is necessary, the proposal for modification should be commenced by Irish National Assembly, Dáil Éireann (The All-Party Oireachtas Committee On The Constitution 2005). Then, if the bill is passed by the Oireachtas, Constitution bestows the general public a veto through a referendum to approve or disapprove by majority to change the Constitution. The Irish President, if approved by majority of people, then signs the bill and it becomes the part of Constitution (ibid).

Legislation:

As per  Byrne & McCutcheon (2009), the wellspring of law known as Legislation comprises of measures which are sanctioned by an authoritative organ in a way which is endorsed by a Constitutional equation

To be asked to summarize or to be discussed with teacher

 

References

Byrne, R. & McCutcheon, J.P., 2009. The Irish Legal System 5th ed., Dublin: Bloomsbury Professional (Ireland).

Byrne, R. & McCutcheon, J.P., 2001. The Irish legal system 4th ed., Dublin: Butterworths (Ireland).

Citizen Information, 2015. Constitution. www.citizensinformation.ie. Available at: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/irish_constitution_1/constitution_introduction.html [Accessed March 19, 2017].

Dainow, J., 1966. The Civil Law and Common Law : Some Points of Comparison. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 15(3), p.419.

University of California, n.d. The Common Law and Civil Law Traditions. www.law.berkeley.edu. Available at: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/CommonLawCivilLawTraditions.html [Accessed March 16, 2017].

The All-Party Oireachtas Committee On The Constitution, 2005. Amending The Constitution. Available at: http://archive.constitution.ie/amending-the-constitution/default.asp?UserLang=EN [Accessed March 20, 2017].

The bar of Ireland, n.d. The Courts System. www.lawlibrary.ie. Available at: https://www.lawlibrary.ie/Legal-Services/The-Courts-System.aspx [Accessed March 16, 2017].