Critically analyse and discuss in depth aspects of enterprise Essay

Critically analyse and discuss in depth aspects of enterprise - Essay Example The tough rules and regulations for starting a business have been liberalized by many countries in order to boost the domestic business as well as for attracting foreign direct investment. Business start ups have positive impacts on economical, political and social aspects and hence the business start ups are normally encouraged by many governments. Without the development of industry no country can able to develop. The yield from agriculture alone may not be sufficient enough for strengthening the economy. Moreover the agricultural yields depend on so many natural parameters and hence nobody can ensure a fixed income from agricultural yields. On the other hand industrial development or business development may help a nation in achieving economic targets and thereby a nation can stabilize the economic growth. â€Å"According to an EU study, benchmarking the then EU 15 Member States, in 2001 the average time to start-up a company in the EU 15 was 22 days and the cost â‚ ¬ 827. At the base of this process lays the fact that countries with lesser administrative burdens in the procedures required to create a company (cheaper and faster start-ups) have greater numbers of business start-ups.† (Start-up procedures - An overview, n.d) An average business can be set up within short time span if the rules and regulations of the country are liberalized. Most of the countries who previously administered strict rules for starting a business have liberalized their norms, realizing the importance of business in the development of economy. Through business, whatever the available resources in a country can be utilized effectively. The economy of a country develops only when all the resources of the country utilized in a positive manner. For example, India is a country having over a billion populations. Most of the youths in India are unemployed though they have good education.

Financial Statements Paper Part II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Statements Paper Part II - Essay Example here has been no reduction in equity of the company in year 2009 when compared with year 2008 so reduction in debt-equity ratio and debt ratio is attributed to lower debt component in year 2009. Lower debt-equity ratio reduces the risk of the company during difficult time as witnessed after the financial crisis of 2008. Major impact in the Home Depot’s performance has come in the form of interest coverage that has reduced in 2009 to just 6.98 times from the much safer coverage of 22.6 times in year 2008. This has also reduced its capacity to borrow more funds for business expansion. As far as revenue is concerned, the company reported sales of $77.3 billion in 2008; it has decreased to $71.228 billion in 2009. The company’s sales are in downward trends. It is apparent that the company’s businesses have been affected by the economic recession that set in after financial crisis in 2008-09. This reduction in revenue has also affected its return on assets that decreased significantly to 5.34% in year 2009 from 9.9% registered in 2008. Post 9/11 regulatory environment pertaining to information security has been quite rigorous. No company can afford to compromise with employee, customer and company data. Customers rely enormously on the company management and believe that their personal information and data will not get misused or compromised. It is true that any misappropriation of customer, employee or company data could endanger their reputation significantly resulting into financial losses apart from facing lawsuits by the affected people. Zoning regulations prevent use of property in a certain manner. Zoning regulations mean conforming to local land and building regulations and conduct businesses conforming to local laws. Zoning regulations also imposes certain conditions such as providing adequate parking facilities, timing of operations for doing business activities. Thus, zoning ordinances may impact the business activities of the company’s store in

Medical law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Medical law - Case Study Example The legal medical standards and ethical decision making styles in healthcare today are the predominant factors in caring for patients in an appropriate and caring manner. For many years now there have been intense debates concerning the ethical implications of euthanasia in medical care. The medical law has clearly defined that any form of euthanasia, including forms of assisted suicide or even discussion of suicide with a patient is unethical and morally wrong, not to mention illegal in the UK. Therefore despite the fact that euthanasia might at times appear to be the more humane way to control and perhaps provide sincere care to a patient, it is not something that is legally allowed within all of the countries that make up the geographic regions of the UK. Because of the legal boundaries involved with this form of medical care, many people travel great distances simply to have the ability to have their own wishes upheld. Also, there exists a great deal of confusion with the law and the comprehensive level of those contemplating euthanasia. Many citizens all around the UK don't fully understand what euthanasia entails and why it is considered by som e to be so unethical and immoral either. Euthanasia is a form of care that can be defined as, "either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma" (Bender et al 1989). The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death." Now, this short definition has been found to be a cause for debates all over the world, with specific emphases in the UK itself. Doctors, politicians, religious leaders, lawyers, and the general public argue over the legislation that would allow or forbid euthanasia. Currently, there are only two countries, which permit such "activity"; and these are the Netherlands and Belgium. As was said, citizens in countries such as England and Britain often travel to the Netherlands in particular to have their wishes to end their lives upheld. This is considered morally wrong by many as well because if an individual is suffering terribly from untreatable throat cancer and there is no way to extend their quality of life, then the q uestion is, "why make them suffer" Of course current UK legislation obviously does bring on a lot of heart ache for many of those in its borders. This is undoubtedly where some of the more differing viewpoints come into a clearer perspective. There also exists another subsidiary concept other than the basic form of euthanasia which is known as, "Passive Euthanasia" (Bender et al 1989). This form of euthanasia is understood to come into being when treatment to a patient is intentionally withheld or withdrawn to prolong life in many cases (Bender et al 1989). It is the notion of hastening the death of a person by altering some form of medical support that they are receiving and letting nature take its course that is an example of passive euthanasia. Some forms of this would be incidents that include repudiation of chemotherapy, radiation, antibiotics, and also the refusal of donor blood for needed transfusions. Also, stopping medications,

Earthquake in Japan Essay Example for Free

Earthquake in Japan Essay On March 11, 2011, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded hit Japans eastern coast. It killed hundreds of people as it made its way through the streets and fields, sweeping away boats, cars and homes. Its magnitude was 8.9, releasing a 23-foot tsunami and then provoking more than 50 aftershocks for hours. This horrific event resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and devastated entire towns. The amount of damage caused by the earthquake and resulting tsunami was excessive, with most of the damage being caused by the tsunami. Thousands of families were left without electricity. Many nuclear and conventional power plants went offline after the earthquake. Cell phones and landline services suffered major disruptions so many people weren’t able to communicate with their relatives across the country. Japans transportation was also affected. Expressways were damaged; cars and trucks were swept away by the tsunami and railway services cancelled. The earthquake was caused by an uplift of the sea floor, where the Pacific tectonic plate slides beneath the plate Japan sits on. This motion pulls the upper plate down until the stress builds up enough to cause a seismic event. Tons of miles of crust ruptured along the area where the tectonic plates meet. Since the earthquake occurred at a very shallow depth, much of its energy was released at the seafloor, therefore causing the tsunami that devastated Japan and causing chaos among the Japanese community. Even though Japan was said to be â€Å"prepared† for a natural disaster such as a tsunami by building protective walls, the large size of the water surge was completely unexpected. The tsunami walls were built based on much smaller tsunami heights recorded in the past. To the surprise of the Japanese people, the tsunami simply washed over the top of the seawalls, collapsing some in the process. The tsunami also caused a number of nuclear accidents. Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due cooling system failure. The tsunami waves overtopped seawalls and destroyed diesel backup power systems, leading to severe problems such as large explosions and radioactive leakage. It has been almost a year since the devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami destroyed coastal communities in northern Japan killing more than 15,000 people. What struck me the most about this tragedy is the reaction of the Japanese community and picturing what it would have been like to be present at that moment. I can simply imagine the terror in people’s faces trying to survive and doing everything they could to save their families and themselves. Even though thousands of people died, those who lived through this horrible experience can count with our total support and help from those who could not do anything at the moment and simply watched as Mother Nature, once again, did its job.

European Social Classes :: essays research papers

An unknown poet in the medieval times described the three social classes of European society of his time in this way: â€Å"One toils, one prays, and one defends.† Let us examine these social classes, their lives and what part they played in building their Europe. One Toils   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common place peasants were referred to as toilers, because they held the base positions of workers (farmers, welders, herders, barbers). Their lives consisted of ever changing working assignments that were dictated by season and need by superior officials (clergy or political). Their homes were of simple design made of wood frames, which were stuffed with straw and rubber then plastered over with clay. The roof was simply thatched together. Homes of the poorer had but one room, while others consisted of two, one for eating and activities and one for sleeping. Their food was adequate if resources permitted, grown from their own backyard and meat was only consumed on special occasions because it was not readily available. An interesting fact was that the bread that the peasants grew was highly nutritious because it contained not just wheat and rye but it was also made with barley, millet, and oats. These grains served another purpose as well, they were used to m ake ale. Ale was the poor man’s liquor, and according to records a large sum was consumed and was responsible for a lot death tolls in medieval court records. All in all the â€Å"toilers† were a simple people, but in their simplicity were the foundation of European for who sewed the clothes together to clothe the superiors and who grew the food that was fed to the superiors. One Prays   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is an obvious description of the clergy of Europe. A strong example of how important religion was to Europe was and still is the Gothic Cathedral, it ascended stretched out to the heavens, symbolic of the people’s passion for God. The cathedral was build through the hands of everyone in the community, some by using their architectural skills, others by donating the needed funds for completion of the project. Sound management by the popes, along with new characteristics of religious life, made the Catholic church a forceful authority in every area of European citizen’s life. One Defends   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The defenders of Europe, her soldiers, ever changing the flow of their motherland. The role of solders was clear. As seen in the many battles that formed Europe.

The Deaf Identitiy

The Deaf Identity Ones sense of self, or perception of one’s self, is put together throughout the childhood years; relating to any number of characteristics. These could be gender identity, racial identity, involvement in academics, involvement in sports, and many others. These are some of the key parts to building one’s identity, or the understanding of one’s unique characteristics and how they have been, are, and will be manifested across ages, situations, and social roles.But what happens when a part of your identity is associated with your ability to hear or not. How does one establish a healthy identity of themselves when most the views of hard-of-hearing or deafness is negative? One study conducted in South Africa concluded that the deaf identity is not a static concept; but that it is a complex ongoing quest for belonging, bound up with the acceptance of being deaf and â€Å"finding one’s voice† in a hearing dominate society (McIlroy & Storbe ck, 2011).This concept correlates more with James Marcia’s Theory of Identity Achievement over Erik Erikson’s fifth stage of psychosocial development based on the fact that sometimes the Deaf identity does not develop until post-adolescence, even in children who were born deaf. Marcia’s theory acknowledges that sometimes the quest for one’s identity can span one’s lifetime, therefore also breaking Erikson’s rigid rules of the identity developing in adolescence.When the Deaf identity has been developed it too has a range of meaning for those involved in the process. In the South Africa study, it was founded that there are four static identities; deaf, Deaf, negative/ambiguous, and bicultural Deaf. These identities are formed through a myriad of experiences. Whether the child was born to a hearing family, born to a Deaf family, went to school in a mainstream hearing school, or attended a Deaf school, and the person’s personal preferred method of communication.Many Deaf children of Deaf families are born into a household of signing and of knowledge of the Deaf culture; this person most likely will assume the Deaf Identity. This person will experience the least amount of crisis when it comes to identity. But being a Deaf child of a Deaf adult is such a low occurrence that coming to this identity is not that easy. There are three general factors, for deaf children, which directly link to their identity; the attitudes of the parents, the mode of communication which aides in the social interaction with family and later ith peers, and the child’s linguistic competence (Kossewska, 2008). The first few years of a child’s life are the most critical for development and begin to reinforce the general factors that impact their identity. A deaf child born to hearing parents may struggle with language and literacy development most of their life. If their parents choose to enroll their child in a mainstream school and stress oralism, then the child will have a more negative view of their deafness due to the struggles they go through to obtain spoken language.This may lead to a ‘negative/ambiguous’ or ‘deaf’ identity because the person does not truly identify with their deafness as a part of who they are. Another deaf child born to hearing parents could end up in a deaf school, where the child will learn a signed language and maybe the family will take classes as well. With a child who is not struggling to obtain language and letting their life happen as it happens, is more likely to accept their deafness as a part of who they are and develop a ‘bicultural Deaf’ or a ‘Deaf’ identity, depending on how influential the hearing family is.And a child born into a Deaf family with proud Deaf identities will likely go to a Deaf school and develop the same Deaf identity as their family. A study done in Poland with 67 deaf adolescents and 93 hearing ch ildren were asked â€Å"Who Am I? † to investigate the factors influencing the deaf identity in adolescence. While â€Å"it was found that deaf adolescents used more descriptions especially in the following categories: Civil Status, Body and Physical Appearance, Taste and Activities, Friendship and Relationships, Personal and Social Situations, Negative Personal Traits, and Neutral Personality Traits.Deaf adolescents use as many abstract concepts to describe themselves as the hearing do, but they use more negative personal traits† (Kossewska, 2008). Why is it that the Deaf children are harder on themselves than the hearing? Is this a blatant clue that society as a whole looks down on this group of people and even the children can feel it? Children have been known to feel anger and resentment towards their hearing parents for forcing oralism upon them when there was a world of people just like them out there.A strong sense of heritage and feeling of belonging can develo p when children are a part of a community they can identify with. Sadly this doesn’t always happen in the earlier stages of life. This is also where one may go through an identity crisis and shift from ‘deaf’ to ‘Deaf’ or ‘bicultural. ’ â€Å"In discussing how bicultural identities may be understood, Ladd defines Deafhood as a process of claiming one’s Deaf identity with dignity† (McIlroy & Storbeck, 2011). In the South Africa study, all of the participants were 23 years of age and older; the oldest being 55 years old.In the study, all those who were born to hearing families, attended mainstream schools, but learned SASL (South African Sign Language) identified themselves deaf, but not until later in life. Those who never learned SASL, or any other signed language, never identified themselves with their deafness and had a negative/ ambiguous identity. Lastly, those born Deaf to Deaf families identified as Deaf. Not one part icipant in this study identified them self as Bicultural, but that is not to say it doesn’t exist. The establishment of the Deaf Identity is a tricky and sometimes rocky path for the majority of children who identify as deaf.They have so many hurdles to overcome in their journey to establishing their own identity that is one with who they are. From family life, to socialization, to academics, to identifying with their hearing loss or not, these people work hard and might experience more identity crises than average hearing person. But once they have established that identity there is no doubt that it has something to do with their hearing status. It would be a better world to spread the word about the Deaf Community to help the future to identify with their Deafness.

Sources of English Law

Sources of English Law By Christopher Richards 9/11/09 Executive Summary In this report I will be discussing the English Legal System, its structure and its primary sources. English law and its legal structure forms the basis of many countries common law legal system, this includes most commonwealth countries and the United States. English law falls into two broad categories: Civil law – derived from Roman law, it is applied when â€Å"wrongs† have been made against individuals; it is also know as a claim or an action. Criminal law – first instrumented following the Norman Conquest of 1066, Its offences relate to â€Å"wrongs† against property and, or persons which affects the whole community, it is often referred to as prosecution.. I will explain why the methods and tools of statutory interpretation are necessary for the correct implement of statutes and how judicial president formed the backbone of English common law. Introduction The English legal system stems from The Norman Conquest, William of Normandy invaded England in 1066 and upon successfully defeating his adversary he gained the crown of England. William formed the fist basic government â€Å"The King’s Councilâ€Å"(Magnum Concilium) comprised of Lords, Bishops, Barons and other trusted figures Who’s advice which the monarch relied on. Introduced the separation of lay courts and church courts with a binding jurisdiction leading to church law i. e. : clergy were tried in there own courts. As the Monarch William owned all of England with lords, bishops and barons possessing land as tenants or sub tenants, this prompt the introduction of Feudalism of land tenure and judicial activity. Common law† would be established by Judges discussing conduct and behaviour throughout the land, still at this point no legislation was ever written down. Further changes arise, these includes the advancement of â€Å"Case law† setting precedent through facts of similar cases that have already been decided so that it can be judged equally, additionally the hierarchy of binding precedents and court structure. Statutory Interpretation Some statutes have a vague or misleading words or phrases many with homonyms which can make the process of implementing the correct ruling a difficult one, A few areas to look at are a Broad term (words that are used to cover many possibilities), Ambiguity (were the word has two or more meanings and its not defining in which one should be used), a drafting error (an error that was made when drafting the bill or when it was amended), new developments (developments in technology means that old acts may not cover present day situations) and use of language( words that have changed in meaning over time), this is why statutory interpretation as a tool is so important, it allows judges to look at statutes and deduce the true reasoning behind it, there are three methods which are used to do this. Literal Rule This is the most commonly used construction and takes precedent over the following rules; it means to take words written into the statute literally in the sense that if the words are clear then they should be applied. The literal rules had been scrutinised by many lawyers, and said to be â€Å"a rule against using intelligence in understanding language. Anyone who in ordinary life interpreted words literally, being indifferent to what the speaker or writer meant would be regarded as a pedant, a mischief-maker or an idiot†. An example of this is in the Hotel Proprietors act 1956, it provides that the hotel proprietor is liable for loss of or damage to guests’ property, but does not extend to guest vehicles or property left â€Å"therein† , so does the proprietor fall liable to property left on, rather than inside the vehicle ? Interpreted literally yes, the proprietor is liable, because if the act had intended to exclude property left on a vehicle the act would have said â€Å"therein or thereon† so great care must be applied when using this rule. The Golden Rule The golden rule is very much a modification to the literal rule, whereas instead of taking the literal meaning the courts will use a narrow or a wide approach of interpreting the word to avoid an absurd result. If the Narrow approach is applied it would usually be because the word themselves lead to an absurd result for example if there is a sign that say â€Å"do not use lifts in case of a fire† interpreted literally it would mean â€Å"to never use lifts, in case of a fire† which would lead to an absurd result but clearly it is to prevent people from using the lifts if there is a fire nearby. The wide approach is were the word has only one meaning but the meaning could result in a repugnant situation, the wider golden rule would be applied to modify the words in the statute to avoid an unfair result this is shown in the case Re Sigsworth (1935) A son had murdered his mother then committed suicide, The mother had not made a will and under the Administration of justice act 1925 the son would been entitled to her inheritance, the decision had to be made weather her inheritance was to passed onto the mothers family or her son, there is no ambiguity of the act so due to the circumstances the judge used to golden rule to favour the mothers family rather than the son benefiting from his crime. this rule is favoured by Lord Wensleydale in the case of Grey vs. Pearson (1857) he stated â€Å"In construing statutes, and all written instruments, the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words is to be adhered to, unless that would lead to some absurdity or inconsistency with the rest of the instrument, in which case the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words may be modified, so as to avoid that absurdity or inconsistency, but not farther†. The Mischief rule This third rule gives a judge more discretion than either the literal or the golden rule. This rule requires the court to look to what the law was before the statute was passed in order to discover what gap or mischief the statute was intended to cover. The court is then required to interpret the statute in such a way to ensure that the gap is covered. The rule is shown in Heydon's Case (1584), where it was said that for the true interpretation of a statute, four things have to be considered: 1. What was the common law before the making of the Act. 2. What was the mischief and defect for which the common law did not provide. 3. What remedy Parliament hath resolved and appointed to cure the disease of the Commonwealth. 4. The true reason of the remedy, and then the office of the Judges is to make such construction as shall suppress the mischief and advance the remedy. An example of the mischief rule in use is found in the case of Corkery v Carpenter (1951). In 1951 Shane Corkery was sentenced to one month's imprisonment for being drunk in charge of a bicycle in public. The defendant was drunk and was pushing his pedal bicycle along Broad Street in Ilfracombe. He was charged under section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 with being drunk in charge of a carriage. The 1872 Act made no reference to bicycles. The court elected to use the mischief rule to decide the matter. The purpose of the Act was to prevent people from using any form of transport on a public highway whilst in a state of intoxication. The bicycle was a form of transport and therefore the user was correctly charged. Purposive approach This rule exceeds the mischief rule by not just looking for gaps in statutes but for judges to decide what parliament actually meant to achieve. One of the true supporters of this rule is Lord Denning, his attitude towards this rule is shown in the case of Magor and St Mellons v Newport Corporation (1950) â€Å"We sit here to find out the intention of parliament and carry it out, and we do this better by filling in the gaps and making sense of the enactment than by opening it up to destructive analysis† This approach does have its drawbacks and many a judge has voiced its shortcomings saying that, should judges refuse to follow the clear words of parliament and how do they know what parliament’s intentions were? Summary Statutory interpretation as tool is paramount, without it, statutes that were written 100 years ago just wouldn’t be able to be implemented unless statutory interpretation was used. It allows judges and Lords the flexibility to look into statutes and decide whether it is still fair to implement, to break down statues and to interpret how they were original intended, additional if bills hav e been written incorrectly the judge can use statutory interpretation to avoid absurd results and not make a mockery of the English Legal System. Rules of Language Eiusdum generis (of the same kind) In addition to the rules above, the courts also rely on rules of language to assist in statutory interpretation. Firstly, eiusdum generis Latin for â€Å"of the same kind,† used to interpret loosely written statutes. The general words are to be taken as referring only to those things of the same class as specifically mentioned e. g. ‘cats and dogs’ does not include wild animals. There must be at least two specific words in a list before the general word or phrase for this rule to operate. (the phrase ‘theatre or other place of public entertainment’ includes a funfair even though it was not of the same kind as theatres). Expressio unius est exclusio alterius (the mention of one thing excludes others) This is when one or more things of a particular class are mentioned but others may be silently excluded this can be seen in the case of Tempest v Kilner (1846) the court had to decide whether stock and shares were affected by the statutes of fraud 1677(which states that the contract of goods, wares and merchandise of the value of ? 10 or more must be evidenced in writing) but it was deemed that list of goods, ware and merchandise was not followed by general words(stocks and shares) and were not affected by the statute. Noscitur a sociis (a word is known by the company it keeps) This rule of language used by the courts helps interpret legislation, under which the questionable meaning of a doubtful word can be derived from it association with other words. This can be seen in the case Foster v Diphwys Casson (1887), this involved a statute which stated that explosives taken into a mine must be in a â€Å"case or canister†. Here the defendant used a cloth bag. The courts had to consider whether a cloth bag was within the definition. Under noscitur a socials, it was held that the bag could not have been within the statutory definition, because parliament's intention was referring to a case or container of the same strength as a canister. Intrinsic Aids are things inside the act which assist the judge to interpret or apply the law. Extrinsic Aids are things outside the act which assist the judges to apply or interpret he law. For example the judges can look at previous acts of Parliament and the historical setting. Judicial precedent A judicial precedent is a decision of the court used as a source for future decision making. This is known as stare decisis (stand upon decisions) and by which precedents are binding and must be followed. When new cases are brought to court for the first instance and there are no previous cases to base the judgement, this is called Original president. Binding precedent is where past judgements of a similar set of facts are implemented to help courts to keep cases fair by deciding the outcome based upon previous cases. The common law has been developed by passing down from precedent to precedent. In giving judgement a judge will state the law, set out the facts and then provide a decision , it is only the ratio decidendi (the legal reasoning for judicial decision)which is binding in later courts. Orbiter dicta (other things said) may be put forward in future cases but it is not binding, the difficulty is the separation of the two from past judgement as they are not usually listed separately. Judicial precedent is an important source of English law as an original precedent is one which creates and applies a new rule. However, the later decisions, especially of the higher courts, can have a number of effects upon precedents. In particular, they may be: †¢ Reversed: where on appeal in the same case the decision is reversed, the initial decision will not continue to have any effect †¢ Overruled: In a later case a higher court decides that the outcome of the first case was wrong. †¢ Distinguished: where an earlier case is rejected, either because the material facts differ or because the statement of law in the previous case is too narrow to be properly applied to the new set of facts †¢ †¢ A refusal to follow: this arises where a court, not bound by the decision, cannot overrule it but does not wish to follow it so it simply refuses to follow the earlier decision †¢ Explained: a judge may seek to interpret an earlier decision before applying it, so the effect of the earlier case is varied in the circumstances of the present case. Court hierarchy and structure In England and Wales there is a strict hierarchy of the court system, every court is bound by a decision made by a superior court in its hierarchy and appellate courts (courts that hear appeals) are generally bound by its own decision. Courts of first instance Is where the original case was heard, The ECJ, House of Lords, court of appeal and divisional courts do not hear any original cases as they only hear cases of appeal. European Court of Justice The ECJ is the highest court in the English Legal system; European law will be decided in this court and will be binding on the rest of the courts within its structure although some laws are unaffected by ECJ and the House of Lords is supreme. One important feature of the ECJ is that it can overrule its own past decisions if deemed necessary. House of Lords Is not bound by its own decisions and is the most senior national court, its decision bind all courts lower in its hierarchy. Court of appeal Is subsequently split into two divisions, civil and criminal, both are bound by superior courts (House of Lords and ECJ) generally they will follow past decisions of their own but some flexibility (more so criminal division) is accepted. Divisional court Decisions are bound by the ECJ, House of Lords and court of appeal and are also usually bound by its own decisions although some flexibility similar to that of the Court of appeal can be used. High court Decisions are always bound by courts higher than them but none below. All other courts below the High Court are bound by higher courts and will not set president in subsequent cases. [pic] Unknown author. The Court Structure of Her Majesty's Courts Service [online] Available at http://www. hmcourts-service. gov. uk/aboutus/structure/index. htm accessed 16/11/09 Use of Practice Statement Introduced in 1966, practice statements allowed the House of Lords to change a law and deviate from following earlier cases if they have been considered to have been wrongly decided. There is very little guidance when implementing therefore many judges have been reluctant to use it. The first instance of its use was in the Herrington v British Railways Board(1972) this involved the law of their duty and care owed to a child trespasser. In an earlier case Addie v Dumbreak (1929) the lords had decided that the land occupier is only responsible for the duty of care to injuries of child trespassers if the injuries were deliberate or reckless. In the herrington case the lords had decided that social and physical conditions had changed since 1929 and so should the law. Summary Judicial precedent is a crucial segment in English law, it has formed the backbone of common law by passing rulings from president to president, binding or none binding and has given Judges and lords the power to keep every case fair through binding president and in the eventuality of changes (social circumstances, politics, technology) it can use it to adapt and move with the times accordingly. ———————– European Court of Justice