The law in britain

The law and the church are powerfully interlocked with the history of Britain. Both judges and bishops sit in the House of Lords, and are honoured with ancient titles. Both are conservative and resistant to any change. They wear horse-hair wigs or nylon wigs and flowing gowns since medieval up to now­adays.

The conservatism of English lawyers is demonstrated in their strict divi­sion into solicitors and barristers – found only in New Zealand, South Africa, New South Wales and Great Britain. Only solicitors are allowed to deal directly with the public. They perform all routine business, but when they pass the case to the courts they must employ a barrister to plead.

A barrister must have an educational standard and pass the legal examina­tions conducted by the Council of Legal Education. After that he must become a member of the Inns of Court.When he has already some practice the barrister may apply to the Lord Chancellor for a patent appointing him a Queen’s Counsel. This procedure is called "taking the silk". The highest judicial appointments are made from barristers, who have become Queen’s Council. The work of a barris­ter is controlled by the General Council of the Bar, but disciplinary powers are passed exclusively to the Senate of the Inns of Court.

Solicitors are examined by the Law Society (the professional organisation of solicitors) and they enter into "articles of clerkship" (that is go through the period of training) with a practising solicitor of not less than five years. The term of articles may last 3 or 5 years depending upon the educati­onal qualifications of the student. After that an articled clerk pass the nece­ssary examinations held by the Law Society and begins his professional career. Since that time he becomes a member of the Law Society.

Half the barristers in Britain work in one of the 4 Inns of Court: Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn, the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple. They work in groups of 6 or more in "chambers" with great stone steps and their names written in elegant 13-th century letters. The Inns are privileged and snobbish clubs which are very proud of the prestige. The oldest and the richest is Inner Temple which has produced the largest number of judges. The Middle Temple is less exclusive, across the road – Lincoln’s Inn for Chancery lawyers and Gray’s Inn the newest of them, which is known for its number of provincial barristers.

The Inns like Oxford colleges have large powers: they are responsible for admission, discipline and promotion. They are a kind of medieval republican oligarchy, the last to be found in Europe. They have much land but nobody knows the real size of their wealth because they never publish the information of their accounts. The Inns are among the most absurd anachronisms in Britain.

What is international humanitarian law all about?

The purpose of international humanitarian law is to limit and prevent human suffering in times of armed conflict. The essence and core of this law is enshrined in the four Geneva Conventions and their two Additional Protocols. Today virtually all the countries in the world are party to the Geneva Conventions.

The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 are applicable to international armed conflicts. They stipulate that civilians and people who are no longer taking an active part in the hostilities, such as wounded or captured combatants, must be spared. They also set out the role the ICRC – the initiator of contemporary humanitarian law – plays in alleviating human suffering. In addition, Article 3 common to all four Conventions authorizes the ICRC to offer its services in the event of non-international armed conflict and accords minimum protection to the victims of such situations.

The protection provided by the Conventions applies to the following categories of persons:

First Convention

wounded and sick members of the armed forces in the field;

Second Convention

wounded, sick, and shipwrecked members of the armed forces at sea;

Third Convention

prisoners of war;

Fourth Convention

civilians in times of war.

The two Additional Protocols of 1977 supplement the Conventions which aim to limit the use of violence and protect the civilian population, by strengthening the rules governing the conduct of hos­tilities.

Although the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols provide a comprehensive framework for inter­national humanitarian law, there are new areas that have to be explored and developed as the nature of warfare changes. The ICRC, being the guard­ian of international humanitarian law, is also responsible for its development. To this end, its legal experts organize and participate in meetings and con­ferences aimed at improving the pro­tection of war victims. Banning the use of certain weapons, such as anti-per­sonnel landmines and blinding weap­ons, is among the issues currently being examined.

Sadly, however good the law is in theory, in practice it is often blatantly disregarded, deliberately flouted, or its very existence is unknown. Making both armed forces and civilians aware of the law is the first and essential step in the right direction.