King's Inns Entrance Examination flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Invitation to treat

A statement or display that invites offers rather than constituting one. Shop displays, advertisements and auction announcements are generally invitations to treat, so a customer makes the offer.

Postal rule

Where post is contemplated by the parties, acceptance is complete when the letter is posted, not when received. The rule allocates the risk of loss in transit to the offeror.

Consideration

Something of value given in exchange for a promise. It must be sufficient in law but need not be adequate in value; past consideration is generally not good consideration.

Promissory estoppel

A defence preventing a party from enforcing strict legal rights where it made a clear promise or representation intended to be relied on, and the other party did so to their detriment.

Condition in contract

A term so fundamental that its breach entitles the innocent party to terminate performance and claim damages, in addition to any other remedy available.

Contra proferentem

A rule of construction under which ambiguity in a clause is read against the party who drafted or relied on it, commonly applied to exclusion and limitation clauses.

Hadley v Baxendale

The foundational remoteness rule: damages are recoverable for losses arising naturally from the breach, or for losses within the parties' contemplation at the time of contracting.

Duty of care test

In Irish negligence, proximity, foreseeability and absence of policy reasons against imposing a duty, applied incrementally by analogy with established categories rather than as a free-standing test.

Res ipsa loquitur

The thing speaks for itself. Where the cause of an accident is unknown but the instrument was under the defendant's control and the accident would not ordinarily occur without negligence, negligence is inferred.

Contributory negligence

A claimant's own failure to take reasonable care for their safety which contributes to their damage. Under the Civil Liability Act 1961 damages are reduced in proportion to that fault.

Occupiers' Liability Act 1995

Irish statute setting the duty of care owed by occupiers to entrants, distinguishing visitors, recreational users and trespassers, with a lower duty owed to the latter two categories.

Vicarious liability

Liability of an employer for torts committed by an employee in the course of employment. The modern test asks whether the wrongdoing is sufficiently closely connected with the employment.

Defamation Act 2009

Irish statute consolidating defamation law. It defines a defamatory statement, sets out defences including truth and honest opinion, and abolished the distinction between libel and slander.

Assault and battery

Assault is an act causing a reasonable apprehension of immediate unlawful force; battery is the actual application of unlawful force. Both are intentional torts against the person.

Article 15.4

Constitutional provision empowering the High Court and Supreme Court to review legislation. A law inconsistent with the Constitution is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency.

Judicial review grounds

The recognised bases for reviewing an administrative decision: illegality, irrationality, procedural impropriety, breach of legitimate expectation and, in some cases, proportionality.

Ratio decidendi

The legal reasoning essential to a court's decision, which binds lower courts in later cases involving materially similar facts. Everything else is obiter dicta and merely persuasive.

Dualism in Irish law

The principle that international treaties do not form part of domestic law unless incorporated by the Oireachtas. The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated in 2003.

Article 28.10

Constitutional provision dealing with the dissolution of Dáil Éireann and the resignation of the Taoiseach on loss of majority support in the Dáil.

Actus reus

The external element of an offence: the prohibited conduct together with any specified circumstances and consequences. It must be proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt.

Mens rea

The mental element of an offence, ranging across intention, recklessness, knowledge and negligence. The level required is set by the definition of the particular offence.

Malice aforethought

The mens rea for murder in Ireland: an intention to kill or an intention to cause serious injury. Recklessness as to death is not sufficient.

Voluntary manslaughter

An unlawful killing that would otherwise be murder but is reduced by a partial defence, such as provocation or diminished responsibility, so that the conviction is for manslaughter.

M'Naghten rules

The test for insanity: the accused must show a defect of reason from disease of the mind such that they did not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong.

Automatism

A complete defence where the accused acted without voluntary control of their movements due to an external cause, such as a blow to the head or anaesthetic.

IRAC method

A structure for answering legal problems: identify the Issue, state the Rule with authority, Apply the rule to the facts, and Conclude with a reasoned answer.

Obiter dicta

Observations by a judge that are not necessary to the decision reached. They do not bind later courts but may be persuasive, especially when from a higher court.

Legitimate expectation

A ground of judicial review where a public body's clear representation or established practice creates an expectation of fair procedure or a benefit that is then denied without justification.

Proportionality in review

A standard of review asking whether a measure is suitable, necessary and not excessive in pursuing a legitimate aim. Its use in Irish administrative law is limited but expanding.

Statutory citation form

Statutes are cited by short title, year and section, for example Civil Liability Act 1961, section 34. The Constitution is cited by Article number.

Case citation form

Party names in italics, then year, report series and first page, for example Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562. Square brackets mark volume-based series.

Strict liability offence

An offence requiring no mens rea as to at least one element of the actus reus. The presumption against strict liability can be rebutted by clear statutory language or subject matter.