LLB
What the LLB domain tests
The LLB domain tests legal reasoning, reading comprehension, logical analysis, and basic awareness of legal systems and citizenship concepts. It expects precise use of terms such as offer, acceptance, precedent, and ratio decidendi, not moral generalisations.
Core rules and concepts
- Sources of law include legislation, case law, constitutions, and custom, depending on the legal system. Hierarchy matters when rules conflict.
- Precedent binds lower courts through the ratio decidendi, the legal reason for the decision; obiter dicta are persuasive but not binding.
- Statutory interpretation uses the ordinary meaning, context, and purpose; ambiguities are resolved with accepted canons, not personal preference.
- Use IRAC: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. Apply the rule to the given facts rather than repeating the facts.
- In contract law, an offer must be definite and communicated; acceptance must mirror the offer. An invitation to treat is not an offer.
Worked example
A shop displays a book with a price tag. A customer takes it to the counter, but the shop refuses to sell. Is there a contract? Reasoning: in common-law reasoning, a display of goods is generally an invitation to treat, not an offer. The customer’s presentation at the counter is the offer; the shop may reject it. Therefore no contract has been formed merely by taking the book to the counter. The result can differ under specific consumer statutes, so jurisdiction matters.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing moral duty with legal duty, citing obiter as binding, ignoring the facts, and assuming one jurisdiction’s rule applies everywhere. In comprehension questions, answer from the passage, not from outside assumptions.