Rationale
Legal rules that effect litigation or a transaction are structured as conditional
statements for a very good reason - if a legal rule is not framed in this way it
cannot function.
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This is why the conditional statement is foundational to the
model.
Column 1 sets out the legal rule as a conditional statement. It stipulates a
condition and the consequences that flow when that condition is satisfied. This
condition is that Elements 1-n are satisfied by the appropriate facts, which are
conveniently labelled Facts 1-n in Column 2. When this condition is satisfied in
a particular case the consequences stipulated by the rule, Consequences 1-n,
apply to the parties in that case.
Putting this in practical terms, to obtain the legal consequences stipulated by a
rule, a plaintiff in litigation or a party in a transaction must satisfy the elements
of the legal rule. To stress this point, for the law to apply the person must
satisfy each of these elements. If they fail to do this, even on just one element,
the law does not apply.
Components
Introduction
There are five components of the model:
(1)
The elements of the legal rule, which can be divided into subelements.
(2)
Facts, which satisfy the elements.
(3)
Evidence, which is used to prove facts in litigation.
(4)
Processes, which are used to create facts in transactions.
(5)
Consequences, which apply when the each element of the legal rule is
satisfied by the appropriate facts.
Law: Elements
Legal rules are framed as a conditional statement – when certain types of facts
occur, consequences apply to the parties involved.
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These consequences are
of course the remedies that the court provides to a successful plaintiff or the
change in their legal position that parties receive when a transaction is
successfully concluded. In the table these are labelled Consequences.
To obtain the legal consequences provided by a cause of action a plaintiff or
parties to a transaction must establish each and every element of the legal rule
that
constitutes the cause of action. An element describes a category of facts
that must be satisfied for the rule to apply. In the model, elements of the rule
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Christopher Enright Legal Reasoning Chapter 3 Analysing Legal Rules
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Christopher Enright Legal Reasoning Chapter 3 Analysing Legal Rules
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