Third, the law must have been organised. The legal rule must have been
divided into its elements and consequences. Indeed, one of the major reasons
for dividing legal rules into its elements and consequences is that the elements
constitute a check list for
applying law to facts. One proceeds through the
check list, taking each element and subelement in turn, and checking it against
the facts to ascertain if the legal rule applies.
Framework
Strictly, the model for applying law to facts explains how to apply one legal
rule for one set of parties to one set of facts. However, it is possible that the
circumstances for which law is applied involves two or more sets of parties,
two or more causes of action or a combination of these.
To account for this we construct a framework. Assume that the parties in a
case consist of Arthur, Betty and Clare. In terms of who can sue whom, six
permutations are possible -
Arthur v Betty, Arthur v Clare, Betty v Arthur,
Clare v Arthur, Betty v Clare, and Clare v Betty. This means that the lawyer
must check out each permutation to see which needs to be considered further.
Assume, therefore, that this has been done and that only two permutations are
likely to have legal consequences, Arthur v Betty and Arthur v Clare. Assume
also that Arthur might sue Betty for trespass to land and trespass to goods,
and that Arthur might sue Clare for negligence. These possibilities that have to
be considered can be represented by a framework. It consists of three things:
(1)
Each permutation of parties.
(2)
Each cause of action for each permutation of parties.
(3)
The elements of each of these causes of action.
When this has been done for Arthur v Betty and Arthur v Clare, the framework
has the following form:
Arthur v Betty
Trespass to Land
Elements
(1)
There is land
(2)
The plaintiff has a right to possess the land.
(3)
The defendant interferes with the land.
(4)
The defendant interferes with the land intentionally.
(5)
The defendant interferes with the land without permission of the plaintiff.
(6)
There is not a defence available to the defendant.
Consequences
(1)
Damages
(2)
Injunction
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