Case Laws

Hanzlah – there is no longer any great need to remember the cases

There used to be but, following the change in the structure of the F4 exam, but that need has now disappeared.

There is NO opportunity in the F4 current format to demonstrate your encyclopedic knowledge of 400 year old cases from English law (more’s the pity!)

Just make sure that you remember the principles that each case illustrates

OK?

I really don’t believe that you need a study text

As for cases and principles, there used to be (pre-format change) some pages at the end of the course notes where the pages were divided into four columns with a fold between the third and fourth columns to hide those last two columns

The first two columns were headed “Case name” and “Area” and, hidden in column three was the heading “Brief facts” (very brief) and finally, in column four, the heading “Principle of law”

So, taking Sigsworth as the example, you would have:

re Sigsworth, statutory rules of interpretation, son killed parents and wanted to claim under the law for their estate, golden rule applied – it would lead to an absurdity

OK?

But you may well find that you are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cases involved

I can only wish you luck and, should you need to, post again on this page (Ask ACCA Tutor) and I shall get back to you

I’m checking to see if I can find the list of cases but I don’t hold out much hope

Here’s an extract from the ACCA’s website re F4:

“APPROACH TO EXAMINING THE SYLLABUS

The syllabus is assessed by a two-hour paper-based examination.

The examination consists of:

Section A

– 25 x 2 mark objective test questions 50%

– 20 x 1 mark objective test questions 20%

– Section B

– 5 x 6 mark multi-task question 30%

100%.

All questions are compulsory.

NOTE ON CASE LAW

Candidates should support their answers on the paper- based multi-task questions with analysis referring to cases or examples. There is no need to detail the facts of the case. Remember, it is the point of law that the case establishes that is important, although knowing the facts of cases can be helpful as sometimes questions include scenarios based on well-known cases. Further it is not necessary to quote section numbers of Acts.”

Hope that helps

There are some specimen exams on the ACCA website – but the ACCA cannot publish the past exams like they used to because there is a limit to the number of mcqs / mtqs available and to publish after each exam session would mean they rapidly run out of questions

You’re already likely to get repeat questions within the exam so a thorough practice of the BPP revision kit questions should be / could well be enough

I see that Admin at the opentuition_team has sent you the link to get the list of cases that used to be incorporated within the course notes

The best way to learn ANY chapter is to read, read and read again (course notes) followed by endless practice of the mcqs and mtqs

The “syllabus area” is the area of the syllabus as published by the ACCA

Put into your search engine “F4 syllabus” and you’ll find it there

Yes, the OT ones should be enough

They are the only “course notes” to which I ever refer

It’s “random questions from all areas of the syllabus” I’m sorry to say!

These three are the three divisions of the High Court in England and Wales

Now I’ve told you, you won’t forget it so … what else do you need to know about them?

It certainly is. There are not many questions that can be asked in the area of the syllabus “The Court System” and practicing the mcqs from a revision kit should be sufficient for you in this particular area

Case names have never been tested as such. the point about having cases used in the course notes and the video lectures is to tell the story of the case that established the legal principle determined in that case

An alternative approach would have simply been to list the principles of the law with no illustrative stories and, technically, that’s all you need.

But how crashingly boring that would be and so, so difficult to remember whereas a story that shows (a bit) the logic behind the court’s decision is, in my opinion, a much more satisfactory way to learn what would otherwise be a very dry subject

My post on 22 December at 7.32 am higher up this page tells you about the expectation of the ACCA with reference to cases

OK?