Introduction to Law and Legal Obligations - Case Study Example

Introduction to Law and Legal Obligations Introduction: This paper is meant for introducing and discussing legal obligations and learning about the drafting and language involved in the acts and laws. The discussion and debates result in drafting and framing of an act. Different options, defences and offences will be recorded in it to enable the executive to take action according to it. The definitions and explanations of the various topics in the act will make the law reasonable and reliable to execute. The drafted law will be kept in the parliament for debate. This debate will expose various vulnerabilities and defects in the law and the administration will correct it according to the response of the people's representatives. In this paper a law about banning the junk food for children will be drafted and various terms will be defined. The definitions will be given according to the spirit of the law and the explanations for offences and defences will be incorporated. Act about criminalising the advertising of junk food to children in Scotland and the sale of junk food in vending machines in Scottish schools This law is for criminalising the advertising of junk food and sales of it to the children in the Scotland. The sale of junk food to children will be considered as a crime. The sale of the same food for the adults is not in the purview of this act. For this purpose the sale of junk food, where children will buy directly from the vendors will be banned and prominently the sale of junk food in schools and hostels was prohibited. This will be considered crime against the children and the society if it was observed to be done and the individuals or the organisations who are responsible for those acts will be prosecuted according to the clauses and provisions in the act. Before entering into the clauses, offences and defences the definitions of 'advertising', 'junk food' and vending machines will be given. Section (I) is composed of the definitions of advertising, junk food and vending machines. Advertising: In defining about the advertising within the purview of this act the advertising of the food that will affect the children's health is considered. An advertisement is an act which prompts the buyers (children) to buy the junk food. The endorsing of the food by the celebrities, prominent personalities in visual media, The audio advertisements that tell about the taste and goodness of the junk food, The baseless topics that are publicised by the advertisements which do not have experimental proof, The instigating the children to eat junk food either by audio, visual, print media Can be considered as advertising the junk food under the criminalising of the sale of junk food to children and the ban of junk food vending machines in the schools and hostels Junk Food: The food that lacks nutrients and has more calories, The food that lack fibre and develops acidity The foods that have sugar content more than the prescribed level The foods that have less protein, fibre and that was replaced by starch and fats, The foods that have more fats than carbohydrates, The foods that have fat, carbohydrate, protein and fibre in disproportionate composition. (proportion is defined in the next section) The foods, which are not prescribed for good health of children. (health is defined in the next section) Vending Machines: The machine that supplies junk food without knowing to whom it is supplying. The machine which delivers junk food by taking the input of prescribed coins in to it. The machine which delivers junk food by taking the input of prescribed currency in to it. The vending machines which contain all the above three features and are installed in schools, hostels and the places where children buy the junk food directly without the consent of the adults. Section II In this section 'disproportion composition of the fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, health of the children were defined. Disproportionate composition: the composition of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fibre in a food substance was considered as disproportionate if they do not match with the composition of the food substances prescribed by Health department for the sake of health of children. Health of children: The health of children can be defined according to the weight of them proportionate to their height, the extra fat they accumulate under their skin, the hip waist ratio of them, the good sight regarding their eyes, the accumulation of fat in the liver, the blood pressure. The child can be considered to be unhealthy if his condition deviates from the normal conditions. The normal conditions can be derived from the details released by health department of the UK government regarding the children health Section (III) This section deals with the offences and defences regarding the sale of junk food to the children The sale of junk food to the children directly without consent of their adults can be considered as an offence under this law. According to this any organisation, individual, business or an vending machine should not sell junk food to children. For this purpose the installing of vending machines that sell junk food in schools and hostels can be considered as an offence. The installation of vending machines, shops and business activities in the areas which are meant for the entertainment of the children can be considered as the offence and the officials permitted it also can be prosecuted. The punishment will be a fine up to the 10000 pounds for selling junk food for children and for setting a shop or a vending machine to sell the junk food from them. The imprisonment is not incorporated under this law and section, but when any individual or an organisation which fails to pay the fine can be considered for the imprisonment. This imprisonment depends on the discrimination of the judge, which must not be lesser than 1 year. This means the minimum punishment is 1 year only and the discrimination of the judge cannot consider a less punishment than that if a person was found guilty according to law. Part 2 Describing a legal topic discussed in the UK parliament Discussion of a legal topic in UK parliament 26th November 1999. Policing The enforcement and probation of community sentences were discussed and the questions regarding those were asked. It was answered that the proposal to rise the level of the performance of the officers was unacceptable. This indicates the reluctance of the official machinery to increase their performance. But the contemplations of the government were nice that they are planning to bring the offenders who failed to take community sentences to the court. This makes the persons who awarded the community sentences to accept them rather than facing the courts. The formal warnings issued by supervising officers and the complying of them by the offenders were asked and this question is regarding the performance of the officers and in making them complying by the offenders. The members wanted to know about the drug treatment and testing of the people and the post treatment results. The members asked for the details of repeating the punishment, which indicates that they are apprehensive about the system of drug treatment and testing. The information sought by the members regarding the compliance of the offenders to the orders of drug treatment and testing was not available with the administration, implies that the administration did not give much importance to that. The members concentrated on the costs of the crown court legal proceedings also. The details were furnished by the administration to them. The attempts that are made to reduce the crime incidence like probation were considered important by the members and the government furnished the information about the implementation of that scheme with details of funds and expenditure. This indicates the interest of the administration to reduce crime in the manner of reforming the individuals who committed crime. But the organisation and official machinery reluctance was exposed as 13 million pounds out of 21 million allocated were only available for spending on the programme. The remaining funds will be available in the due course of time. But the chance of planning with the whole budge in hand was spoiled and this is capable of making the probationary measures for the criminals half hearted. Though the government is keen on attaining the reduction in crime rate, the official machinery was not that much enthusiastic as the government in controlling crime by reforming the criminals. This indicates the general tendency of the machinery to deal with the criminals in a harsh manner. But the honourable members are keen about the implementation of the law and they asked reasonable question about the implementation of the probationary measures. This enthusiasm must increase and they must explore legal options to make government's efforts a bit faster regarding the reforming the criminals by probationary sentences. These needs more funds than the regular activities of keeping them in prison. References: 1. House of commons, 2006, Standing committee proceedings, UK government, ,electronic, 29-11-06, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hlDB=semsimple&STEMMER=en&WORDS=an%20act&ALL=&ANY=&PHRASE=&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=an%20act&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=muscat_highlighter_first_match&URL=/pa/cm200506/cmbills/017/sc172802.27-33.html#muscat_highlighter_first_match 2. discussion, 1999, party conference (policing), UK government, ,electronic, 29-11-06, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo991126/text/91126w09.htm#column_241 Read More