Assessment of the Law of England and Wales - Report Example

Name………………………………………………………………………….xxxx Tutor………………………………………………………………………….xxxx Title………………………………………………….. Law, globalisation and ethics Institution……………………………………………………………………….xxxx Course………………………………………………………………………….xxxx @ 2010 Assessemnt of law of England and Wales The legal system of England and Wales is referred to as the English law which is the basis of common-law mostly applied in the common wealth countries and also in the United States. Commonwealth countries are the ones which were colonized by the British who through this they established a British empire (new.wales.gov.uk). After the British withdrew their power away from these countries, the system of the English law still persists. There has been a lot of revolution in the United States for the rtecent past. As much as there has been such revolution, English law is part of the legal system in the United States through reception statutes, except in Louisiana. The English law only applies in England and Wales. Wales has a devolved assembly and any legislation passed through that assembly is to be enacted by use of policies defined in the government of Wales’s act 2006 and through the parliament of the United Kingdom (U.K) or by the orders given by councils under the authority which was established in the 2006 act. The welsh governemnt was given some sense of independence by the Wales governemnt act 2006 placing it in a position where it can pass its own policies and legislations. As much as this autonomy was granted, the legal system in both the civil and criminal law stands as one throughout England and Wales. In the past English and Wales were independent from each other but the Wales was absorbed into England by Henry VII Tudor through an act of union. This absorption made the two countries become one though in the year 1997, the Wales gained autonomy through the government act of Wales 2006. The English common law is made by judges sitting in court and these judges use their common sense and knowledge of legal precedence commonly referred to as the stare decisis in legal jargon, to come up with decisions (new.wales.gov.uk). The system of stare decisis came into existence so as to do away with the incompetent judges who were there before. You find out that these judges were only selected by their rank in the society and not by merit. The highest court or the most Supreme Court in England and Wales is the court of appeal and any decision made by it is binding to all other court that fall below it in the hierarchy. England and Wales are part of the United Kingdom (U.K), which is also part of the European Union. Most of the European countries use the civil law and therefore civil law is part of the English law in this form. Since civil law is part of the English law, the European Union can direct the English and Welsh court regarding some areas of legislation which the European Union (E.U) has passed. Currently, the oldest law in force is the distress act 1247 which is part of the statute of Marlborough. You fin out that three sections of Magna Carta which were originally signed in the year 1215 and a landmark in the English law are extant though they date to the reissuing of law in the year 1297. Application of the England and Wales law in the Fire service We have seen a short history of the England and Wales law and how it operates. Our question is mostly concerned with how this law applies to the fire service. The United Kingdom fire service is operated through a separate legislature in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The responsibility of fire fighting in England and Wales was placed on the insurance company in the past. This responsibility became of the government in the year 1865 after the metropolitan fire brigade act was passes. This legislation relates to the provision of firefighting in England and Wales. In 1938, the provision of fire services by the local authorities also came into existence after passing of the fire brigades act. During this time, there were 1600 fire brigades in the U.K. These many local authority fire brigades were merged into a single unit called the national fire service during the Second World War. However, in 1948 the year after the Second World War the responsibility of fire services was restored back to the local authorities under the fire services act. There have been significant changes in the 21st century in the fire service system as a result of the devolution of the central government powers, new legislations and change of the operational procedures in the light of terrorist attacks and threats. The rapid changes in the fire services came into existence in the year 2002 after a publication of a review of the fire service in the U.K by a professor named as Sir George Bain. The independent review was made because in that year, there was a series of fire strikes nationally which caused much discontent. In his report, he touched on the changes to be made in future in the fire service so as to improve the organization and management of the fire service. The independent review was later put into cooperation with the government, employers of organizations and the fire authorities in the United Kingdom (U.K). Professor Bain proposed several changes such as working hour practices, shift hours and time spent on preventing fire. There is one proposal which is currently underway and that is the reduction of fire service control rooms. Also in the year 2004, the fire and rescue services (FRS) act for England and Wales was established. The FRS provides an emergency cover and is funded by the fire authority. In the year 2006, the regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 came into being to replace all other acts dealing with fire precautions and safety in premises including the processes of issuing fire certificates. Also in the same year, 2006, the government of Wales’s act 2006 gave powers to the national assembly of Wales the power to pass on fire and rescue services and the promotion of fire safety. This information is pointed out in the report laid on the government response to communities and local government committee in relation to the fire rescue services (2006). According to the local government association, there is a fire modernization program put in place to take care of the future changes in the fire rescue services for more efficiency and effectiveness. Role of globalization in affecting the legislative and substantive work of those in the fire and rescue service (FRS) Globalization is the increased flow of capital goods, services, technology, information and people across the borders (Croucher, 2004). It encourages integration of economies, societies and cultures through trade, communication and transport. Globalization has its own effects both good and bad ones. Over the past few decades, it has proved to be a menace by bringing a lot of difficulties especially in the fire service (Haines, 2005). The economic meltdown commonly known to as the global financial crisis made it worse in the year 2008. This made people in the European countries to perceive globalization as a big threat and not as an opportunity. The economic meltdown was also experienced during the 2010 Haiti earthquake when the rescuers lacked enogh financial support and this led to a request for financial support from the world. This is because it leads to employees getting laid off in their works, high living standards and inability of institutions or the public to pay off their debts. Legislative work is the work done by government in ensuring the success of the rescue service while the substantive work is the work is the detailed work which is done by fire and rescue service team. In our case we want to find out how the effects of globalization in this substantive and legislative work that are in relation with the fire rescue services (The fire and rescue services: session 2005). The technological form of globalization has positive effects on the fire and resecue services and this is evidenced on the Haiti earthquake. This means that globalization enhances fire and rescue services. In the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, all people from the world were appealed to assist financially. Cash donations were collected from all over the world and this was aided by the current technology as money was send across countries. Technology resulting from globalization was also used in evacuation of people form the collapsed building in Haiti earthquake (Croucher, 2004). This was highly improved by the high use of high technology machines. Technology is also responsible for the planning arrangements in rescue services. Through the technological part of globalization, the rescue teams should have been in a position to predict a catastrophy like the Haiti earthquake. Through the current technology, there are certain machines which can be installed to predict the occurrence of a catastraphy like earthquake and hnece evacuate people from the affected places. Machines can also be erected in a building so as to ease evacuation of occupants of a building incase of the breakdown of fire. Automatic systems like fire arms and emergency lifts can be installed in a building for the puropses of security in case of fire in a buidling. The humanitarian form of globalization was also resposnible for the rescue services in Haiti as well as the donations made to rescue the Haiti people early this year (Haines, 2005). It is therefore evident that the UK search and rescue team operated through the use of technological part of gloabization to rescue the affected people in Haiti. The rescue was successful because of the use of high technology machines and the acquired skills in technology and this especially because the team is highly trained and experienced. Ethics According to Tom.et.al, (2007), the term ethics is a general term and it refers to the code of conduct towards the public. It also determines the moral duty and obligations. In the fire rescue services its named as the fire service code of ethics. The fire rescue services act 2004 forms part of the guidance that helps the fire and rescue authorities assess, develop and promote their staff in accordance with the legal requirements (Great Britain, 2004). There are several codes of conducts that have been outlined in relation to the fire rescue services referred to as the personal qualities and attributes (PQA’s) for the operational staff according to the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. One, the employees should act not towards their own interest but for the publics interests. Another code of ethics is that the employees of the fire rescue team should not be biased in terms of race, color, tribe, religion or nationality. The employees should not accept gifts, money or favors from the public so as to discharge their duties. Also, the employees should conduct themselves in a manner that will create respect from the public. While on duty, the employees should have a sober mind and no drugs or alcohol that would lead to incapacitation should be used. Another code of ethics that is given is the employees should clearly identify all statements or actions when in public. Finally, the public should be treated wit respect and courtesy at all times. Most of the fire fighting agencies has their firefighting team make an oath of service. For example, I will place the safety of the public and that of the employees above all other concerns or I will be committed in providing the best customer service to all the citizens. Oaths are very important because once one takes it; he can never do anything that is against it (Tom et.al, 2007). In short it ensures true commitment and dedication when it comes to duty performance. There is also a human resource department that is also part of ensuring good code of conduct in the fire authorities. The human resource department has several functions that it performs. The department has a function of selection and recruitment which ensures that the fire fighters are selected on merit, no biasness exists and the proper recruitment is offered so as to impute knowledge and skills. The human resource also has the function of training its staff which helps expand the knowledge and skills of the already existing staff. Training is also important as it helps incorporate the latest technology that is in the market. The other function of the human resource department is that of staff performance evaluation (Tom et.al, 2007). Performance evaluation is very important not only in the fire rescuing department but also in any other department or organization. It helps in determining the weak and strong employees when it comes to execution of work. If an employee is performing poorly, then they are to be eliminated and if their performance is good, then they are to be retained. Role of practitioners in the changing world To begin with a practitioner is a person who exercises an art, science or a profession for example a doctor, engineer or an architect. In the fire service, the practitioners have several roles. First, they offer research services. Research involves conducting surveys on what methods are to be used so as to curb emerging fire incidents. For example, some of the emerging problems are the terrorist attacks. Therefore, if it’s a doctor, he has to find out the proper medicine and care to provide to the victims of such attacks. The survey may also involve finding out the essential requirements and the role of a fire fighter. The practitioners have to obtain data through observations, questionnaires or through the use of mathematical models. The research conducted by these practitioners involves a process. The process begins from problem definition, data collection and analysis, design and implementation and finally documentation. After the documentation, the information is the tabled to the fire (Great Britain, 2006). The practitioner in the fire service system also has a role of educating. You find out that in most cases, education is dominated by theories. Education can be passed on in classes, through training courses or seminars. It’s very vital for the practitioners such as professors to integrate real life situations with the theory. This can be done well by use of case studies. The people who can be trained or educated when it comes to issues of curbing fire are tie fire rescue staffs or the public. Finally, a practitioner has the role of offering consultancy services and advice either to the government, public or to the fire service authorities. One example of a practitioner in the fire service who can provide consultancy services is the financial analyst. Currently there has been a series of practitioners’ forum which are held to propose the standards required for fire rescue services (FRS) according to the fire rescue session, (2005). References Website of the government of Wales: new.wales.gov.uk. Retrieved in 2008 Phil Hughes, Ed Ferrett, (2009). Introduction to Health and Safety at Work. ButterWorth-Heinemann Sheila L. Croucher (2004). Globalization and belonging: the political identity in a changing world. Rowman Little Field. Graham Matthews, Yvonne Smith, Gemma Knowles, (2009). Disaster management in archives, libraries and museums. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd The fire and rescue services: session 2005 Ashley Pennington, rob M. and Tom C, (2007). Human resource management: ethics and employment. Rowman Little Field. Great Britain. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2004). Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004: factsheet. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Fiona Haines, (2005). Globalization and regulatory character: regulatory reform after the Kader. Ashqate Publishing Ltd. Great Britain. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, (2004). The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004: towards a national workforce development strategy for England: a consultation document. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Communities and Local Governement, (2006). Fire and Rescue Service: Fourth Report of Session 2005-06. (Great Britain, 2004) (Great Britain, 2006) (Tom et.al, 2007) Read More