ABSTRACT
All legal systems work on the basis of categories in their common need to structure human relations into legally manageable units. However, this common need is not mirrored in common categories or, if the categories are common, their contents are not. When a purely domestic case comes before an English court, the judge will be concerned to ensure that matters are dealt with in logical order. In broad terms, he will be concerned to pose and answer the following: (a) does the court have jurisdiction over the parties and the cause of action? (b) has admissible evidence established the basic facts? (c) can one classify the cause of action by allocating the relevant legal
questions disclosed by the facts to the appropriate legal category. For example, is the case about the commission of a tort, the breach of a contract or the infringement of a copyright?
