1.1 Flashcards
What is the house of commons?
The lower house of the parliament in the UK. The UK public elects 650 MPs to represent their interests and concerns in the House of Commons.
What is the house of lords?
The second chamber of parliament. It plays a crucial role in examining bills, questioning government action and investigating public policy. Scrutinises bills that have been approved by the house of commons. While it is unable to prevent bills passing into law, exept in certain limited circumstances, it can delay bills and force the commons to reconsider their decision.
What is the monarch?
The head of state. His function is to appoint the prime minister, and all other ministers; to open new sessions of parliament; and to give royal assent to bills passed by parliament, signifying that they have become law
How does creating a new law start?
A green paper allows public consultation on a potential new law to be discussed. After the consultation, a White paper is created with formal proposals. This allows a draft act to be created & present it to parliment
What are the two processes of judicial law making?
- Judicial precedent - Where a judge may make a decision based on the decision based on the decision of the case which came before that which was a similar case
- Statutory Interpretation - A written law which judges need to interpret the meaning of in order to apply it to a case
What are the three main interpretation rules to guide the judge in this?
The literal rule - Where judges use the everyday meaning of the words in a statue
The golden rule - sometimes being too literal can be unfair so the meaning can be modified
The mischief rule - allows the court to enforce what the statue was intended to achieve, rather than what the words actually say
