1.1- describe processess used for law making Flashcards
what are the two main sources of the law?
the government (through parliament) and the judiciary
What is the parliament responsible for?
UK is a parliamentary democracy, meaning most of the countries laws are made by passing Acts of Parliament. Laws made by parliament are often referred to as statutes or legislation.
What three parts is the parliament made up of?
the monarch (only a formal role in law making, they only give the agreement to the law)
House of Lords
House of Commons
What are the Lords?
-Members are called peers, 800 of them
-All peers were noblemen, but now only 92 are hereditary
-Main job is to act as a double check on new laws
What is the commons?
-most important members of parliament; made up of the elected representatives of the people: the 650 members of parliament
The government
-represent the country. Formed by the political party that has the majority of the 650 MPs. PM is the leader of the majority party
- most proposals for new laws come from here- called a Bill.
Before putting a bill before parliament the government publishes a green paper. After the consultation, it publishes a white paper
What is a green paper?
initial report to provoke public discussion of the topic of the subject. Often includes questions for interested individuals and organizations to respond to
What is a white paper?
document setting out their detailed plans for legislation. Often includes a draft version of the Bill they intend to put before parliament.
what’s the 7 parliamentary stages of a Bill?
First reading
Second reading
The committee stage
The report stage
Third reading
The lords
Royal Assent
what is the first reading?
The government introduced the Bill into the comments, revives first reading. Formal announcement of the bill and is followed by a vote to allow it to move to it’s next stage
What is the second reading?
main principles are considered and debated by the whole of the House of Commons and vote is taken. As the government has the support of the majority of MPs, they will usually win this vote. If so it lives to the next stage
What is the committee stage?
Examined in detail, line by line, by a small committee made up of MPs from different parties. Committee will report back the whole House and will often often propose amendments to the bill
What occurs in the report stage?
gives MPs an opportunity to consider committees report and debate and vote on any amendments they want to make, may spread over several days if the Bill is major
What occurs in the third reading
final chance for the Commons to debate Bills contents. No amendments are allowed at this stage- house votes either to pass or reject the Bill
what occurs at the Lords stage
gore through same stage as the commons.If they amend it, it must return to the commons do MPs can decide whether to accept or reject it. The house of commons has the final day as it is made up of the people’s elected representatives
what occurs at the royal assent stage
Finally goes to the monarch for signing, known as the royal assent. The new law will come into force immediately u less the act specifies it will become applicable only at a certain date.
What are the two processes of judiciary law making?
judicial precedent and statutory interpretation
what is judicial precedent?
source of law making where the past decisions of judges create law for further judges to follow. It is based of the principle of following or standing by what judges have decided in previous cases.
Means that if the point of law in a case today is at the same in a previous case, the judge should follow the decision made in the previous one. Ensure fairness and consistency in the legal system. Known as common law.
A decision taken in a case by the higher courts creates an original or binding precedent for all lower courts.
What are the two exception to precedent?
Distinguishing and overruling
Explain distinguishing as a precedent exception
earlier only binds to present if legal principle involved is the same and if the facts are similar in both cases. Distinguishing means the judge finds the facts in the present case are different enough from the earlier one to allow them to reach a different decision and not have to follow the precedent of the earlier case.
Explain overruling as an exception to precedent
where a court higher up the hierarchy states that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and overturns it. E.g, Supreme court can overrule a lee courts decision when it heard an appeal
What is statutory interpretation? (judicial processes of law making)
-A statue is a written law and and so judges need to interpret the meaning of its words and apply them to the case they are judging. They have three main interpretation rules to help them do this
what are the three main interpretation rules?
The literal rule, golden rule, mischief rule.
Describe the literal rule
Under this rule- judges should use the everyday ordinary meaning of its words in a statute. One problem with this meathod is that a word can have several different meanings. Example: R v Maginnis- involving legal drugs- different judges found different meanings of the word supply.
