AC 1.1

Question 1

Identify two personnel involved in the criminal justice system that defendant may encounter before conviction

Answer 1

Police, courts, barristers, solicitors and judges

Question 2

Outline governmental/parliamentary processes for law making

Answer 2

A collection of proposals is put together in the form of a green paper, firm proposals are then put forward in a white paper. A bill enters parliament and proceeds through both the house of commons and the House of Lords. There are various stages involving debates and voting takes place including the first reading, second reading and the Committee stage. Royal assent must be given to make a bill a new law.

Question 3

Outline judicial processes for law making

Answer 3

The judiciary provides law making through both judicial precedent and statutory interpretation. Judicial precedent involves following previous legal decisions of a similar nature within the court hierarchy. Current precedent can be distinguished or overruled if it is not appropriate for the case, this may create new legal decisions. Similarly where there is no existing precedent a judge would create law by an original precedent e.g Donoghue v Stevenson.

Statutory interpretation involves a judge deciding the meaning of a word or phrase in an act. The literal rule, golden rule and the mischief rule can be applied for guidance