AC 1.1 Flashcards
what are the 5 different stages in government law making processes?
- consultation stage
- government introduces bill into parliament
- stages involving debates and votes
- bill process through both houses of parliament with all stages repeated
- bill given royal assent and a commencement order published.
what are the 2 public consultations to discuss proposals during the consultation stage ?
green paper
white paper
What is ‘green paper?’
members of the public/interested parties e.g. campaign groups will be invited to express views on proposals for new law
What is ‘the white paper’ ?
following from green paper the government will publish a white paper containing a formal proposal for law (might include a draft bill)
Public and campaigners are invited to comment .
What happens duirng stage 2 of government law making processes?
Government will introduce a bill (draft legislation) for debate in parliament. The bill may become Acts of Parliament (legislations/statutes)
What are the 4 stages in stage 3 of government law making processes>?
1st reading
2nd reading
committee stage
report stage
What is the first reading?
The name of the bill and the main aims are read out by a government minister. A vote is then taken to determine if it should pass to the next stage
What is the 2nd reading?
The bill is read and debated in full by the house, and another vote is taken
What is the committee stage?
The bill is scrutinized by a select committee of MPs/Lords, The bill can be amended at this stage
what is the report stage?
The committee reports back to the House in which the bill was introduced. Amendments are voted on
What happens during stage 4 of government law making processes?
3rd reading
The final vote in the house. Bill is then sent to the other house and is subject to exactly the same process
What is the 2 parts of stage 5 of government law making processes?
Royal assent
commencement order
What is royal assent?
Monarchs agreement to the new Act.
what is a commencement order?
Is issued by the relevant government department that introduced the bill, and specifies the date at which the act will come into effect.
What is the process of judicial law making called.
doctrine of judicial precedent
what does doctrine of judicial precedent mean?
past decisions from higher courts e.g. on appeal create law for future courts to follow in cases where the material facts are the same. This is also called stare decisis - ‘standing by the decision.
What is common law?
the body of law created by judicial precedent - the set of legal rules that is made up of past judicial decisions.
What is the established hierarchy of courts in england and wales?
Court of appeal (criminal division)
-
Crown court
-
Magistrates court (appeal on a point of law by of case stated to the high court)
What are law reports?
Reports of judicial decisions. Valid law reports are accurate records of the facts of cases and legal decisions - an authoritative statement of the common law
Why are law reports useful for legal professionals and judiciary?
Law reports inform legal professions and judiciary of recent judgements on law
Example - Weekly law reports produced by the incorporated council of law reporting.
What are 3 examples of criminal statues?
Criminal justice act (2003)
Crime (Sentences) Act (1997)
Dangerous dogs act (1991)
what does the operation of precedent need?
An established hierarchy of courts
and
valid law reports
Example of law report
Weekly law reports produced by the incorporated council of law reporting
Judicial precedents has been influential in common law. In particular, the ——– ——— ——- ——-creates consistency
doctrine of binding precedent
Example of precedent and development of common law - Shaw v DDP
Shaw v. DPP [1962] AC 220 was followed in Knuller v. DPP [1973]: The HL decision in Shaw v DPP - that the offence of conspiracy to corrupt public morals existed - was followed in Knuller v DPP.
Senior courts sometimes overrule a precedent to keep pace with changing ———attitudes / ————-developments.
social
technological
What is ‘rules of statutory interpretation’ ?
Judges must interpret the words in Acts of Parliament (the government’s process for making law).
In this way, they can make new law about the meaning of certain words/phrases by overruling existing precedent or creating new law.
So, through the doctrine of binding precedent, judges have developed rules of statutory interpretation
What is the first point/stage of judicial law-making ?
This process of judicial law-making is called the DOCTRINE OF JUDICIAL PRECEDENT - past decisions create law for future courts to follow in cases where the material facts are similar or the same.
What is the 2nd point/stage of judicial law-making ?
Also called STARE DECISIS – ‘standing by the decision
What is the 3rd point/stage of judicial law-making ?
The body of law created by judicial precedent – the set of legal rules that is made up of past judicial decisions – is the COMMON LAW.
What is the 4th point/stage of judicial law-making ?
An established hierarchy of courts means that lower courts are bound to follow precedents of higher courts. Accurate law reports, e.g. Weekly Law Reports, means that courts can easily find previous decisions to follow. For instance, Shaw v. DPP [1962] was followed in Knuller v. DPP [1973.
What is the 5th point/stage of judicial law-making ?
Judges must also interpret the words in Acts of Parliament (the government’s process for making law). Therefore, judges make new law about the meaning of certain words/phrases by overruling existing precedent or creating new law. So, through the doctrine of binding precedent, judges have developed rules of statutory interpretation, e.g. literal rule
What are the exceptions to precedent?
Distinguishing -The judge finds that the facts in the present case are different enough from the earlier one to allow him to reach a different decision and not follow precedent of earlier case.
Overruling - a court higher up states that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and overturns it.
What are the 3 main interpretation rules?
Literal rule
golden rule
mischief rule
what is the literal rule?
Judges should use everyday meaning of the words in statute.
what is an example when the literal rule complicated a case?
R v Maginnis ( 1987) - case involving illegal drugs, judges found different meanings of the word supply.
what is the golden rule?
allows the court to modify the literal meaning of a word to avoid an absurd result from the literal rule.
what is an example of the golden rule?
Adler v George (1964) - Adler argued he had not broken the law as he was not literally in the vicinity of a prohibited place, but was actually in it. The court applied the golden rule and Adler was convicted.
what is the mischief rule?
allows the court to enforce what the statute was intended to achieve. rather than what the words actually say.
what is an example of the mischief rule?
Corkery v Carpenter (1951) Corkey was found guilty although he was in charge of a bike not a carriage (Offence to be drunk in charge of a carriage on a highway). The court used the mischief rule to convict him. (Argued that the act was to prevent people from using any form of transport on the highway drunk)
