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Criminology Unit 4 > AC 1.1 > Flashcards

AC 1.1 Flashcards

1
Q

Why do most of us tend to obey the law, even when it can be against our interests?

A
  • fear of punishment
  • morality
  • do not want to be viewed as a bad person
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2
Q

What social institutions have we developed to ensure that people do obey laws?

A
  • police
  • prisons
  • school & family
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3
Q

What organisations do we have to control criminality?

A
  • police
  • government
  • courts
  • prison & probation
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4
Q

What are the two key law making processes in the UK?

A
  • parliament
  • judges
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5
Q

What is a common law country?

A
  • case law, in the form of published judicial opinions is of primary importance
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6
Q

What is a civil law country?

A
  • codified statutes are of primary importance
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7
Q

Is the UK a common law or civil law country?

A
  • common law, much of our law is unwritten and based on decisions made by judges previously or long-established customs from the past
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8
Q

What is the first stage of governmental law making?

A
  • consultation stage
  • before a bill is drafted it starts as a green paper (proposal for a new law)
  • white papers (state firm decision on how law should be made/reformed)
  • when act has been drafted, published and known as a bill
  • bill only becomes law if it completes all necessary stages in parliament
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9
Q

What is the second stage of governmental law making?

A
  • first reading
  • a formal introduction to the bill, title of the bill and main aims are read out
  • verbal vote to see if it should reach the second reading
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10
Q

What is the third stage of governmental law making?

A
  • second reading
  • main debate on the bill, followed by a vote (majority needed to go further)
  • if there is a division, MP’s pass through Aye or No doors
  • speaker will announce if the Ayes had majority vote
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11
Q

What is the fourth stage of governmental law making?

A
  • committee stage
  • a standing committee of (16-50 MPs) examine the bill clause by clause, amendments are made
  • committee is compromised of MPs that are experts in that particular area/have specialist knowledge
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12
Q

What is the fifth stage of governmental law making?

A
  • report stage
  • amendments made in the previous stage are reported back to the House and voted on
  • only when the House is satisfied with the bill can it move onto the next stage
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13
Q

What is the sixth stage of governmental law making?

A
  • third reading
  • final debate as to whether bill should proceed to other House and a vote is taken
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14
Q

What is the seventh stage of governmental law making?

A
  • House of Lords
  • if bill proceeds to other House, goes through the same reading stages
  • if there are any amendments, has to be sent back to the other House
  • called the Lord Amendments Considered
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15
Q

What is the final stage of governmental law making?

A
  • royal assent
  • where the King gives his approval to the bill
  • the monarchy does not have any rea legal power, just a formality/tradition
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16
Q

What is judicial precedent?

A
  • some law made by judges in cases, when other judges are making decisions in similar cases after, they must make the same decision
  • judicial precedent is binding and can only be made in higher courts
  • ‘ratio decidendi’ when a judge makes a decision they must give a reason
  • the rest of the judgement is known as ‘obiter dicta’ which is not legally binding but can help in future cases and is used in trial transcripts
17
Q

What are the 4 things a judge can do with a case?

A

Follow - follow a previous precedent
Overrule - overrule a previous case
Reverse - disagree with a decision from a lower court
Distinguish - distinguish between the cases -> judge finds facts in current case different enough from earlier one to allow a different decision to be reached and not have to follow the previous decision

18
Q

What is statutory interpretation?

A
  • written law made by parliament that is unclear -> a judge making a decision on this
19
Q

What are the 3 rules to help a judge decide how a statute should be interpreted?

A
  • literal rule -> the natural meaning of a word, use plain ordinary meaning even if the outcome is not sensible
  • golden rule -> modification of the literal rule. narrow - 2 possible meanings and choose the most sensible. wider - use the words in context rather than on their own.
  • mischief rule -> judge ignores literal wording and makes decision based on what the law was intending to achieve, rather than what it actually says
20
Q

Why do we need statutory interpretation?

A
  • A broad term
  • Ambiguity
  • A drafting error
  • New developments
  • Changes in the use of language

Criminology Unit 4 (4 decks)

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