AC 1.1 - describe processes used for law making

Question 1

governmental process: people involved

Answer 1

• monarch
• house of commons
• house of lords

Question 2

governmental process: 1 - consultation stage

Answer 2

• when planning a new law or amending one the government launches a public consultation to discuss proposals
• done through green and white paper

Question 3

governmental process: 1 - green paper

Answer 3

members of the public are invited to express views on proposals for new laws

Question 4

governmental process: 1 - white paper

Answer 4

• government publishes a white paper for a formal proposal for a law
• sets out the plan for the law
• public are invited to comment

Question 5

governmental process: 2 - 1st reading

Answer 5

• name of bill & aims are read out
• formal vote is taken to determine if it goes to the next stage

Question 6

governmental process: 3 - 2nd reading

Answer 6

• bill is read and debated in full by the House
• vote is taken again

Question 7

governmental process: 4 - committee stage

Answer 7

• bill is scrutinised by a select committee
• amends are made if necessary

Question 8

governmental process: 5 - report stage

Answer 8

• committee reports back to the House that introduced it
• vote is done on suggested amendments

Question 9

governmental process: 6 - 3rd reading

Answer 9

• final vote
• bill is sent to the other house & process is repeated

Question 10

governmental process: 7 - royal assent

Answer 10

• monarch (King) will sign the bill to introduce act

Question 11

governmental process: 8 - commencement order

Answer 11

• issued by relevant government department bill
• specifies date it comes into effect

Question 12

bill

Answer 12

draft of law

Question 13

legislation (statute)

Answer 13

act of parliament

Question 14

judicial process: role of judges

Answer 14

• judges within senior courts make laws through:
  
  • judicial precedent
  • statutory interpretation

Question 15

judicial process: judicial precedent

Answer 15

• doctrine of Judicial precedent: past decisions from higher courts create laws for future courts to follow where the material facts are the same
  
  • known as ‘stare decisis’

Question 16

judicial process: common law

Answer 16

• body of law created by judicial precedent
• set of legal rules that is made up of past judicial decisions

Question 17

judicial process: what precedent needs

Answer 17

• established hierarchy of courts: lower courts are bound to follow precedent of higher courts
• valid law reports

Question 18

judicial process: influence on law

Answer 18

• Doctrine of binding precedent creates consistency
• Shaw v DPP (2012) was followed in Knuller v DPP (1973)
  
  • HOL decision Shaw that the offence of conspiracy to corrupt public moral existed
• senior courts can overrule precedent to keep pace with changing social attitudes or technological advancements

Question 19

judicial process: ways judicial precedent is made

Answer 19

• distinguishing: judge find the fact in the present case different enough from past cases
• overruling: where a higher court states that an earlier decision is wrong

Question 20

judicial process: overruling R v R (1992)

Answer 20

• husband was convicted attempted rape on his wife
• appealed on grounds that a centuries old precedent that a husband couldn’t be convicted due to:
  
  • marriage contract gives wife’s ’irrevocable consent’
• COA overruled it due to the ground that the idea of irrevocable consent wasn’t acceptable in today’s society

Question 21

judicial process: statutory interpretation

Answer 21

• judges must interpret words in Acts of Parliament
• ## can make new law about meaning of certain words by overruling existing precedent

Question 22

judicial process: literal rule

Answer 22

judges must give the word/ phrase its natural, ordinary or dictionary meaning even if this appears to be contrary to intentions of Parliament

Question 23

judicial process: literal rule
Whiteley v Chappell (1868)

Answer 23

• law made it an offence to impersonate any person entitled to vote
• defendant impersonated a dead person
• defendant found not guilty as the judge interpreted words ‘entitled’ literally

Question 24

judicial process: golden rule

Answer 24

where a literal interpretation of word lead to an absurd result, court may modify its meaning

Question 25

judicial process: golden rule
Adler v George (1964)

Answer 25

• an offence to obstruct a member of the armed forces in the vicinity of a prohibited place
• defendant was found guilty and the conviction upheld
• absurd if a person wasn’t held liable if they were actually in the prohibited place

Question 26

judicial process: mischief rule

Answer 26

• allows the judge to understand intention of Parliament when it passes an act
• contextual method of interpreting statutes where court looks for the wrong/ mischief that the statute was intended to put right

Question 27

judicial process: mischief rule
Smith v Hughes (1960)

Answer 27

• prostitutes stood on a balcony of a house trying to get customers
• defendants convicted of solicitation under Street Offences Act 1959
• tried to argue they weren’t on the streets but court upheld the conviction