AC1.1

Question 1

What are laws referred to as

Answer 1

statues or legislation

Question 2

What is the HOC made up of

Answer 2

650 MPS
Elected representives of the people
Each member represents the area of the country that elected them

Question 3

What is the HOL made up of

Answer 3

800 ‘peers’ (members)
Who double-check new laws

Question 4

What is the role of the Monarch

Answer 4

opening and dissolving Parliament and approving bills before they become laws

Question 5

What is the role of the Monarch?

Answer 5

opening and dissolving Parliament and approving bills before they become laws

Question 6

Outline the Government

Answer 6

• Run the country
• Where proposals for new laws come from
• Formed by political party with the majority of 650 MPS

Question 7

What is a Bill

Answer 7

A proposal for a new law

Question 8

What is a Green Paper

Answer 8

An initial report that triggers public discussion of a government proposal

Includes questions for people/organisations to respond to

Question 9

What is a White Paper

Answer 9

Comes after consultation

Sets out a detailed plan for legislation IF THE PUBLIC AGREE TO GREEN PAPER

includes a draft version of the Bill to put before Parliament

Question 10

State the 7 processes of law making

Answer 10

First reading
Second reading
Committee stage
Report stage
Third reading
The Lords
Royal Assent

Question 11

Describe the First reading

Answer 11

The government introduce a rough bill to the HOC (SOMETIMES HOL) -

acts as formal annoucment of the bill

followed by a vote

Question 12

Describe the Second reading

Answer 12

Main/key aspects of the bill are debated in the HOC
vote is taken
IF governement get majoiry support from MPs then the bill goes into the next stage

Question 13

Describe the Committee stage

Answer 13

Bill is looked at IN DETAIL

This is doen by a small comittee of MPS from DIFFERENT parties

Report back to the HOC with ammendments or changes to the Bill

Question 14

Describe the Report stage

Answer 14

MP’s look at the commitee’s report and debate/vote over the changes suggested

Debates could last several days

Question 15

Describe the Third reading

Answer 15

Final chancefor the HOC to debate the Bill’s contents

No more changes allowed

FINAL vote to pass or reject the bill

Question 16

Describe the Lords stage

Answer 16

Bill goes to the HOL

repeat the same stages as the HOC

IF the HOL make changes to the bill it GOES BACK to the HOC

HOC debate the HOL changes

HOC have the final say (since public elected them)

Question 17

Describe the Royal Assent

Answer 17

Once the bill is passed by both HOC AND HOL it goes to the Monarch

Monarch agrees to turn the bill into law

Law comes into force straight away

Question 18

What comes before the First reading?

Answer 18

The green paper is discussed by the public to see if they agree

Question 19

How does a Green Paper turn to a White Paper

Answer 19

Green paper is shown to have public support/intereset

Question 20

Define the Judicial Precedent

Answer 20

Where past decisons of judges create new laws for future judges to follow

Question 21

How does Judicial Precedent link to UNIT 3

Answer 21

Where the point of law in a case today is the same
as a previous case, the judge should follow the
decision made in the previous case.

This creates certainty, consistency and fairness in
the legal system.

Question 22

How does the court hierarchy function?

Answer 22

The legal system has a hierarchy of courts.

Decisions made in a higher court creates an original or
binding precedent for all lower courts-this must be
followed by the courts in similar cases

Question 23

What are the 2 exepctions where the court heierachy doesnt have to be followed?

Answer 23

Distinguishing & Overruling

Question 24

Outline Distingusihing

Answer 24

Distinguishing means the judge finds the facts in the
present case are different from the previous one and
will allow them to reach a different decision and not
follow precedent

Question 25

Outline Overruling

Answer 25

This is where a court higher up the hierarchy states
that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and
overturns it.

Question 26

Define Statutory Interoperation

Answer 26

Judges can make laws based on the way they INTERPRET statues or acts of Parliment

Question 27

What are the 3 Interpretation rules

Answer 27

Literal rule
Golden rule
Mischief rule

Question 28

Literal Rule

Answer 28

Judges SHOULD use the everyday meaning of words in statue

BUT words have different meanings and therefore can be interpreted differently by judges

Question 29

Give an example of a Literal Rule being applied

Answer 29

1987 case of R vs Maginnis - different interpretations of the world ‘supply’ were found for the drug case

Question 30

What is the Golden Rule

Answer 30

Golden rule can be applied when the literal rule gives an absurd result

so the judge can substitute a reasonable meaning in the light of the statute as a whole.

Question 31

Give an example of the Golden Rule

Answer 31

1964 Alder V George case - Alder claimed he didn’t break the law as he wasn’t literally in the VICINITY of a prohibited place but was ACTUALLY IN it - the judge applied the Golden rule and he was convicted

Question 32

Describe the Mischief Rule

Answer 32

The mischief rule allows the court/judge to enforce what the statue INTENDED to achieve, rather than what the words ACTUALLY SAY