AC1.1 Flashcards
What are laws referred to as
statues or legislation
What is the HOC made up of
650 MPS
Elected representives of the people
Each member represents the area of the country that elected them
What is the HOL made up of
800 ‘peers’ (members)
Who double-check new laws
What is the role of the Monarch
opening and dissolving Parliament and approving bills before they become laws
What is the role of the Monarch?
opening and dissolving Parliament and approving bills before they become laws
Outline the Government
- Run the country
- Where proposals for new laws come from
- Formed by political party with the majority of 650 MPS
What is a Bill
A proposal for a new law
What is a Green Paper
An initial report that triggers public discussion of a government proposal
Includes questions for people/organisations to respond to
What is a White Paper
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
State the 7 processes of law making
First reading
Second reading
Committee stage
Report stage
Third reading
The Lords
Royal Assent
Describe the First reading
The government introduce a rough bill to the HOC (SOMETIMES HOL) -
acts as formal annoucment of the bill
followed by a vote
Describe the Second reading
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
Describe the Committee stage
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
Describe the Report stage
MP’s look at the commitee’s report and debate/vote over the changes suggested
Debates could last several days
Describe the Third reading
Final chancefor the HOC to debate the Bill’s contents
No more changes allowed
FINAL vote to pass or reject the bill
Describe the Lords stage
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)
Describe the Royal Assent
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
What comes before the First reading?
The green paper is discussed by the public to see if they agree
How does a Green Paper turn to a White Paper
Green paper is shown to have public support/intereset
Define the Judicial Precedent
Where past decisons of judges create new laws for future judges to follow
How does Judicial Precedent link to UNIT 3
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.
How does the court hierarchy function?
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
What are the 2 exepctions where the court heierachy doesnt have to be followed?
Distinguishing & Overruling
Outline Distingusihing
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
Outline Overruling
This is where a court higher up the hierarchy states
that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and
overturns it.
Define Statutory Interoperation
Judges can make laws based on the way they INTERPRET statues or acts of Parliment
What are the 3 Interpretation rules
Literal rule
Golden rule
Mischief rule
Literal Rule
Judges SHOULD use the everyday meaning of words in statue
BUT words have different meanings and therefore can be interpreted differently by judges
Give an example of a Literal Rule being applied
1987 case of R vs Maginnis - different interpretations of the world ‘supply’ were found for the drug case
What is the Golden Rule
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.
Give an example of the Golden Rule
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
Describe the Mischief Rule
The mischief rule allows the court/judge to enforce what the statue INTENDED to achieve, rather than what the words ACTUALLY SAY
