AC1.1

Question 1

What is a precedent

Answer 1

• refers to judges following the decisions of previous cases when determining sentences
• a decisions taken by a case in a higher court automatically creates an original or binding precedent for lower courts- must be followed when dealing with similar cases

Question 1

What are the 2 ways judges can make laws

Answer 1

• precedent
• statutory interpretation

Question 2

What is an example of a precedent

Answer 2

Donoghue v Stevenson
- 2 friends visited a cafe and one drank a bottle of beer that had remains of a decomposing snail in
- the woman fell ill and sued the manufacturer
- she won her case
- this case founded the modern day law of negligence

Question 3

What is statutory interpretation

Answer 3

• judges can make law by the way they interpret the statutes or acts of parliament
• a statute is a written law and judges need to interpret the meaning of the words to apply them to a case

Question 4

What are the 3 rules in statutory interpretation

Answer 4

• golden rule
• literal rule
• mischief rule

Question 5

What is the literal rule

Answer 5

judges should take the everyday, ordinary meaning of the words in the statute

Question 6

What is the golden rule

Answer 6

the golden rule allows the court to modify the literal meaning to avoid an absurd result that the literal rule can cause

Question 7

What is the mischief rule

Answer 7

this rule allows the court to enforce what the statute intended to achieve, rather than what the words actually say