AC1.1 Flashcards
Three parts of parliament
House of Lords, House of Commons, monarch
How does the government make laws
Green paper - presents government’s ideas for future policy, provoke discussion
White paper - firmer plan for government policy, cabinet ministers must agree to further it, draft version usually
First reading - name of bill and and it’s main aims are read out loud, formal vote taken, Commons
Second reading - main debate, another vote, government usually win and it goes to next stage
The committee stage - chosen group of representatives look at bill, address issues, amendments suggested
The report stage - committee report back to full house, vote on amendments, several days sometimes
Third reading - final vote on bill, no amendments allowed now, pass or reject
The lords - all above stages repeated here, if amendments made by lords it returns to Commons for debate
Royal assent - monarch approval, cannot refuse, symbolic purpose
Judicial precedent
Lower courts have to follow the decisions of higher courts - past decisions create laws for judges to refer back to for guidance in future cases - cases that are alike are treated in the same way ensuring consistency
Statutory interpretation
The process by which courts interpret and apply legislation - to arrive at the legal meaning of legislation, conveys the legislative intention - judges can make laws by the way they interpret the statutes or acts of parliament
Exceptions to judicial precedent
Distinguishing - if a judge finds that the facts are different from an earlier one, they can reach a different decision and do not have to follow precedent
Interpretation rules
Literal rule - judges should use the ordinary, everyday meaning but this is difficult when words have multiple meanings
Golden rule - the judge can modify the meaning when literal meaning leads to absurd results
Mischief rule - the law will be upheld in terms of what it intended to achieve rather than what the words actually say
Donoghue v Stevenson 1932
Two friends visited a cafe and one drank a bottle of ginger beer that had the remains of a decomposing snail in it, the woman fell ill and sued the manufacturer, she won her case, the court decided a duty of care was owed by the manufacturer to the woman, known as the ‘neighbour principle’ this case founded the law of negligence
Daniels v White 1938
The claimant bought a bottle of lemonade and when it was drunk he felt a burning reaction in his throat, the lemonade was found to have corrosive metal in it, the case of Donoghue v Stevenson was used when suing for compensation even though the facts were slightly different, sufficiently similar for precedent
Purposive approach
Comes from the approach of European court justice - extension of the mischief rule
