Ac1.1 Flashcards
Within law decision making there are two main sources of decision making, which are?
Government
Judiciary
The government - the English legal system
Which 2 laws are there?
Common law
Statute law
Common law (case law)
Is built on precedents created by judges
Statute law
Is created by the parliament in which judges must follow
Within the parliament there are three main parts within law decision making. What are they
The Monarch
The House of Lords
The House of Commons
The Monarch
The role of the Monarch in law making is to give the royal assent - their agreement to the new law
The House of Lords
House Lords are known as peers, their role is to act as a double check on new laws
The House of Commons
This is made up of elected representatives of the people, this includes 650 members of parliament (MPS) each MP has become elected at general elections to represent a geographical area
The parliamentary stages of a bill
Green paper
Initial report to provoke public discussion - includes questions of interest
The parliamentary stages of a bill
White paper
After the discussion it includes findings and detailed plans for the legislations (draft version)
The parliamentary stages of a bill
Name them
Fat - first reading
Snails - second reading
Can’t - committee stage
Reach - report stage
The - third reading
Hand - House of Lords
Rails - Royal assent
The Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and the commencement date is given
The parliamentary stages of a bill
- First reading - the name of the Bill and it’s aims are read out and a formal vote is taken
- Second reading - the main debate takes place followed by another vote
- Committee stage - a chosen group of representatives look closely at the Bill to address any issues and suggest any amendments
4.Report stage - the committee report back to the full House who then vote on the proposed amendments - Third reading - the final vote on the Bill
- House of Lords - all stages so far are repeated in the other house (ping pong stage)
7.Royal assent - the monarch signs the Bill. He cannot refuse as it is now only a symbolic stage as Heard of State. - The Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and the commencement date is given
Examples of criminal statutes
- The Criminal Justice Act - introduced a change in the double jeopardy rule (Ann Ming’s campaign and Macpherson report)
- The Crime (sentences) Act - introduced mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offences
- The Dangerous Dogs Act - this was created due to a mass moral panic crated by the media as there was a lack of scrutiny it meant the act itself had many flaws such as most dog attacks are not committed by the four breeds banned by the act
Order of the courts
- Magistrates Court - 3 magistrates
- Crown Court - judge/jury
- Appeal Court - 3 judges
- Supreme Court - 12 law lords
Judicial precedent
is when past decisions of judges create laws for further judges to follow.
It is based on the principle of standing by or following what judges have decided in previous cases
A judge must follow decisions made in previous cases.
By treating similar cases in the same way it produces certainty, consistently and fairness in the legal system
Donoghue v Stevenson
Mrs Donoghue drank a bottle of ginger bear that had the remains of a decomposing snail in it. She felt Ill and sued the manufacturer. The court decided that a duty of care was owed by the manufacturer to the women
Daniels v White
Brought a bottle of lemonade and when it was drunken he felt a burning reaction in his throat. The lemonade was found to have a corrosive metal in it. The facts were slightly different, but it was sufficiently similar for the purpose of precedent
Exceptions of the precedent
There are two situations where a court does not follow precedents. Name them
Distinguishing and overruling
There are two situations where a court does not follow precedents and give the example
- Distinguishing - applies when the judge finds the facts in the present case to be different enough from the earlier case to allow him or her to reach a different decisions and not follow the precedent
- Overruling - when a court higher up states that a legal decisions in an earlier case is wrong and overturns is
Example - The Law on marital rape
In the case of R v R a husband was convicted of attempting to rape his wife. He appealed this on the ground that there was centuries - old precedent starting a husband could not be found guilty of raping his wife because he marriage contract gave a wife ‘ irrevocable consent’ to sex. The court of appeal overruled this on the ground of irrevocable consent is not acceptable in todays society
Statutory interpretation
Is where judges are called upon to interpret words/phrases within statutes/Act of Parliament to apply the law to cases they are judging.
Superior courts (Supreme Court and Court of Appeal) at allows to use statutory interpretation
Three different rules in statutory interpretation
The literal rule - literal meaning of the world
The golden rule - judges will modify the meaning of the word
The mischief rule - look at the intention of the parliament
The Golden Rule - case study
The literal rule can lead to absurd results.
The Golden Rule allows the court to modify the literal meaning to avoid this.
Alder v George - Under the Official Secrets Act 1920 it was an offence to obstruct HM Forces near to a prohibited place eg naval/RAF base. Alder argued that he has not broken the law because he was not literally in vicinity of a prohibited place but was actually in it. The court used the golden rule to ensure Alder was convicted
Describe the governmental (parliamentary) process for making laws (6 marker).
first paragraph (green and white paper)
The process for making laws begins with the gov identifying a need for new legislation. This may involve publishing a Green Paper to… Following this, a White Paper is issued,… These documents help shape the foundation of the bill.
Once ready, the proposed legislation is introduced to Parliament as a bill.
