Describe Processes For Law Making - AC1.1 Flashcards
Who signed what in 1215?
King John Signed the Magna Carta.
What does the Magna Carta ensure?
This document ensures that no one, not even the king, is above the law.
What did Simon de Montfort do for the first time in 1265?
He invited representatives of towns and shires to his first parliament.
What are the three parts of Parliament?
The House of Commons
The House of Lords
The Monarch
how many elected members are in the House of Commons?
650
What are political parties not in power called?
The Opposition
What is the role of the monarch in parliament?
Mainly ceremonial, they meet with the pm to get an update and have to formally agree with every new law.
The Monarch gives a Royal Asent - agreement to the new law.
What are select committees?
They work behind the scenes and analyse and scrutinize policies. Made up of MP’s, Lord’s, etc.
What is a proposal for a new law called?
a Bill
What is a Green paper?
an initial report to provoke public discussion of the subject and often includes questions for interested individuals and organisations to respond to.
What is a White paper?
A document setting out the governments detailed plans for legislation and often includes a draft version of the Bill they intend to put before Parliament.
What does democracy mean?
Democracy is when the power is in hands of the people/public for voting.
What does it mean that the UK is a Parliamentary democracy?
That most of the country’s laws are made by passing Acts of Parliament.
What are Laws made by Parliament also referred to?
Statutes or legislation
What is the House of Commons?
This House is the Publicly elected chamber of Parliament and made up of 650 MPs to represent their constituency.
MPs main role is to examine and challenge the work of the government, debating and passing all laws.
What is the House of Lords?
2nd chamber and works independently of the House of Commons.
The Lords share the task of making and shaping laws, checking and challenging the work of the government.
Members in here are called Peers and membership is by appointment, heredity or official function.
What is the Government?
Governments job is to run the country and it is formed by the political party that has the majority of the 650 MPs.
The PM is the leader of the majority party and most of proposals of new laws comes from the government.
What must a Bill go through to then become an Act of Parliamnent?
A Bill must be agreed by both houses of parliament and receive the Royal Assent by the Monarch.
What are the 7 stages of the Parliamentary stages of a Bill?
- First reading
- Second Reading
- The Committee Stage
- The Report Stage
- Third Reading
- The Lords
- Royal Assent
What happens when the Bill reaches the first reading (1)?
the government first introduces the Bill into the house of commons where it receives its first reading.
This is just a formal announcement of the Bill and followed by a vote to allow it to move to its next stage.
What happens when the Bill reaches the second reading (2)?
The main principles of the bill are considered and debated by the whole House of Commons and a vote is taken.
Since the government has the support of the majority of MPs, they usually win this vote
What happens when the Bill reaches the committee stage (3)?
Bill is now examined in detail, line by line, by a small committee made up of MPs from different parties.
The committee will report back to the whole House and will often propose ammendments to the Bill.
What happens when the Bill reaches the Report Stage (4)?
Gives all the MPs an opportunity to consider the committees report and debate and vote on any ammendments they wish to make for the Bill.
This is the last chance to debate the Bill.
What happens when the Bill reaches the third reading (5)?
The final chance for the commons to debate the Bills contents but no new ammendments are allowed at this stage. the house votes to either pass or reject the Bill.
What happens when the Bill reaches the Lords (6)?
The Bill goes to the House of Lords and goes through the exact same stages as the House of Commons.
If the Lords have ammended the Bill they send it back to the House of Commons so the MPs can decide whether or not to accept any new ammendments.
The House of Commons have the final say.
What happens when the Bill reaches the Royal Assent (7)?
Bill goes to the Monarch for signing, this is the agreement and a formality to make the Bill into a law.
the new law will come into force immediately unless the Act specifies that it will only apply from some later date. this is callled a commencement order.
What does the Criminal Justice Act (2003) enforce?
this outlines the roles and responsibilities of the CPS
this was put in place to modernise the criminal justice system
What does the crime (sentences) act (1977) enforce?
This introduced mandatory minimum and maximum sentence for a range of repeat offences.
What does the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) enforce?
Banned ‘dangerous dogs’ that are out of control in a public place
what did the Coronavirus Act (2020) enforced?
Hang outs with more than 6 people would result in each person being fined with a maximum fine of £10,000.
Granted Parliament powers to force people to stay inside, granted emergency powers to the government.
What does the Domestic Abuse Act (2021) enforce?
First Act to provide a legal definition of domestic abuse.
Says that domestic abuse can be physical, emotional, financial, etc.
What does the Prosecutions of Offences Act (1985) enforce?
The introduction to the CPS because of a huge risk of bias with the police
What is judicial precedent?
This is a source of law making where the past decisions of judges create new laws for future judges to follow.
judicial precedent is based on the principle of standing by or following what judges have decided in previous cases.
Example of judicial precedent?
If a point of law in a case today is the same as in a previous case, the judge should follow the decision made in the previous case.
What is an advantage with following judicial precedent in similar cases?
This ensures fairness so one person doesn’t have a different conviction for doing the same thing as another. This had helped create a single set of common law.
What is the court hierarchy from lowest to highest?
Magistrates Court
Crown Court
High Court
Court of Appeal
The Supreme Court
What happens in the court hierarchy?
If a decision is taken in a case by a higher court it automatically creates an original or binding precedent for all the lower courts to follow.
What are two exceptions of judicial precedent?
Distinguishing and Overruling
What does distinguishing mean for judicial precedent?
If the judge finds the facts in a present case are different enough from the earlier one they are able to reach a different decision and don’t have to follow precedent.
What does overruling mean for judicial precedent?
When a court higher up the hierarchy states that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and overturns it.
What is an example of distinguishing in a case.
Judicial Precedent - R vs. R (1992)
A husband was convicted for attempting to rape his wife, he appealed based on there being an old precedent which meant that a marriage contract gave the wife ‘irrevocable consent’ to sex. This idea is not acceptable today because a couple are seen as equal partners so the appeal court overruled this.
What do judges need to do with a statute?
They need to interpret the meaning of its words and apply them to the case they are judging
What are two issues with statutory interpretations?
Facts of the case may not have been envisaged by Parliament.
Where there are drafting errors or ambiguity within the statute
What is an example of a case with statutory interpretation?
R v Bassett (2008)
A man took a video camera into a public swimming pool men’s shower and recorded a mans chest, he was wearing swimming trunks.
In section 68(1)(a) the term breasts was meant for females so he wasn’t recording anything sexual.
The shower’s weren’t private and he wasn’t wearing underwear so the conviction for the man was quashed.
What are the three main rules to help judges with interpreting statutes?
The Literal Rule
The Golden Rule
The Mischief Rule
What is the literal rule regarding interpreting statutes?
Judges should use the everyday ordinary meaning of words in the statute, however one word can have multiple meanings.
Example case: R v Maginnis (1987)
Case involving illegal drugs but different judges found different meaning for the word ‘supply’
What is the golden rule regarding interpreting statutes?
This allows the court to modify literal meaning to avoid this. the Official secrets Act (1920) made it an offence to obstruct Her Majesty’s forces in the vicinity of a prohibited place eg. a naval base.
Example Case: Adler V George (1964)
Adler argued that he had not broken the law because he was not in the vicinity but was actually inside it, court applied this law and he was convicted.
What is the mischief rule regarding interpreting statutes?
This allows the court to enforce what the statute was intended to achieve. The Licensing Act (1872) makes it an offence to be drunk in charge of a carriage.
Example Case: Corkey v Carpenter (1951)
Corkey was found guilty of being drunk in charge of a bicycle not a carriage.
