Describe the processes used for law making (AC1.1) Flashcards
What is parliament?
The UK has a parliamentary democracy, meaning most of its laws are made by passing acts of parliament. These laws can also be called statutes or legislation. Parliament is meant to represent the people, while the government runs the country.
What is the House of Commons?
Its members are made up of the elected representatives of the people, i.e the 650 Members of Parliament. Each MP is elected to represent a constituency (a geographical area). They debate on whether to make a suggested bill into law
What is the House of Lords?
Members of the House of Lords are known as peers, of which there are about 800.
In the past all were noblemen and the position was hereditary as it got passed down from father to son. However, this has been criticised and there are now 92 hereditary peers; there are also 26 Church of England bishops and archbishops.
The rest of the members are known as life peers who cannot pass their position onto their children - It simply dies with them.
Their main job is to scrutinise legislation properly as a ‘double check’ on the law.
What is the government?
Parliament is meant to represent the people, meanwhile the government runs the country. The government is formed by whichever political party has the most of the 650MPs. Most proposals for new laws come from the government, and a proposal for a new law is known as a bill.
Bills must be agreed upon by both houses for parliament and receive a royal assent before they can become acts of parliament.
What happens before the stages of parliament?
Before a bill is made a green paper is published as an initial report to provoke public discussion of the subject, often including questions for interested individuals and/or organisations.
After the consultation a white paper is published, which outlines the detailed plans the government has for the legislation. It often includes a draft version of the bill they intend to put before parliament.
What are the parliamentary stages of a bill?
- First reading
- Second reading
- Committee stage
- Report stage
- Third reading
- The other house gets involved
- Royal assent
- Bill becomes an act of parliament
What occurs before a bill is made?
A green paper is published as an initial report to provoke public discussion of the subject, often including questions for interested individuals and/or organisations.
After the consultation a white paper is published, which outlines the detailed plans the government has for the legislation. It often includes a draft version of the bill they intend to put before parliament.
What happens at the first reading?
The name of Bill and main aims are read out as the bill is first introduced in the house of commons (or sometimes the lords) through a formal announcement.
This is followed by a vote to allow it to move onto the next stage
What happens at the second reading?
The second reading of the bill is where main principle are considered and debated by the house following another vote, which is usually easily won as the government has the support of the majority of MPs
What happens during the committee stage?
A group of representatives (a parliamentary committee) examine the bill closely to amend and address any issues, they will report back to the whole house and propose the amendments
What happens in the report stage?
Committee reports back and MPs are given opportunity to debate and vote on any proposed amendments
What happens at the third reading?
The final Vote on the Bill as the house is given one more chance to debate any of its contents.
No amendments are allowed at this point; they must just vote on whether to pass or reject the bill.
What happens after one house chooses to pass the bill?
All the same steps are repeated in the other house (usually now the lords) If they make any amendment it must return to the first house whether the MPs will then decide on whether to accept or reject these.
The house of commons has the final say because it is made up of the elected representative.
What is meant by royal assent?
Monarch signs Bill as an agreement that the bill should become law. Cannot refuse it (only a formal role in the process)
What happens once a bill has passed through royal assent?
The bill becomes a law (an Act of Parliament) and a commencement date is given
Examples of criminal statutes
- The Criminal Justice Act (2003)
- The Crime (Sentences) Act (1997)
- The Dangerous Dogs Act (1991)
What is the judicial process of lawmaking?
Judicial precedent. This is a source of law making where judges follow a previous case example, as the last decision sets a precedent. This has created a single set of laws common to the whole country, known as common law.
How does the court hierarchy apply to precedent?
There is a hierarchy of courts, with the supreme court at the top and magistrates court at the bottom.
A case taken to a higher court automatically creates a binding precedent that lower courts must follow.
There are exceptions to judicial precedent. What are they?
- Distinguishing. This is when a judge finds that the facts in a case are different enough to not need to follow the precedent of the previous case, even if the legal principle involved is still the same.
- Overruling. When a court higher up overturns the decisions made by a lower ranked court through appeal.
Name case studies that demonstrate judicial precedent and exceptions to it.
- The law on marital rape - R v R (1992)
- Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) and Daniels v White (1938)
A case showing exceptions to precedent: The law on marital rape - R v R (1992)
In this case a man argued he could not be found guilt of raping his wife because of a centuries old precedent which meant marriage was an irreversable consent to sex for a woman. The appeal court overruled this on the ground that it is unacceptable today as men and women are seen as equal partners.
A case showing how precedent works: Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) and Daniels v White (1938)
In Daniels v White (1938) a man bought some lemonade but whilst drinking it felt a burning sensation in his mouth as it contained a corrosive metal. The Donoghue v Stevenson case was referred to when Mr Daniels sued the manufacturer as the cases were similar in fact for the purpose of precedent.
In that case a woman fell ill after drinking a beer, because it contained a decomposed snail, so she sued the manufacturer for negligence.
What rules do judges refer to when interpreting different laws?
- The Literal Rule
- The Golden Rule
- The Mischief Rule
What is the Literal Rule?
Under this rule judges should use everyday meanings to the words in a statue.
However words can often have several different meanings.
