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Law Flashcards

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1
Q

House of Commons

A

-public elects 650 member
-mps propose new laws
-can scrutinise government

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2
Q

House of Lords

A

-second chamber
-questions government action
-791 unelected members

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3
Q

The process of a bill

A

1.gov has idea
2.draft bill
3.bill goes to first reading
4.second reading
5. committee stage
6.report stage
7.third reading
8.house of lords
9.royal assent
10.enactment

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4
Q

Advantages of parliamentary law making

A

Scrutiny- 3 readings, minimise errors
Democratic
Government control
House of Lords- prevent government abuse of power
Flexibility

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5
Q

Disadvantages of parliamentary law making

A

•Slow-can take months or years
•Undemocratic-house wig lords is unelected
•Too much government control
•Hard to amend
•Dated language
•Hard to know what law is in force

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6
Q

Influences on parliamentary law making

A

Political pressure
Pressure groups
The media
Law commission
Judges

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7
Q

Advantages of pressure groups

A

•raise public awareness of issues
•remind parliament of issues that are important to them and the public

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8
Q

Disadvantages of pressure groups

A

campaigns may be objective or biased
some undesirable tactics are used
may only represent a minority view but be overly influential

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9
Q

Parliamentary supremacy

A

•parliaments power is unlimited
•no one in parliament can limit the power of a future parliaments
•no one can question the validity of a parliamentary law or override it

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10
Q

The EU

A

If there is conflict between uk and EU law- EU law prevails
Laws made under this and subsequent treaties has the effect of being law in the uk thanks to the European communities act 1972

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11
Q

Reason for needing rules of interpretation

A

•an act contains ambiguous words
•words are used to broad
•new advances in technology may raise questions of new interpretations
•error in drafting

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12
Q

Literal rule

A

Judge is required to give the word or phrase their dictionary meaning, even where it appears contrary to parliaments intention

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13
Q

Advantages of literal rule

A

Respects parliamentary sovereignty
Democratic
Highlights issues that need correcting
More certain

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14
Q

Disadvantages of literal rule

A

•Absurd results
•Unjust results does not give effect to intention of parliament
•Cannot work if there are more than one dictionary meaning
•Assumes perfection from draftsmen

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15
Q

Golden rule

A

Extends the literal rule
2 or more meanings judge selects 1

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16
Q

Narrow approach

A

This applies where a word or phrase has 2 literal meanings. The judge can select 1 that avoids the absurdity

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17
Q

Broad approach

A

Phrase is interpreted to avoid absurdity

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18
Q

Advantages of golden rule

A

•Prevents absurd and unjust results which could be caused by the literal rule
•Respects words of parliament
•More likely than the literal rule to give effect to parliamentary intention

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19
Q

Disadvantages of golden rule

A

•no clear definition of an absurd result which leads to uncertainty for lawyers advising their clients.
•too much power to judges
•Michael zander

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20
Q

Mischief rule

A

The court will seek to interpret an act by looking at the gap in the law that it was trying to fill

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21
Q

Advantages of mischief rule

A

Avoids absurd results
Justice in individual cases
Promotes flexibility and a focus on parliaments intention

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22
Q

Disadvantages of mischief

A

Too much power to judiciary
Not always easy to find the mischief
Can make law uncertain

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23
Q

Purposive approach

A

Focuses on what parliament intended to do

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24
Q

Advantages of purposive approach

A

May give effect to parliament intention

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25
Q

Disadvantages of purposive approach

A

Too much power to unelected judiciary
Uncertainty
Judges may have overstepped their mark and made decisions based on public policy

26
Q

Internal aids to interpretation

A

•Short and long title (abortion act1967)
•Schedules
•purposes section or preamble
•punctuation

27
Q

3 aspects to the rule of law

A

•no person shall be punished except in accordance with the law
•there is equality before the law
•fairness and clarity of the law

28
Q

External aids to interpretation

A

Extrinsic aids to interpretation are the tools or materials found outside the statute itself that can help in interpreting the meaning and purpose of a particular provision or section of the statute. Some of the extrinsic aids commonly used in statutory interpretation include the following:
Hansard
Dictionaries
text books
Academic writings
Law Commission Reports
Case law from other jurisdictions
repprtsof law reform bodies

29
Q

lay magistrates

A

they are not legally qualified
they work on criminal cases
they are unpaid

30
Q

qualifications of a magistrate

A

1.right personal qualities
2.willingness to take oath of allegiance
3.over 18 and under 65
4.live or work within the local area

31
Q

appraisal

A

during the first 2 years new magistrates will be mentored and will attend additional training

32
Q

advantages of magistrates

A

saves money
local knowledge
availability of judges
can deal with issues that arise
public confidence

33
Q

disadvantages of magistrates

A

unrepresentative of society
inconsistent
case hardened and biased
reliance on legal advisor

34
Q

jurors

A

chosen at random from electoral role by the jury central
unpaid, no legal knowledge required
sit in bench of 12 in the crown court

35
Q

jurors role

A

decides fact not law
decides verdict
must not search the internet during the trial

36
Q

advantages of juries

A

a balance against state interference in criminal trails
juries are racially balanced
public participation in justice

37
Q

disadvantages of juries

A

some juries don’t give reasoned verdicts
juries are not truly representative
lack of ability
effect of jury service on juror- some cases are very distressing

38
Q

3 things required for precedent to work

A

1.a settled court structure
2.a ratio decendi
3.accurate records of the decisions made by the superior courts

39
Q

precedent

A

legal principles made by judges in the higher courts set a precedent to be followed by that court and all courts below it in the future cases of similar act

40
Q

ratio decendi (Howe 1987)

A

the reason for deciding

41
Q

problems with ratio decendi

A

judges rarely make it clear what the ratio decendi of their judgment is
in an appeal courts, the ratios may differ even if the decision does not

42
Q

obiter dicta

A

things said “by the way”
these statements are not crucial to the outcome of the case

43
Q

overruling

A

this is where a court disagrees with a previous decision and therefore refuses to follow it

44
Q

advantages of precedent

A

consistency/fairness
predictability/certainty
flexibility
time saving

45
Q

disadvantages of precedent

A

complexity
volume
uncertainty
rigidity
unconstitutional
undemocratic
retrospective effect
lack of research by the judge of parliamentary law making
slow rate of growth

46
Q

advantages of avoiding precedent

A

potential for growth of law overruling
Unfair law can be replaced

47
Q

disadvantages of avoiding precedent

A

retrospective law making
uncertainty
non conformity with the separation of powers
illogical distinctions

48
Q

actus reus

A

actus reus of a crime is the ‘guilty act’ normally a voluntary deliberate act

49
Q

omission

A

this is the failure to act
a person is only liable for omissions when they have a duty to act

50
Q

solicitors

A

represent clients in court or drafting contracts and leasing

51
Q

law is made by…

A

parliament
judges

52
Q

where does strict liability come from

A

statute- outraging public decency is a common law that is strict liability offences

53
Q

regulatory offences

A

things that govern how we act and are there to protect people from harm they are not completly criminal

54
Q

assault

A

to cause the apprehension of immediate unlawful force

55
Q

battery

A

application of force to another

56
Q

What was the decision in Cunningham?

A

The test for recklessness is subjective. i.e. we should ask did the D foresee the outcome as possible.

57
Q

What was the decision in Mohan?

A

The test for direct intent is whether it is the D’s aim or purpose. It does not matter if it was their desire and no malice is needed.

58
Q

What was the decision is Woolin?

A

Intent may be inferred from the circumstances. This is oblique intent and it must be shown that:
The outcome was a virtually certain consequence of the event
The D realised it was a virtually certain consequence.

59
Q

s.18 GBH actus reus

A

wounding or serious harm

60
Q

extrinsic aid

hansard

A

Hansard is the official record of debates in Parliament. It can provide insight into the legislative intent and purpose behind the statute. Courts may refer to Hansard to help interpret the meaning and scope of provisions within the statute.

criminal law (24 decks)

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