law making Flashcards
PLM what is parliamentary supremacy
when parliament have the most power
PLM what rights so parliament have because of supremacy
make change and abolish any laws they want whenever they want
overrule the law
PLM why should the parliament be supreme
they are elected. by democracy
PLM who makes up parliament
mps lords king
PLM what types of laws does parliament make
primary legislation
PLM other than parliament who else makes laws
judge, local authority, and public bodies
PLM whos in government
ministers, prime ministers, and junior ministers
PLMwho sits in the hoc
650 mps
PLM how sits in the hol
lords 92 hereditary peers 650 life peers and 26 senior bishops
PLM what are the types of bills
private members bills
public bills
private bills
PLM what are private members bills,
usually introduces by individual mps who aren’t in government eg abortion act 1967
PLM what are public bills
laws on important public matters that affect everyone
eg domestic abuse act
PLM what are private bills
law sthat only affect one person
PLM what is the legislative process
the process of passing laws
PLM what is the acronym for the legislative process
green winged dragons fly slowly circling round the haunted palace remains
PLM what is a green paper
the constitution phase of a bill it sets out the general aims of the bill and invites response
PLM what is a white paper
a firm consultation for law waiting for further discussion they can still change at this phase
PLM what is a draft bill
once white papers are changed lawyers draw up the bill for mps to debate and decide weather or not the law will pass
PLM what is a first reading
when the bill is read out to the house of commons
PLM what is the second reading
the minister explains the bill
a debate is had on the bill
and a vote is held on the bill. this vote has to be in public and at the house of parliament
PLM what is the committee stage
between 16-50 mps examine each clause of the bill and think of any possible problems that could be caused
PLM what is the report stage
when the committee reports back to the house with any suggested amendments, they are debated and either accepted or rejected
PLM what is a third reading
the final vote on the bill
PLM what happens in the house of lords after the third reading
they repeat all the stages the hoc does but the whole of the hol can be involved in the committee stage
PLM what is pingpong in the legislative process
the hol can reject and send back the bill if they dont like it and teh improve it and end it back to the hol
PLM what is the royal assent
when the monarch signes off on th ebill
what is icecc
issue
cause
example
consequence
counter point
LR what is meant by law reform
when people introduce law, abolish/ repeal law, or change existing laws.
LR why do we need to reform the law
because crimes change, things get outdated, time moves on eg technology advances
LR what 7 things/ groups/ people can influence law making and reform
pressure groups
outdated laws
events
political reasons
law commission
lobbyists
public opinion/media
LR politician influences on law reform
at general elections the political parties publishes a manifesto which tells the voters what legislation they will introduce if elected.
eg the conservative manifesto 2019”get Brexit done”
LR public opinion/media influence on law reform
when there is strong public opinion and media coverage the government has to reform laws to deal with it e.g. immigration
polling of the uk public public showed on average 70% of uk citizens wants to reduce immigration
eg immigration act2016 & illegal migration act 2023
LR why do public opinion and media go together
because they are linked. do we influence the media or does the media influence us.
LR what re the two sections of pressure groups
sectional and cause
LR sectional pressure groups
these represent a particular group/ section of society. e.g. the law society represents lawyers interests & the British medical association e.g. health and care bill.
LR cause pressure groups
focus more on causes rather than groups of people. eg the league against the cruel sport was against fox hunting and this led to the hunting act 2004 and eg insulate Britain and just stop oil.
LR lobbyist
they try to get MPs to support a cause they try to get MPs to draw attention to the topic to get publicity. MPs are meant to register if they have an interest. e.g. Philip Davis and Owen Patterson
LR what is the law commission
an independent group of legal expects who find problems within the law and propose reform eg consumer rights act
LR what created law commission
law commission act 1965
LR the chair of the law commission
either a high court or appeal court judge appointed to the commission by lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice for up to 3 years eg sir Nicolas green who is being replaces in dec 2023 by sir peter Fraser
LR who are the other 4 commissioners
others are experiences judges, barrister, solicitors or teachers of law. they are appointed by the lord chancellor and the secretary of state for justice for up to five years although it can be extended
LR what does the chief executive do
commissioners are supported by a chief executive and about 20 members of the government legal service, two parliament counsel and a number of research assistants
LR who else is involved in law commission but you don’t need to know anything about
one or two non executive board members in law commission
what what act says what the law commission does
s3 of the law commissions act 1965
what does the s3 of the law commissions act 1965 say
lc reviews all areas of law to make systematic reform by codifying the law
consolidating the law
and repealing the law.
what is meant by codifying the law and an example
bringing together all the laws on one topic into one complete code
eg the lc wants to bring all areas of criminal law together in one cohesive criminal code.
what is meant by consolidating the law give two examples.
bringing a law that is spread across many cases and statutes into one single act.
- all nfos are spread across oapa and cases which led to the draft bill for nfo in 1998
-family law act 1996, modernised disparate law on divorce and domestica violence.
what is meant by repealing a law
getting rid of a law that doesn’t need to exist.
how many acts have lc repealed
more than 3000 act
how do that lc make reforms in stages
choose and issue
research
consolation
report
reform choosing an issue.
an area of law is either referred to the lc by the lord chancellor on behalf of the government.
or the lc my chose a topic themselves and seek gov approval.
reform research
the lc look at cases statutes and academic articles to understand th current state of the law
reform consultation
after research the lc publish a consultation paper. this will contain a description of the current law and explain the problems and suggest options for reforms often explaining how other countries dealt with the problem
report reform
based on the responses of the consultation the lc will make a proposa
