Law Making Flashcards
4Starter 29/4/24
*laws are made by an act of parliament (statutes) or by cases
*parliament cant create all law - no time, some complex to understand
*650 MPs in HoC (elected, country / into constituencies
*general elec every 5 y
*proposed new law is called a bill which is name of the law before it becomes AoP
*787 in HoL called law lords (non elected)
*King’s role = royal assent - final approval of a bill
Procesz
*gov picks a new law or changes an existing law
*new law becomes a green paper - draft of an idea of law, outlines why law should exist
*join up with rest of MPs + discuss
*make adjustments
*becomes white paper
*gov csn skip green paper if they have a clear idea of what they want the law to be
Bills
*public - intro by gov as part of its legislation, affect public as a whole. Example- access to justice act 1999
*private - intro for benefit of particular indivs, or groups of ppl, often fail to become law due to insufficient time within a parliamentary session. Example - hertfordshire council (filming on highways) act 2014
*hybrid - cross between public and private, intro by gov to affect a particular person, or organisation. Example: high speed rail act 2017
*private members bill -non gov bill intro by indiv MPs, often deal with narrow issues, 10 min rule -ltd time to debate bill. Example: abortion act 1967
Process- can start in either HoC or HoL ( if C = MPs, if L = law lords, process is same)
This case HoC
*First reading - formal procedure, names of bill read
*Second reading - main debate on the whole bill, focuses on main principles not smaller details, end of debate there is vote, majority vote in favour= pass, no? = thrown out
*Committee - thorough exam on every clause of bill, (16-52 MPs will form a committee, dep on depth of bill + how many specialise), propose amendments and additions
*Report - committee report to rest of house. !!!!! If no amendments or additions NO report stage. Amendments will be discussed and rejected or accepted (entite bill not thrown out)
*Third reading - Final vote on the bill. Been through all other stages it is a formality (wont be thrown out)
Opposite house: Bill goes to HoL where each step is repeated however committee stage differs as bill is discussed with whole house not small committee
NO amendments =Royal assent (formality)
YES amendments = sent back to HoC
Following RA the AoP will come into force on midnight of same day unless a designated date given
3 facts i found
•Takes a bout a year- if longer, event will have overtaken the original intent or purpose of the bill
•Mace - placed on central table as a symbol of royal authority. Without it neither house can meet or pass laws, if removed = house deemed suspended
•Wash up procedures: when gov is at end of term, unfinished bill are rushed through the house so not lost
advan and disadvan
-democratic since elected body (HoC)
-in depth analysis
-Parliament act 1949 - power of HOL to reject bills is ltd, so HOC dont have to send it back to HOL
-take too long - events may overtake initial intent of bill
- not specialists in HoL = how can they scrutinise without specialisation 2
- undemocratic - HoL gets involved - not elected, same as Royal Assent
statutory interpretations - interpret and apply legislation, important in cases involving statute - sometimes ambiguity, diff rules, diff aims - promote justice and parliamentary intentions
literal rule - words of statute given their natural meaning when applied without judge seeking to put gloss on words or seek to make sense of the statute CAN LEAD TO INJUSTICE
- beryman v north Ldn railway - literal rule applied leading to unjust outcome
- fisher v bell - offence to offer for sale a flick knife, he did not have the offer to sale, it is an invitation to treat
- r v harris - offence to stab cut or wound, D bit off his victim’s nose but applying literal rule he had to use an instrument
golden rule - only used when literal rule would lead to absurdity, courts applied a secondary meaning of the words used
- Re Sigsworth - would be unjust to inherit his mums estate when he killed her therefore court extended the definition
- adler v george - offence to obstruct a member of armed forces ‘in the vicinity’ of a prohibited place. He was actually in it therefore court extended it to mean in the place as well
Mischief rule - established by heydons case 1584 - rather than focusing too much on wording of act but purpose of act (presuming by pro bono publico - intent for public good) they look at previous law before the act to see what the intent to prevent was
- smith v hughes - offence to solicit in a public place, intent - avoid prostitutes in pub (street offences act 1959) they were in private place but court focused on intent
- elliot v gray - intent of road traffic act 1930 - prevent victims from uninsured drivers, car uninsured and on road but even if not used it was still a hazard so still guilty
- corkery v carpenter - licensing act 1872 - offence to be drunk in charge of a ‘carriage’ on highway, court said bike is within intent of act
purposive approach
- in EU court of justice
- literal use is useless due to lang diff and translations
- seek to look at purpose of leg before interpret rules
pepper v hart lord griffiths - the days have passed when the courts adopted the literal approach, look at purpose rather than words
intrinsic aids
- may help make meaning clearer
- marginal notes,sections etc.
- some acts - defined word
(wording, titles, sections)
extrinsic aids
- help put act into context
- previous acts of parliament, earlier case law , dictionaries of time and historical setting
- also include international conventions, regulations or directives which have been implemented by ENG leg
interpretation act 1978
help judges interp law by defining words. e.g. month means calendar month, ‘he’ also means ‘she’ or singular also means plural and vice versa.
delegated legislation (DL)
Parliament delegate power to other governing bodies to create laws since they may have no time or the other g.b. may have more knowledge of the given topic.
- Secondary or subordinate leg
- May lead to an undemocratic system since g.b. are not elected
- Not by parl but by authority given by them
-Laid down in parent act (enabling act) = framework of rights that the body has, what laws they can make etc.
cabinet ministers
team of 20 or so most senior ministers in the gov who are chosen by the PM to lead a specific policy area e.g. health
privy council
body that advises the head of state
parent act
purpose is to officially delegate the power (enables body to take over)
+ framework of the law
types of dl
orders in council
- not go through whole parl process
- implement matters of major importance e.g. covid
- group of ministers as PC - meet national emergencies that may arise in future - threats to supply and distribution of food, water or other essentials
by-laws
- rules created by certain authorities under parl like local councils
- made to affect some people or certain areas
statutory instruments (SI)
- most common, 3k a year
- power delegated to ministers in gov e.g. ministers of transport makes detailed rules in given area e.g. road traffic regulations, m of ed = rules on attendance
facts - problems and what needs to be done
- dangers in DL = elected to non-elected body
- we need to safeguard and prevent corruption
- control is exercised both by parl and courts
