Principles of Law Flashcards
Give 3 rules of law
- Everyone should be equally subject to the law
- Law should operate in the open and legal codes should be publicly available
- Legal questions should be answered according to law, not based on discretion
Give 3 characteristics of law
- Law is deliberative
- Law is interpretative
- Law is iterative
What is the role of a legislature?
To pass primary legislation
What is the role of an executive?
– Executes and enforces the law
– Delegates power to make secondary legislation
What is the role of a judiciary?
– Decides what the law means and how it should apply in practice
– Makes common law
What is common law?
– Legislation is general and policy-focused
– Courts develop the law organically through cases
– Bound by precedent
Do we have common or civil law in the UK?
Common law
What is civil law?
– Legal codes are prescriptive and detailed
– Courts apply legal codes to cases without being bound by precedent
Give 3 examples of public law
- International law
- Criminal law
- Human rights law
Give 3 examples of private law
- Data protection law
- Contract law
- Tort law
State the 3 fundamental principles of UK law
- The rule of law
- Parliamentary sovereignty
- Doctrine of precedent (common law)
What does parliamentary sovereignty mean?
Parliament has legal authority to make any law it wants, without restrictions
What is the Collingridge dilemma?
Efforts to regulate the further development of technology face a double bind:
Information problem: impacts are hard to predict before technology is more extensively developed
Power problem: intervening to regulate tech is more difficult when the tech has become entrenched
Why might we need to regulate technologies?
New technologies can have a major effect on society and confer significant power on some at the expense of others
