sources of law

Question 1

what are the 3 POVs needed for the law?

Answer 1

• compliance
• preparation
• challenge

Question 2

what does compliance refer to in the POV of the law?

Answer 2

essentially what the law says
when to / not to do things
being compliant prevents people from getting sued

Question 3

what does preparation refer to in the POV of the law?

Answer 3

have to have active awareness about changing laws and staying ahead of it, in order to remain compliant

Question 4

what does challenge refer to in the POV of the law?

Answer 4

reform the law and challenge the status quo to get it changed

Question 5

what are the two types of law?

Answer 5

• international
• national / “domestic”

Question 6

what is international law?

Answer 6

agreements between countries. eg. regarding corruption, trade, maritime, war, human rights

Question 7

what is national / “domestic” law?

Answer 7

laws made in a country to apply to that country and to be enforced by that country

Question 8

what are the three UK domestic sources of law?

Answer 8

• statutes
• delegated legislation
• case law

Question 9

what are statutes?

Answer 9

legislation, acts of parliament. they remain in place until repealed

Question 10

who makes statutes?

Answer 10

1. law commission
2. house of commons
3. house of lords
4. royal assent

Question 11

what is the process of making a statute?

Answer 11

1. green paper created by law commission where public made aware of new changes (public consultation)
2. green republished as white paper following consultation
3. bill created & sent to parliament
4. 1st reading, 2nd reading, committee & report stage, 3rd reading all take place in house of commons
5. goes to house of lords with same process as house of commons
6. goes to royal assent, monarchy approve new statute

Question 12

what is the interpretation act 1978?

Answer 12

an act guiding how to interpret a statute using five rules :
1. grammatical rule
2. literal rule
3. golden rule
4. mischief rule
5. contextual / purposive approach

Question 13

what does the grammatical rule refer to when interpreting statutes?

Answer 13

for example, when dealing with lists “etc” has no meaning, so statutes need to be clearly defined and outlined

Question 14

what does the literal rule refer to when interpreting statutes?

Answer 14

interpret the statute literally. use dictionary definitions of keywords in the statute

Question 15

what does the golden rule refer to when interpreting statutes?

Answer 15

use the everyday meaning of the word when interpreting the statute

Question 16

what does the mischief rule refer to when interpreting statutes?

Answer 16

interpret the word in the statute to solve the mischief. almost twist it to fit the offence and details of the offence

Question 17

what does the contextual / purposive approach refer to when interpreting statutes?

Answer 17

consider the consequences of the offence when interpreting the statute

Question 18

what is delegated legislation?

Answer 18

it allows gov to make changes to the law without needing to push a new act

Question 19

who makes delegated legislation?

Answer 19

anyone who parliament has delegated authority to :
- local authorities (bye-laws)
- privy council (orders in council)
- government ministers (statutory instruments)

Question 20

how is delegated legislation interpreted?

Answer 20

judges can interpret and “strike down” delegated legislation if it is :
- “mad” (irrational)
- “bad” (illegal)
- “badly done” (procedural impropriety)

Question 21

what is case law?

Answer 21

precedent law based on precedents, which is judicial decisions from previous cases

Question 22

who makes case law?

Answer 22

judges of the case make case law. there isn’t any acts but previous cases are used to base their decision off of. the interpretations set precedents.

Question 23

when is a case precedent binding?

Answer 23

supreme court : can follow its own previous decisions or change its mind
court of appeal : must follow supreme court and its own precedents
high court : must follow supreme court and its own precedents
inferior courts : must follow all of the above

Question 24

when is a precedent avoided?

Answer 24

precedent can be reversed on appeal :
- when court of appeal rules that judgement of a lower court was incorrect, then precedent reversed. eg. if ruling was not reasonable, if ruling was wrong in law, if ruling involved an error of law or principle

case might be disapproved :
- per incuriam (means that a previous court judgement has failed to pay attention to relevant precedents. lack of regard to the law)

case might be distinguished :
- case too different and unique to use precedent

Question 25

who makes EU law?

Answer 25

• european commision
• european parliament
• council of ministers

Question 26

what are the types of EU law?

Answer 26

• treaties
• regulations
• directives
• decisions
• case law

Question 27

how is EU law interpreted?

Answer 27

• laws apply to all member states
• overrides national law in member states