the nature of law

Question 1

what are procedural laws?

Answer 1

they prescribe the framework in which other laws are made and enforced, for instance, the police and criminal evidence act 1984 providing a procedure on how police make a lawful arrest

Question 2

what are substantive laws?

Answer 2

they create and define legal rights and obligations
e.g. criminal offences, employment rights

Question 3

what are public laws?

Answer 3

they govern the relationship between the state and its citizens
e.g. criminal laws and most procedural laws

Question 4

what are private laws?

Answer 4

they create rights enforceable between individuals (mainly substantive in nature)
e.g. the law of trespass allows you to restrict access to your property

Question 5

what is criminal law?

Answer 5

it creates criminal offences and punishes those who commit them
they attract the attention of the criminal justice service (CJS) including the police, the CPS, the criminal courts, his majesty’s prison service, his majesty’s probation service and the national offender management service
fits into both substantive and public categories

Question 6

what is civil law?

Answer 6

creates rights that are enforceable between private individuals, meaning enforcement agencies don’t get involved
aim to compensate rather than punish
fits into the substantive category

Question 7

is the standard of proof higher in criminal or civil law? why?

Answer 7

criminal law because the repercussions are more severe (compensation vs prison)

Question 8

what are the 4 sources of law?

Answer 8

-custom
-statute
-devolved bodies
-common law

Question 9

what is custom law?

Answer 9

-rules that involve the disapproval of the community rather than formal punishment
-some rules may be ‘hardened into rights’

Question 10

what is statute law?

Answer 10

-acts of parliament/statutes made by the house of commons and the house of lords
-most new law is statute

Question 11

what are devolved bodies?

Answer 11

-when the UK parliament delegates some of its law-making power to other organisations e.g. the EU, the welsh government, the scottish parliament or local councils
-often only apply to small geographical areas

Question 12

what is common law?

Answer 12

-laws developed by judicial decisions
-e.g. murder (was never defined as an act of parliament)