The Northern Ireland Legal System - Ch1 Flashcards
Describe the main differences between civil law and criminal law in Northern Ireland.
Civil law is deemed to be private law – it generally concerns disputes between individuals, where one person
sues another person for a wrong.
A civil claim is called an action and the parties are known as the plaintiff and the defendant.
Criminal law is deemed to be public law, which involves the state imposing codes of conduct and prosecuting
an individual for breaching that code.
A criminal case is called a prosecution and the parties are known as the prosecution and the defence
(accused).
Explain the criminal court structure:
Magistrates Court;
Magistrates Court:
This Court deals with summary offences’ (minor offences) such as road traffic offences, public order
offences, littering, loitering, shoplifting, etc.
The maximum sanction that can be imposed by the court is 18 months imprisonment (12 months of which
can run consecutively but the last six months to run concurrently) and/or a fine not exceeding £5,000.
Explain the criminal court structure:
Crown Court;
This Court hears all indictable (serious) offences for example, murder, rape, aggravated sexual assault,
treason and perjury – all proceedings will commence with the arraignment of the accused where he will be
brought before the Court and asked to plead guilty or not guilty. Heard by Judge and Jury. Right to appeal.
Explain the criminal court structure:
Court of Appeal;
It is an appellate court, hearing appeals from the Magistrates and Crown courts. Divided into two sections, criminal and civil.
The court may (1) allow the appeal and acquit the defendant, (2) allow the appeal and reduce, vary or
increase the sentence, (3) allow the appeal and order a retrial of the case, or (4) dismiss the appeal
Explain the criminal court structure:
Supreme Court.
Final court and hears appeals of major importance. Five law lords hear the cases. It is subject to European
law.
Tests to determine guilt for Civil and Criminal Law?
Tests:
For a civil court to find a defendant liable, the test is the balance of probabilities – for a criminal court to find a
defendant guilty the test is beyond all reasonable doubt.
List the criminal sanctions that can be imposed where a person is found guilty of a criminal
offence.
Criminal Sanctions:
(i) Fines;
(ii) Imprisonment;
(iii) Community Service Orders;
(iv) Probation Orders.
Identify and describe the three organs of State
The three Organs of State include the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary.
(i) The Legislature- is the law making body and is made up of the Member of Parliament and the House of Lords
(in NI the Legislature is made up of the elected members of the NI Assembly).
The Assembly/Parliament Members vote in new laws and can repeal or change existing laws.
(ii) The Executive- consists of the Crown and Government (i.e., Queen, Prime Minister and Ministers) or in
Northern Ireland the First Minister, deputy First Minister and Ministers.
They formulate policies for implementation of the laws passed by the elected representatives.
(iii) The Judiciary - has the power of interpreting the law made by Parliament and apply the law correctly. They
also have the power to create law
Identify and describe the three main sources of law in Northern Ireland.
The three main sources are legislation, case law and EU law.
(i) Legislation is the most important source of law- legislation can be changed or amended or repealed by
Parliament/NI Assembly who can also make new legislation. Legislation consists of both primary and
secondary legislation.
(ii) Case law is law made by judges in a particular case and then applied in other cases developing a precedent.
It is usually created when the legislation is silent on the matter i.e., the answer cannot be found in legislation.
(iii) EU Law - the creation of the EU meant that they developed a Parliament who, in partnership with the EU
Council of Ministers and EU Commission, can draft laws applicable to all the EU countries.
There is primary legislation known as Treaties and secondary legislation known as Regulations. EU law is
the highest law and, if UK says something different to EU law, EU law prevails (subject to timing and manner
of departure of the UK from the EU).
The primary sources of EU law are the Treaties. Explain the developments and changes introduced by the
various European Union Treaties.
EU Treaties:
The Treaty of Rome 1957
This Treaty founded the European Community and set out to harmonise the individual member state’s
economic policies and encourage development of economic activities, by creating a common market that
facilitates the free movement of goods, services, people and capital.
This Treaty also established the institutions of Europe.
The Single European Act 1987
The aim of this Treaty was to advance European economic and political integration.
This Treaty created policies, such as the removal of trade barriers between member states to reduce
competition, in order to achieve the objectives of the EU and it also increased the voting power given to the
European Parliament.
The Maastricht Treaty 1993
This Treaty replaced Community with Union (EC to EU).
This Treaty, unlike previous Treaties, created policies to enhance economic and political integration, for
example, the concept of ‘European citizenship’ and the establishment of the process for implementation of
a ‘single European currency’.
The Amsterdam Treaty 1997
This Treaty involved policies on social integration, including immigration, public health, equality and
employment.
This Treaty implemented a national employment policy to tackle the problem of unemployment in member
states and established goals to be reached within certain timeframes with the aim of creating new jobs for
individuals in all member states.
The Nice Treaty 2001
This Treaty does not introduce new policies, but amended existing policies in previous Treaties, to cater for
the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 member states and now 27 member states.
This Treaty includes, for example, changes on how power will be divided between the EU institutions after
enlargement.
The Lisbon Treaty 2009
The purpose of this Treaty was to make the European Union more democratic by raising its standards on
accountability, transparency and participation.
This Treaty contains the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights, which lists the human rights recognised by the
Union.
Outline the role of the European Parliament.
The European Parliament is an advisory and supervisory EU body, which has three main roles:
(i) it has a supervisory role over the other political institutions;
(ii) the Parliament has joint responsibility for the budget and how it is utilised;
(iii) it shares legislative responsibility with the Council of Ministers, through the co-decision procedure.
