Unit 4 Flashcards
what is parliament made up of
- house of commons
- house of lords
- monarch
what is the house of commons
made up of mps voted in by the public from their constituency
what is the house of lords
contains heredity peers whose families are born lords as well as individuals who have been appointed lords
what is the monarch
the queen/king who is head of state in the uk. all bills have to get approval from the monarch before being passed as a law
what does the creation of a new law start with
- green paper
- white paper
what is a green paper
allows public consultation on a potential new law to be discussed
what is white paper
after consultation a white paper is created with formal proposals. this allows a draft act to be created and presented to parliament.
what is judicial precedent
- law made by judges in courts. when a case appears before them they must make a judgement and this forms the law. it must be be followed in similar cases in future.
- this is called common law that is judge made law
- there is a court hierachy system and lower courts must abide by the decisions and rules made by higher courts
what is statutory interpretation
this is where judges in superior courts are called upon to interpret words and phrases within a law. they have the ability to interpret the meaning of the law and make a verdict on the case
what is the order of government processes (6)
-first reading
- second reading
- commitee stage
- report stage
- third reading
- royal assent
what is the first reading
name of the bill and main aims read out. formal vote taken
what is the second reading
main debate of the bill followed by another vote
what is the commitee stage
a group of representatives look at the bill to address any issues and suggest possible changes
what is the report stage
commitee report back to house who then vote on any proposed amendments
what is the third reading
final vote on the bill takes place
what is royal assent
the monarch signs the bill. she cannot refuse as it is now only a symbolic stage as the head of state
what do the police do
- work with courts to ensure defendants, in custody are brought before them
- give evidence in court
- work with probation in managing an offender nearing release
- work closely with the cps in trying to charge and prosecute offenders
what do the crown prosecution do
- advise the police on charging a suspect
- work with the police to check evidence collated and if there is enough evidence to charge a suspect
- appear in courts to conduct the advocacy of a case
what is the ministry of justice
- oversea the work of courts
- oversea the work of probation services
- oversea the prison systems
- deal with legislation and guidelines for working in different organizations of the cjs
what does the prison service do
- work with probation services when a prisoner is to be released
- lawyers may ask for prison visits to have legal consultations with client
- Defendants denied bail by courts and police are remanded to prison
- judge and courts decide prison term for offenders
What do the courts/sentencing council do
- contributes to law creation through judicial precedent and statutory interpretation
- liaise with police and prisons to ensure the safe delivery of prisoners to courts
- arrange video links if a prisoner cannot attend court
- prisoners held in court cells pending their court hearing and return to prison
What do the probation service do
- arrest a prisoner recalled to prison whilst on probation
- liaise with police should there be any issues whilst a person is on probation
- work with other charity organisations to help prisoners leave prison successfully and have support
What is Law creation
Criminal law is made in parliament
How police enforce law
Police enforce law by investigating criminal activity. They arrest, detain and interview suspects
How cps links with police
Cps will advise the police on the appropriate charge
What happens in the court process
- suspect brought before court
- Defendant released on bail or remanded into custody
- a guilty plea result in a trial , this includes judge and jury
What happens if defendant is found guilty
- If convicted, formal punishment is given by the judge. Sentencing council provides guideline and may possibly be sent to prison
- prison services will then oversee welfare of prisoner and enforces punishment
What happens following release from prison
When released a prisoner is usually on licence and supervised by the probation service
What is the crime control model
- seek to deal with criminal cases quickly and efficiently, seeking a conviction at any cost
- aim is to punish criminals and stop them committing further crimes
- focus on zero tolerance approach, links to right realism theory
- focus on protecting the rights of victims rather than the defendant
- argue police should have enhanced powers to ensure a conviction
- doesn’t address the causes of crime or that crime can be deterred through detection and conviction
Areas of law in which the crime control model accomplishes
- introduction of bad character evidence and previous convictions
- removal of the double jeopardy rule for murder and other serious offences
- extended pre-charge detention time for terrorist activities
- example of a case = Colin stagg
What is the due process model (obstacle course)
- opposite of the crime control. Focuses on innocent until proven guilty
- printed fairness and protecting the defendants legal rights
- argues that police powers should be limited to prevent oppression of the individual
- argues the justice system should safeguard and individuals rights to avoid miscarriages of justice
- an investigation should be thorough to ensure a correct verdict can be reached
- relates to the left realism approach
What are the areas of law in which the due process model has accomplished
- all interviews being recorded and suspects having the right to legal representation
- police having procedural safeguards they must follow through the PACE act , 1984
- examples of cases : Thompson and venables (James bulgar killers)