1.1 the process used for making law

Question 1

who makes the law in england and wales?

Answer 1

the parliament makes the law in england and wales

Question 2

what are the two main sources of law in England and Wales?

Answer 2

the government an the judiciary

Question 3

what is a bill?

Answer 3

a bill is a draft of a proposed law/an act in the process of being passed

Question 4

what does an act of Parliament do?

Answer 4

an act of parliament creates a new law or changes an existing law

Question 5

what is a life peer?

Answer 5

a life peer is a member of the house of lords who has been appointed with life peer status

Question 6

what is a hereditary peer?

Answer 6

a hereditary peer is a member of the peerage whos title can be passed on to their children

Question 7

what is the difference between a life peer and a hereditary peer?

Answer 7

life peers cannot pass their title on but hereditary peers pass their title on to their children

Question 8

what is the opposition in politics?

Answer 8

the opposition is the largest political party in the house of commons that is not in government

Question 9

what are the three sections of parliament?

Answer 9

1. the house of commons
2. the house of lords
3. the monarch

Question 10

what is the difference between parliament and government?

Answer 10

Parliament is separate from the government, parliament is made up of the house of commons and the house of lords but the government is the prime minister and the elected cabinet

Question 11

what are the cabinet?

Answer 11

the cabinet is made up of 20 senior ministers, chosen by the primeminister

Question 12

how many MPs make up the house of commons?

Answer 12

650 MPs

Question 13

what does the house of commons do?

Answer 13

1. debates and votes on bills
2. discusses issues and scrutinises the government through committee and primeministers questions

Question 14

how many members are there in the house of lords?

Answer 14

around 800 members

Question 15

what is the difference between the number of members in the house of lords and the house of commons?

Answer 15

the number of members of the house of lords is not fixed but the number of MPs in the house of commons is fixed

Question 16

what does the house of lords do?

Answer 16

1. scrutinises legislation - reviews any bills from the house of commons
2. holds the government accountable
3. considers reports upon public policy

Question 17

the process of making a law

what is the first process in creating a law?

Answer 17

• a written proposal for a new law (a bill), which is presented to parliament

Question 18

the process of making a law

what are the two types of bill?

Answer 18

• government bills sponsored by the government and private member bills sponsored by private members such as individual MPs

Question 19

the process of making a law

why are private member bills less likley to be passed?

Answer 19

many times, private member bills dont get enough support from other MPs so they dont get very far in the process

Question 20

the process of making a law

what happens in the consulation stage?

Answer 20

• they get the opinions of different individuals on the law
• they ask experts in the subject and ordinary people

Question 21

the process of making a law

what is a green paper?

Answer 21

• consultation documents produced by the government to get public opinion

Question 22

the process of making a law

what is a white paper?

Answer 22

• a document where the government sets out their firm proposals that form the bill that is read out in parliament

Question 23

the process of making a law

what are the stages in order of making a law?

Answer 23

1. the first reading
2. the second reading
3. the committee stage
4. the report stage
5. the third reading
6. bill passed to the house of lords
7. royal assent

Question 24

the process of making a law

what is the purpose of the first reading of the bill?

Answer 24

• formal introduction of the bill into the house of commons
• a vote takes place

Question 25

# the process of making a law what happens in the second reading?

Answer 25

- the main principles of the bill are considered and debated in the house of commons, then a vote is taken - if the government has the support of the majority of MPs, the bill progresses

Question 26

# the process of making a law what is the committee stage?

Answer 26

- the bill is looked at in detail by a small committee of MPs from different parties

Question 27

# the process of making a law what do the committee report back in the committee stage?

Answer 27

- they report back to the house of commons and may propose ammendments to the bill

Question 28

# the process of making a law what is the report stage?

Answer 28

- allows MPs to look at the committee's report and debate/vote on ammendments

Question 29

# the process of making a law what is the third reading?

Answer 29

- the final reading where the house of commons can debate the contents of the bill and any final amendments can be made

Question 30

# the process of making a law what happens when the bill is passed to the house of lords?

Answer 30

- it goes through the same stages as in the house of commons - the house of lords can ammend the bill, this will then go back to the house of commons so they can accept or reject them

Question 31

# the process of making a law what is the process called where a bill is passed between the house of commons and the house of lords?

Answer 31

ping pong

Question 32

# the process of making a law what is the final stage in law making?

Answer 32

royal assent

Question 33

# the process of making a law what is royal assent?

Answer 33

- when the monarch approves and signs off the law

Question 34

# the process of making a law give an example of a bill currently going through parliament

Answer 34

- assisted dying for terminally ill adults

Question 35

# the judiciary what are the two processes that allow judges to make law?

Answer 35

1. statuatory interpretation 2. judicial precedent

Question 36

# the judiciary what is statuatory interpretation?

Answer 36

- when judges interpret laws and the wording of laws to apply these interpretations to cases

Question 37

# the judiciary what are the three rules in statuatory interpretation?

Answer 37

1. the literal rule 2. the golden rule 3. the mischief rule

Question 38

# the judiciary what is the literal rule?

Answer 38

- states that judges should use the everyday literal meanings of words in a statute

Question 39

# the judiciary what is the problem with the literal rule?

Answer 39

- word have several meanings so the literal meaning of a word can be interpreted differently

Question 40

# the judiciary give an example of a case for the literal rule

Answer 40

fisher v bell

Question 41

# the judiciary what happened in the fisher v bell case?

Answer 41

- offensive weapons act said it was an offence to sell flick knives - defendant displayed flick knives but the judges literal intepretation meant that they said displaying was not the same thing as selling them

Question 42

# the judiciary what is the golden rule?

Answer 42

- allows judges to modify the literal rule to avoid absurd results

Question 43

# the judiciary give a case example of the golden rule

Answer 43

R v allen case

Question 44

# the judiciary what happened in the R v allen case?

Answer 44

- defendant charged with bigamy - Under Literal Rule, bigamy would be impossible as civil courts do not recognise second marriages - Golden Rule applied so the word ‘marry’ should be ‘to go through ceremony’ and the conviction was upheld

Question 45

# the judiciary what is the mischief rule?

Answer 45

- a legal rule that helps judges to interpret a statute by considering the laws purpose and the problem it was intended to solve

Question 46

# the judiciary give a case example of the mischief rule

Answer 46

smith v hughes

Question 47

# the judiciary what happened in the smith v hughes case?

Answer 47

- defendants charged under the street offences act with soliciting in a public place - The prostitutes were soliciting from windows so not technically a public place - Mischief Rule applied to interpret that the prostitutes were doing what the statute was trying to abolish

Question 48

# the judiciary what is judicial precedent?

Answer 48

- judges hearing cases in court and making a decision on what the law should be - future judges must follow these binding decisions

Question 49

# the judiciary what does the court heirarchy mean in judicial precedent?

Answer 49

- means that a decision made in a a case by a higher court automatically binds lower courts to this decision

Question 50

# the judiciary - judicial precedent what happened in the Donoghue v Stephenson case?

Answer 50

- the individual had a ginger beer at a cafe and found the remains of a dead snail in the ginger beer - the court decided that a legal duty of care is owed by manufacturers to consumers - the judges in this case effectively created the modern-day law of negligence

Question 51

# the judiciary - judicial precedent what was the Daniels v White case?

Answer 51

- Daniels drank a bottle of lemonade which was found to have corrosive metal in it which burned his throat

Question 52

# the judiciary - judicial precedent how did the Donoghue v Stevenson case impact the ruling of the Daniels v White case?

Answer 52

- He sued the manufacturer and the court applied the decision in Donoghue v Stevenson - The court was bound by the new legal rule that manufacturers owe a duty of care not to harm consumers with their products

Question 52

# the judiciary - judicial precedent in what two situations does judicial precedent not have to be followed and what do they mean?

Answer 52

1. distinguising - if the facts of the cases are not similar enough judicial precedent does not have to be followed 2. overruling - a higher court states that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and overturns it