Legal Terms

Question 1

What is “Statute Law”?

Answer 1

A law made by parliament

Question 2

What is “Common Law”?

Answer 2

A law applied to everyone in society based on previous judges’ decisions.

Question 3

What is “Regina” (Latin word meaning “crown”)

Answer 3

Generally applies to the prosecutor (lawyer) who represents the government, proving the defendant/accused to be guilty of a crime.

Question 4

Coercion

Answer 4

The act of persuading someone to do something using threats, i.e, “coerced into a crime”.

Question 5

Aggravating

Answer 5

To increase the severity of a crime.

Question 6

Mitigating

Answer 6

To decrease the severity of a crime.

Question 7

Legislative

Answer 7

Ability given to those in power to essentially create laws, anything financial or to do with tax.

Question 8

What does “Liable” incur?

Answer 8

To be held responsible or accountable for a crime.

Question 9

Mens Rea

Answer 9

It refers to criminal intent. The phrase is latin for guilty mind. This is usually necessary or used to prove guilt in a criminal trial.

Question 10

What is the difference between “Responding” and “Reacting” in the rule of Law?

Answer 10

Responding to a crime act is where it is taken into consideration and is thoroughly examined by the legal systems. Reacting to a crime act is where it is taken completely out of proportion, resulting in the performance of emotionally reacting on one’s self-based opinions rather than facts.

Question 11

What is included in “common law”

Answer 11

Common law is a collection of court decisions developed over hundreds of years by: Australian superior courts, English courts and the courts of other countries that have similar legal systems to those of Australia and England.

Question 12

How does the Legal system work?

Answer 12

1. Parliament passes a law (called a statute)
2. A person is charged with breaking the law
3. That person goes to court
4. The judge decides whether the words of that law apply to that person’s actions. If it’s not a really clear case of someone breaking that specific law, the judge might have to interpret the words of parliament’s statute to MEAN that the person has actually broken that law.
5. Depending which court that case heard it, future judges might have to use the same interpretation that this judge has made of the statute law. This is a precedent.