The Law in England and Wales Flashcards
In the UK, what does the concept of the criminal justice refer to?
The law, law enforcement and dealing with transgressions of the law.
What/who does the criminal justice system include?
The Police The courts of law The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) The Youth Justice Board The Crown Prosecution Service
What is the system used in courts in the UK (adversarial or inquisitorial)?
Adversarial- requires that two advocates representing their parties (ie the prosecution and the defence ) present their cases to an impartial person or persons (ie a judge and jury or magistrates) in order for the truth to be determined.
A defendant is someone who has been accused of an offence but has not yet appeared in court. He/she is tried by court (usually in an open session) and the defends guilt must be confirmed beyond reasonable doubt.
What does inquisitorial mean?
Defendant is questioned by a judge during trial so the lawyers in court have a lower profile.
What is Common law?
Traced back to Norman invasion of Britain in the 11th Century.
Local courts made decisions that were then passed by word of mouth to other courts creating a ‘binding precedent’ throughout the country.
E.g murder, manslaughter, perverting the course of justice.
What is Statute law?
The foundation of the current legal system in England and Wales.
Bills or ‘draft law’ are needed to create a new legislation.
It accepted given Royal Assent before becoming an Act of Parliament.
What is Case law?
Case law is the law created by the courts, thereby setting a precedent which other courts are bound to follow or apply in later cases.
Helps to establish the precise meaning of legislation, and sets precedents.
The law as established by the outcome of former cases.
What are the different types of law?
Common law Statute law Case law Acts of Parliament Statutory Instruments By-laws
What are Acts of Parliament?
Divided into sections containing, for example, definitions, offences, powers of arrest, exemptions, and interpretations of words and expressions used.
What are Statutory Instruments?
A form of legislation which allow the provisions of an Act of Parliament to be subsequently brought into force or altered without Parliament having to pass a new Act.
What are By-laws?
Usually locally (with local matters) which have been made by a local authority and approved by a Secretary of the State of the government.
What is the naming system for legal cases?
Each legal case in court has an official title (e.g R v Turnbull [1976] 3 All ER 549
There is an official system for naming cases, for example ‘R’ stands for Regina or Rex (the Queen or King respectively).
The letter v stands for versus and Turnbull is the name of the defendant.
The case was held in 1976 and can be found in Volume 3 of the 1976 All England law Reports on page 549.
