(u got this :)
AC1.1; Describe processes used for law-making.
Outline, the process used by the government for making laws such as Theft Act 1968. (3)
Collection of proposals through consultation, e.g. Green Paper and White Paper.
Bill enters Parliament and proceeds through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Various stages involving debates and voting takes place e.g. First Reading, Second Reading, Committee
Stage etc.
Royal Assent given to enable the Bill to become law.
Describe judicial involvement in law-making. (4)
• Judicial law making or judicial precedent is law made by judges in the courts. When a case
appears before them, they must make a judgement, and this forms the law. It must be followed in
future cases by the courts in the hierarchy.
• Credit relevant examples such as the legal principle in Donoghue v Stevenson was applied in
Daniels v White.
• A judge in the higher courts may also need to interpret words or phrases in a statute. This is
known as statutory interpretation. A judge has a variety of rules that can be used to aid
interpretation e.g. literal rule.
Identify four features of the parliamentary [governmental] law-making process. [4]
• The usual way for laws to be made is through parliament, which is made up of the elected
members of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarch.
• The pre-parliamentary stages include the Green Paper, which is a consultation stage and the
White Paper, which contains firm proposals for the new law.
• A Bill enters either House and passes through several stages, including First Reading, Second
Reading and the Committee Stage.
• All the stages are then repeated in the other House.
• A proposed law may be sent back and forth between the two Houses with
suggested amendments (ping pong).
• The final stage is Royal Assent, in which the monarch gives approval, and the Bill
becomes an Act.
Briefly describe how the judiciary can contribute to law making. [4]
• The judiciary provides law making through both judicial precedent and statutory interpretation.
• Judicial precedent involves following previous legal decisions of a similar nature within the court
hierarchy. Methods of avoidance, such as distinguishing, may produce new legal decisions. Where
there is no existing decision, a judge would create law by an original precedent. An example is the
case of Donoghue v Stevenson, 1932.
• Statutory interpretation involves a judge deciding the meaning of a word or phrase in an Act. Rules
such as the literal rule are available for guidance. This interpretation forms part of the law for future
cases.