Crime and punishment
,AC1.1 Describe the process used for law
making
,AC1.1 describe the process used for law making
Key things/ideas/concepts/definitions
1. Laws are made by passings acts of parliament- which is made up of the monarch, house of lords and house of commons
2. The house of lords and house of commons have a much larger role in lawmaking. The role of the monarch is to give royal assent
3. Courts in hierarchy order- magistrates -> crown -> high -> appeal -> supreme court
4. Democracy- a system of government by the whole population or all eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives
5. Green paper- a pre legislative scrutiny, the government will set out its ideas for a bill in a discussion document
6. White paper- a document setting out their detailed plans for legislation
a. Examples of legislations: criminal justice act 2003 (change to double jeopardy law), crime sentences act 1997 (introduced mandatory minimum sentences for a range of
repeat offences), the dangerous dogs act
7. There are two types of bill: private and public
8. Judicial precedent- where past decisions of the judges are followed in future cases
a. There are two situations where the court doesnt follow precedent-
b. Distinguishing- a precedent from an earlier case is only binding on a present case if the legal principle involved is the same and if the facts in both cases are similar
c. Overruling- is where a court higher up in the hierarchy states that a legal decision in an earlier case is wrong and overturns it
, AC1.1 describe the process used for law making
The lords-
- There are around 800 members of the house of lords- today only 92 members are
hereditary and 26 of them are from the church of england bishops and archbishops.
- Their main role is to double check new laws
The commons-
- There are 650 members of parliament, each MP is elected at a general election
- They are the most important part of parliament. They are made up of elective
representatives of the people.