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UNIT 4
CRIME AND
PUNISHMENT
By Noor Tariq
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AC1.1 – Criminal Justice System
Processes used for Law Making
Green paper is the FIRST stage when making a law, this is when a public
consultation is made, the law is explained to the public and if it is in the public
interest, the law moves on to the next stage.
White Paper is the SECOND stage, this is when a formal proposal is made
of the law, meaning it is formally asked to be moved forward to the next stages
in order to make it into an official law.
Draft Act is the THIRD stage, this is when the formal aims of the law are
presented to the parliament.
Once the official, formal (boring) parts of the law have been read out
to parliament, it is then presented in reading stages.
1st Reading
2nd Reading
Committee Stage – This is when a detailed explanation of the law and it’s
aims takes place, in a formal meeting
Report Stage – The report stage gives MP’s an opportunity to say if they
want anything changed with the law
Third Reading – This is the last official presentation stage of the law
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Royal Assent – Then, the law is sent off to be signed off by the queen.
Judicial Processes
There are 2 ways in which the judiciary (a judge) can influence law-making, a
judicial precedent and statutory interpretation
Judicial Precedent – A judicial Precedent is when a judge creates a law in
the court based on a case that is being presented to them, this law must then be
applied to all SIMILAR future cases in court. In your exam, it would be
beneficial to include an example, Donoghue VS Stevenson is an excellent
example to use, and will get you more marks.
Donoghue VS Stevenson Case Study - 1932
Mrs Donoghue went to a café with a friend. Her friend brought her a bottle of
ginger beer and an ice-cream. The ginger beer came in an OPAGUE bottle,
meaning that the drink inside could not be seen. Mrs Donoghue drank half of
the beer, she then poured the remaining contents of the beer on her ice-cream,
all of a sudden, a decomposed snail came out of the bottle and onto her ice-
cream, meaning she’d been drinking a beer with a snail inside of the bottle
the entire time. Mrs Donoghue immediately got sick due to the germs of the
snail; she then sued the manufacturer (maker) of the ginger beer.
In court, as this case was being presented, the judge created the ‘negligence
law’ which is now an official law that has been applied to all similar cases.
This case shows exactly how a judge can create a law within a court.
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