Criminology Unit 4

• Ac 1.1- In what ways can law be made?

  - Government process

  - Judicial process

  - Statutory interpretation
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What three parts make up Parliament?

  - House of Commons

  - House of Lords

  - The monarchy
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- Explain Parliament

  Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster or Houses of Parliament, is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Parliament is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarchy.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- Explain the House of Commons


  The House of Commons is made up of around 650 elected representatives who are MP's voted in by the public at local and national elections. They are democratically elected by the public to represent our concerns and interests and these MP's will consider and debate new laws and current issues of concern.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- Explain the House of Lords


  The House of Lords consist of member who offer insight and expertise in a particular area. It is made up of hereditary peers in which when a House of Lord passes away, it was originally given to their next of kin such as their son or daughter. This was then changed in 2014 after a new act was passed that meant the peerage system would change to include a number of chosen representatives. The members are elected by the monarch following advice from the Prime minister.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- Explain the monarch

  Monarchy, also known as the head of state, is the oldest form of government in which they perform the dignified functions. Any act must get royal assent before it can become an act of parliament.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- How are executive decisions split in the government process?


  The executive decisions are split between the head of state (monarch) and the government (the prime minister).
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- Explain the stages of the government process in creating laws

  (1)- Pressure groups and public concern

  (2)- Green paper

  (3)- White paper

  (4)- The bill

  (5)- First reading

  (6)- Second reading

  (7)- Committee stage

  (8)- Report stage

  (9)- Third reading

  (10)- Repeated in the House of Lords

  (11)- Royal assent
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the pressure group and public concern stage?


  In this stage, groups of individuals come together and campaign to highlight what society wants to change or what they want to have as a law.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What is meant by public concern?

  Local MP's ask local members for a change in law that they want due to a change in society.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the green paper stage?

  A consultation paper put forward by the Government minister to the public and to other members of parliament for scrutiny and opinion which simply states what the government are intending to create law on. There is no detail included in this.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the white paper stage?

  A firmer proposal and a draft of the law that is being proposed is created which includes details of the law being proposed.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the bill stage?

  A draft act will be presented to Parliament to make sure that it is clear and uniformed.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the first reading stage?

  The title and the main aims of the bill are announced to allow MP's to learn about and listen to the proposal. A date is set for the second reading.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the second reading stage?

  The House debates the whole bill, focusing on the main principles of the bill. At the end of the debate, there is a vote for or against the bill.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the committee stage?

  A committee (smaller chosen group of MP's) will examine the bill line by line and make amends required to ensure it meets the general approval given by the House in the second reading.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the report stage?

  The committee report back to the full house in which all MP's have a chance to hear, feedback and vote on the bill amendments.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens in the third reading stage?

  This is a review of the whole bill and a vote is taken to decide whether the bill should proceed to the other house.
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens after the third reading stage?

  The whole process is then repeated in the House of Lords who only have the power to delay a bill and not power to veto (prevent a bill from becoming law).
• Ac 1.1 (Government process)- What happens after the whole process is repeated in the House of Lords, and is approved?

  Once the bill has passed through both houses, it then requires royal assent in order to become law. The bill must be signed on behalf of the monarch.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is meant by judicial precedent?


  Precedent means to stand by and follow past decisions of judges in earlier cases.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is an original precedent?


  When a judge makes a decision on a case that has never been heard before for example, crimes involving advances in technology that have never been heard before.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- When will judges be bound by precedents made in earlier cases?


  When a future case is sufficiently close in facts, a judge will be bound by the precedent (decision) made in an earlier case.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- Which case is used to highlight original precedents?

  Donoghue v Stevenson: V found and drank a decomposed snail in their ginger beer, and feel severely ill as a result. V wanted to sue the manufacturers but there was no law surrounding this at the time.

  - The law at the time said there needed to be physical contact between the injury to the claimant and the manufacturer for there to be fault.

  - An original precedent was set which removed this need for 'physical contact' and it established the neighbour principle in which D must take reasonable care and owes a duty of care to people who are so closely and directly affected by D's actions.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is judicial precedent overruling?

  When a court higher up the hierarchy states that a legal decision in an earlier case was wrong and overrules it.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- When will overruling occur?

  Overruling occurs when law is no longer fit for purpose due to being outdated.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- Which case highlights judicial precedent overruling?

  R v R (marital rape): A husband was convicted of attempting to rape his wife but argued that there was an old law that stated 'a husband could not be guilty of raping his wife because marriage gave him irrevocable consent to sex.'

  - The judge in this case overruled the original precedent in 1992 as 'irrevocable consent' was unacceptable as couples should be seen as equal partners in marriage.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)-What is meant by statutory interpretation?

  The process of judges interpreting what they believe statutes to mean.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- Why is statutory interpretation needed?


  It is needed because it is often impossible to go back and speak to the writers of the legislation.

  - The meaning of words also changes over time due to being outdated for example the word gay used to mean happy but it is now used to describe two people of the same sex in a relationship together.

  - Another reason is because of social changes: over time there are changes in the social norms, moral codes and values in society for example changes in homosexuality, gun control, and corporal punishment etc.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What are the four rules in relation to statutory interpretation?

  - The literal rule

  - The golden rule (narrow and wide approach)

  - The mischief rule

  - The purposive approach
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the literal rule?

  The literal rule gives words their plain, ordinary and grammatical meaning even if it makes the law absurd.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What are the case examples for the literal rule?

  - DPP v Cheeseman: D was found guilty of publicly exposing himself in public but tried to argue that he wasn't on a 'street' so the courts gave street the meaning of 'any public place or public resort under the control of the local authority' and this included the toilets.

  - LNER v Berriman: V was killed after he was hit by a train when his lookout filed to tell him that a train was coming. The courts argued that oiling the track didn't come under the categories of 'relaying or repairing' the track and only those who are relaying or repairing the track are entitled to a lookout and so Vs wife failed to claim for compensation.

  - Whitely v Chapel: D had impersonated a deceased man in order to vote again but he wasn't convicted because a deceased person isn't entitled to vote.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the golden rule?

  The golden rule is an extension of the literal rule that will use the everyday meaning of a word but not if it makes the law absurd. There are two different approaches to the golden rule:

  - the narrow approach

  - the wide approach
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the narrow approach?

  Courts can choose the most suitable meaning of a word if it has more than one meaning in order to avoid absurdity.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the wide approach?


  The courts can modify the meaning of words where words only have one clear meaning in order to avoid an absurd outcome.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What are the case examples for the golden rule?

  - R v Allen: D tried to argue that he couldn't legally marry because he wasn't divorced but marry had two meanings of 'to go through a marriage ceremony' and 'becoming legally married', in which the courts chose to use the first meaning of 'to go through a marriage ceremony' and D went through two with two women so was guilty of bigamy.

  - Adler v George: D's argued that they weren't 'in the vicinity of' the building but the courts found D guilty as it would be absurd if those causing an obstruction outside the prohibited place were guilty but those inside were not.

  - Sigsworth: The courts used the golden rule to prevent the repugnant situation of the son inheriting.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the mischief rule?

  This rule looks to see what the gap in the old law was, and interpreting the law to fix it. This is the oldest of the four rules.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What are the case examples for the mischief rule?

  - Smith v Hughes: Defendants argued that they weren't guilty as they weren't literally in 'a street or public place.' This act was designed to clean up the streets from common prostitutes, and so the courts decided that the word 'street' meant 'loiter or solicit in a public place that could be seen by everyone', thus, D's were guilty.

  - DHSS: The courts decided that 'registered medical practioners' meant 'doctors' as abortions could only be carried out by registered medical practioners in order to fix back street abortions.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What is the purposive approach?

  This approach aims to find the purpose of the law concerned and interpreting it in such a way as to give effect to the purpose.
• Ac 1.1 (Judicial process)- What are the case examples for the purposive approach?

  - Jones v Tower boot: Employers argued that they weren't liable as the abuse wasn't done 'in the course of employment' as required by the act. However, as the purpose of the law was to eliminate discrimination at work, the employer was responsible for the abuse suffered by C.