ac 1.1

• Formal legislative processes are usually made though acts of parlimant (statutes), the majority of acts of parliament are introduced by the government, intially drafted by lawyers in civil service.
• on major issues, a green paper may be issued by the minister with responsibilities on the matter. A green paper is a consultative document on a topic where the governments view is put foward with proposals for law reform. Interested parties then send comments.
• After the consultation period ends, the government publishes the white paper. A white paper is a firm proposal for new law, also known as a bill to be presented to parliament. It begins in either the HOC or HOL
• Role of HOC:

  During the course of the bill, it will go through the HOC, where there will be debates on issues of the policies/ details of the bill. A bill only becomes an act of parliament once it has passed all stages by both houses
• Role of HOL:

  Acts as a check on the HOC, in the HOL they can vote against proposed changes to the law, this may alert the HOC to problems with the proposal which could lead to amendments or the bill being dropped
• the 7 key stages of law making are: 1) consultation stage 2) first reading 3) second reading 4) committee stage 5)report stage 6) third reading 7) royal assent. These stages happen both in HOC and HOL and can go back an forward, this is known as 'ping pong'
• The consultation stage - government makes a draft of the bill and asks senior officials, public and pressure groups to make comments
• the first reading - Government announces the bill by reading its title and the main aims, a formal vote is taken at this stage
• the second reading - the main debating stage where mp's discuss the bill, questions are asked and votes are taken (can be voted out at this stage)
• committee stage - smaller group of mp's look at bill in detail, amendments may be made
• report stage - Amendments are reported back to everyone in HOC, amendments can be voted on
• third reading - overall consideration of bill, final vote is taken to decide if bill goes any further
• royal assent - ruling monarch signs off the bill as a new law, aka an act of parliament
• statutory interpretation is when judges are called upon to interpret words and phrases when they are unclear, it works by a higher judge being called upon to establish the meaning, this means lower judges must follow this interpretation.
• case study for statutory interpretation:

  Chappell v Whitely - Chappell was accused of impersonating any person entitled to vote, in which they had pretended to be a person who was on the voters list but had died. The judge interpreted the statute and found the defendant not guilty since a dead person is not 'entitled to vote'
• Judicial precedent is when a judge finds that there has been a previous decision made by a higher judge or same level court in a similar case, they must follow it, it works by the judge looking for similarities between cases. Once the precedent has been made in a higher court it then becomes binding
• Case study for judicial precedent:

  Donoghue v Stevenson - the victim suffered in finding the remnants of a decomposed snail in a bottle of ginger beer which she was drinking, the judge interpreted that the manufacturers owed his consumers a duty of care since he and they were 'neighbours' in law. This was an original precedent and the act of law of negligence was made.
• Case study for judicial precedent:

  Daniels v white - brought a bottle of lemonade and whilst drinking felt a burning sensation in his throat. It had corrosive metal in it. The case of Donoghue and Stevenson as the similarities were there they used the precedent to sentence the case.
• The Hierarchy of courts - Supreme court,

  courts of appeal.

  crown court high court/family court

  magistrates/ youth court county court