AC1

• Who makes up Parliament?

  House of Commons, House of Lords and the Monarch
• How are laws made?

  Starts as a Bill, and once it passes all the stages, it will pass as an Act
• What is the Whitehall Stage?

  The Bill starts out as a 'Green Paper', where the idea for a new law is proposed and planned. It is open for public debate and consultation from interested parties and pressure group
• What is the Westminster Stage?

  The proposed Bill is drafted as a 'White paper' by the Parliamentary Counsel and the Bill is presented to parliament so it can be turned into an Act of Parliament
• What are the stages of a Bill?

  First reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading and the Royal Assent
• What is meant by the 'separation of powers'?

  Where power is split between legislature, the executive and the judiciary, as it is not safe for one branch of state to have total control
• What is precedent?

  A rule established that means the court must follow past decisions of judges in cases that are similar
• Donoghue v Stevenson - Original Precedent


  Defendant consumed defective ginger beer and suffered personal injury, so courts ruled that even though the defendant had not purchased the item, the manufacturer could be held liable sue to the development of the 'neighbour principle
• What is the 'neighbour principle'

  You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.
• What is a case that followed precedent?

  Daniel v White - the defendant drank a defective can of lemonade and suffered a personal injury, so the courts ruled that the consumer could sue the manufacturer, using the Donoghue v Stevenson case as a precedent
• What is statutory interpretation?

  Statutory interpretation is when judges must interpret words in Acts of Parliament and find out the intention of parliament at the time of writing. 75 % of cases heard by the Supreme Court are concerned with statutory interpretation
• Why is statutory interpretation needed?

  It is needed because:

  - Language is not an exact tool.

  - Of technological advances

  - Parliament cannot provide for every contingency

  - Meanings of words change over time

  - Drafting may have been rushed
• What are the types of statutory interpretation?

  Literal Rule, Golden Rule and Mischief Rule
• What is the Literal Rule?

  This is where judges use the ordinary dictionary definition and meaning of words in a statute. This can cause issues when there are several different literal meanings, such as in R v Maginnis, a case involving illegal drugs, where different judges found different meanings of the word 'supply'.
• What is the Golden Rule?

  This is where judges modify the literal meaning and choose the most suitable definition of the word and apply it. This happened in the case of Adler v George, where the defendant had gotten into a prohibited place. However, under the Official Secrets Act it was an offence to obstruct Her Majesty's Forces 'in the vicinity of' a prohibited place, meaning it was not technically an offence as he was in the prohibited place, rather than in the vicinity of it. The court chose to apply the golden rule to avoid an absurd result and Adler was convicted
• What is the Mischief Rule?

  This allows the court to look at the paragraph of the statute in context and determine what the parliament meant at the time of writing, rather than enforcing what the words say. The mischief rule was applied in Corkery v Carpenter.
• What links do the police have?

  CPS - Discuss charge, liaise on evidence needed.

  
  

  Courts - Obtain search and arrest warrants and may give evidence, protect vulnerable witnesses, hold defendants in cells as they await trial, transport them to court.

  
  

  HM Prison Service and Probation Service - Provide information to probation services and may rearrest a defendant who has broken probation. They arrest those recalled back to prison. After Sarah's Law, police now co-operate with prison and probation about the managing of child sex offenders living in their area.

  
  

  Parliament - enforce the law, and investigate crimes, arrest, collect evidence and question suspects.

  
  

  Voluntary Support Services - can refer victims to Victim Support
• What links does the Ministry of Justice have?

  HM Courts, Probation Service, HM Prison Service - oversees their work
• What links does the probation service have?

  Police - arrest prisoner recalled while on probation. Liaise with them should there be any issues and recall to prison if appropriate

  
  

  Courts - will provide court with pre-sentencing report, monitor a parole in accordance with sentence/license.

  
  

  Prison service - liaises with prison when a prisoner is released
• What links does the CPS have?

  Police - Provide the police with charging advice to ensure there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute.

  
  

  Courts -Present the case on behalf of the Crown and attend appeal courts if necessary. Work with the court is plea bargaining is appropriate
• What links does the sentencing council have?

  Courts - produces guidelines on sentencing.

  
  

  Judiciary - work with them using sentencing guidelines.
• What links do campaigns for change have?

  Police - worked on sex offender disclosure scheme with them (Sarah's law) and Bobby Turnbull's campaign for change in gun licensing laws liaised with police

  
  

  Prisons - The Prison Reform Trust works with prisons and other agencies to improve penal system.
• What links does the prison service have?

  Probation Service - work with them when a prisoner is to be released.

  
  

  Police and Courts- Work with them if there is a recall to prison

  
  

  Courts - liaises with courts when someone is remanded into custody after being denied bail, sentenced to custody, or requires appearance at a hearing.
• What are the two models of the criminal justice system?

  The crime control model and the due process model
• Who is Herbert Packer?


  A criminologist who acknowledged there were two ways of treating criminals within the criminal justice system, and proposed the two models.
• What are the key features of the Crime Control Model?

  Repression of crime as the most important function, focus on victims' rights, expanded police powers, elimination of legal technicalities such as PACE and an extension of rights
• What is the approach towards presumption of guilt in the Crime Control Model?

  Accused presumed guilty if police make an arrest and prosecutor files charges, based on the reliability of police and prosecutors
• What is the main objective of the criminal justice process in the Crime Control Model?

  To discover the truth and establish the factual guilt of the accused.
• How should the criminal justice process be?

  It should move like an assembly- line conveyor belt, moving cases swiftly along to their disposition.
• Areas of law that support the crime control model:

  - Evidence of bad character/previous convictions is permitted in certain circumstances. (CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2003)

  
  

  -Extended police detention is allowed for questioning on suspicion of indictable offences (36 + 96 hours) and terrorist offences (14 days). (TERRORISM ACT 2006)
• What are the features of the Due Process Model?

  To provide due process and fairness under the law, there is a focus on defendants' rights, not victims' rights, police powers should be limited.
• How should the criminal justice process be?

  Should be like an obstacle course, consisting of a series of impediments that take the form of procedural safeguards to protect individual rights.
• What is the approach towards presumption of guilt in the Due Process Model?

  The government shouldn't hold a person guilty solely based on the facts; a person should be found guilty only if the government follows legal procedures in its fact finding.
• What is the main focus of the Due Process model?

  Focuses on having a just and fair criminal justice system for all and a system that does not fringe upon constitutional rights.
• Areas of law that support the due process model:

  - The right to trial by a jury of one's peers. (HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998)

  - The suspect's right to know why they are being arrested. (POLICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT 1984).
• The value of each model dependent on what is going on in society:

  e.g. if the police are corrupt in such cases as George Floyd = due process

  e.g. massive influx of knife crime in run up to election, tough on crime = crime control
• Crime control evaluation

  Right wing, reflecting conservative values. Used when promoting policies that allow the system to get tough, expand police powers, change sentencing practices such as create "three strikes", and more.
• Due Process evaluation


  Left wing, reflecting liberal values. Promotes policies that require the system to focus on individual rights, including requiring police to inform people under arrest that they do not have to answer questions without an attorney (Miranda v Arizona), providing all defendants with an attorney (Gideon v Wainwright), and shutting down private prisons who often abuse the rights of inmates. If police breach one thing of PACE, the whole case will collapse. Justice may be delayed due to minor technicalities