AC 1.1

• Parliamentary stages

  1. Green Paper
  2. White paper
  3. 1st Reading
  4. 2nd Reading
  5. Committee Stage
  6. Report Stage
  7. 3rd Reading
  8. Lords Stage
  9. Royal Assent
• Green Paper 


  Initial Report

  Produced to provoke public discussion and opinion.

  Often includes questions for individuals and organisations.
• White paper 


  Contains a detailed plan for the future legislation

  Often includes a draft of the bill
• 1st Reading 


  Formal announcement of the bill into the commons
• 2nd Reading 


  Main principles of the bill are debated by House of Commons

  Vote is taken
• Committee Stage 


  Bill is examined in detail by a committee of MPs from a different party.
• Report Stage 


  MPs debate on amendments they wish to make
• 3rd Reading 


  Final chance to debate the bills contents.

  No amendments are allowed
• Lords Stage 


  Lords can amend the bill but commons have the final say
• Royal Assent 


  Once it is passed by the house of commons the monarch must sign the bill
• How do judiciary make law?

  Judicial Precedent and Statutory Interpretation
• What is judicial precedent?

  Law made by the judges in earlier cases that are followed in similar future cases. Must be consistent and use the same principles in decision making
• Examples of Judicial Precedent

  Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)

  Daniels v White (1938)
• Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)


  Woman drinks a bottle of ginger beer containing a decomposing small and falls ill. She sued and won as the manufacturer had a duty of care. This established the neighbour principle and law of negligence.
• Daniels V White (1938)

  Bottle of lemonade containing corrosive metal was drank. He sued and the case of Donoghue v Stevenson was used as it was similar for the purpose of precedent.
• Two times precedent isn't followed

  1. Distinguishing
  2. Overruling
• Distinguishing 


  Facts in present case are different enough from the first case to make a different decision from the precedent.
• Overruling


  When a court higher in the hierarchy states the decision made in the earlier case was wrong and overrules it.
• Example of overruling

  RvR (1992)
• RvR (1992)


  The law on marital rape was overruled.

  In 1992 a husband was convicted of attempting to rape his wife. He appealed on the grounds that a century-old precedent stated a husband couldn't be guilty of marital rape as marriage meant that the wife gave 'irreversible consent'. It was overruled on the grounds of being unacceptable in today's society.
• What is a statute?


  A written law
• Three laws followed in statutory interpretation

  1. Literal
  2. Golden
  3. Mischief
• Literal Rule


  Gives all the words in a statute their ordinary and natural meaning.

  The literal meaning must be followed even if the outcome is absurd.

  Case example is Whitley v Chappel
• Whitley v Chappel


  Statute made in an offence to impersonate a person entitled to vote. The defendant used the vote of a dead man. The statute required the person to be alive for the voting rights to apply. Literal rule was applied and the defendant was acquitted
• Strengths of the literal rule

  • Respects parliamentary sovereignty
  • Gives the courts a restricted rule
• Weaknesses of the literal rule

  Can lead to injustice and absurdity
• Golden rule


  Used if the literal rule gives an absurd result that wasn't intended so the judge can substitute reasonable meaning in the light of a statute as a whole.
• Strengths of the golden rule

  Can prevent absurdity and injustice caused by the literal rule
• Weakness of the golden rule


  Provides no clear meaning of what an absurd result is
• Mischief Rule


  Gives the judge more direction than the literal or golden rule. Requires the judge to look at the law before the legislation was passed to find the gap it intended to cover.
• Strengths of the mischief rule

  Avoids injustice

  Promotes inflexibility
• Weakness of the mischief rule

  Outdated approach