LAWS 101 Flash Cards

What are the 3 branches of government

Executive, Legislative, Judiciary

What does the executive branch do?

Administers and enforces the law

What does the legislative branch do?

They make laws

What does the judicial branch do?

Interpreting and applying parliaments law

What two branches can make laws?

Judiciary and Legislature

What is the other name for legislature

Parliament

What is the other name for Judiciary

The courts

What is the other name for the executive

The government

Which branch is the most seperate

The Judiciary

Name the courts that sit within the judicial branch.

The supreme court, the court of appeal, the high court, the district court

Who leads the government of the day

The prime-minister

Positivist law

law made by institutions

Interpretivist tradition

law as standards for behaviour to which participants in the community demonstrate fidelity and accept as binding

Tikanga as law

the set of values, principles, understandings, practices, norms and mechanisms from which a person or community can determine the correct action in te ao Māori

Separation of powers

The separation between the parts of the legal system (a series of checks and balances)

Judicial independence

the courts commitment to not be influenced by other parts of the legal system when deciding laws

Why do we have judicial hierarchy and what it means in terms of cases

Hierarchy allows for judges to do their best and be more efficient

The process of moving up through the hierarchy is because we can appeal cases.

What is parliamentary sovereignty?

The highest form of law in our system.

Can any other form of law displace parliamentary sovereignty?

No, no other form of law in the system can displace/overrule it.

What is an act

A piece of legislation that parliament has passed into law

It is divided into sections that describe what it is about

Declaration of inconsistency

inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act, no impact on the problematic act, stays until parliament changes it

What does the legislature do for the public

provides a forum for the scrutiny of the government and for holding the government to account

The soveregin

The sovereigns power is limited because he is a ceremonial head of state. True power lies in parliament

Who is the sovereign represented by

governor general

When can the judiciary not decide cases

If they are worried that there are political ramifications

If the judge of question has some sort of relationship to the case

If they are under the influence of other branches of government

Who did The code of Hammurabi come from

came from God

Who did Roman law come from and what did it evolve into

came from people, and evolved into written code

What did the Anglo Saxons rely on

alternative trial methods and local customs- (trial by water, trial by fire, trial by combat)

What year did William the conqueror reign

1066

What year did Henry II reign

1154-1189

What system did Henry II implement

The writ system

What is equity

Equity is a body of rules which evolved to try and address law's lack of flexibility

How is equity applied

cases decided according to justice rather than the application of inflexible of rules

Civil law

rely heavily on written codes

Common law

rely more on precedent-based decision making in courts

What year was the Magna Carta

1215

What did the Magna Carta introduce

The king rules in consultation with others.

Everyone including Kings are subject to law

What year was the Bill of rights

1688/1689

What did the bill of right do

Free speech for members of parliament when in parliament

When was the treaty of waitangi signed

February 6th 1840

When and by who did NZ proclaim soverignty

Governor Hobson (21 May 1840)

When did NZ become self governing

1947

What does a Westminister Democracy have

Has a chain of accountability- everyone reporting to the next person on the ladder

How does a bill become a law

When it is signed by sovereign/governor general

Unicameral

What is our parliament

What are the 4 roles of the courts

Help maintain social order

Determine criminal responsibility

Resolve civil disputes between individuals

Help constrain government power

What is Judicial activism

judging overreaching in a way that is political. Suggests that they are politically motivated

What is the doctrine of precedent

"like cases ought to be treated alike"- the decisions have to follow other decisions

How is judicial independence maintained

Judges are appointed via an independent, apolitical process

3 reasons why the judicial hierarchy is important

It provides for a system of appeals-> system of checks and balances

It enables the division of judicial workload

The hierarchy also helps determine which cases are binding on other courts

Why is the ability to appeal important

Sometimes the law is unclear

The appeal system allows senior courts to double-check what lower courts have decided- Especially important when dealing with rights