politics and law test 2

what is a bill

what is a bill

a law that is proposed in parliment

once a bill is signed in parliment, who signs it, what is it called

Governer General signs the bill, called royal assent

what is it called when royal assent is given

Act of Parliment

when does act of parliment become binding?

the day nomminated for the comencment of that act or if no day is nominated - 28 days after royal assent has been given

what is the steps to passing a law in parliment

1.Initiation- The bill and the name of the MP introducing it is listed on the Senate or HoR notice paper.

2.First Reading: Minister announces title and reads explanatory memorandum

3.Second Reading: a substantive stage where Minister gives speech outlining the intent of the bill (Courts rely on this when assessing a law) and the Parliament debates the bill.

4.Committee/ Consideration in detail stage- the bill may be referred to committee

5.Third reading: put to vote in house where the bill was introduced

6.Presentation to other house: same steps followed in this house

7.Royal Assent: the bill presented to G.G for signature known as “Royal Assent”

Proclamation: the law is published in the Government Gazette. Upon proclamation, law is enforceab

what is legitamancy and how is it done

character of a good law -

: people should follow law by consent rather than coercion. For this to happen, laws need to have moral legitimacy.

how is this done? laws are made by elected representatives… debate allows for transparancy ( law goes into detail… proposed laws are made to the public

downside: all laws passed are only usually made by government because they have control over lower house of parliment

what is universal

a quality of a good law -

•Laws apply evenly to everyone: they are non-discriminatory

Clarity

meaning law is written in plain english.. laws that are not are hard to understand and follow

downside: in australia we have this problem as a lot of judges have to intepret the laws for themselves (and courts)

what is

Prospective, not retrospective

•The law should apply from the date it is legal.

•

•The law should not apply to actions that occurred prior to the law’s existence.

this ties into fairness

anti terrisom laws may not apply to this

enforceable

•A good law can be enforced by a Court.

a bad one is how it is illegal to not ride a bike without a helment.. no one follows it

flexibility

keeps pace with changes of society, laws applied in 1788 should not apoky in 2023 for example

like the gay marriage laws - peoples ideolofies change

Appropriate remedies

•A person whose rights have been infringed in civil law should be able to seek appropriate remedies (eg- compensation, injunction).

such as a person sues a store because the slipped and they broke there leg… there should get compensation for store for medical bills as well as loss of pay from not working

what is common law

based on the doctrine of precedent- the accumulation of cases and judgements

applied in british people, australian oi oi and NZ

WHAT IS CIVIL LAW

: whole body of law is in one single code or document (eg- many European countries ew)

origins of common law (not important)

1800s, formal Law Reports gave precise accounts of the judgements of superior courts so the lower courts could apply the law decided by the higher courts = PRECEDENT

differences between common law statue law

inconsistancing between laws made by parliment -statue

laws made by courts - common law

statue law overrides common law

benifits of common law

­Fairness. Everyone is subject to the same law.

­Consistency: you don’t have different judges giving radically different judgements based on their own beliefs, customs, etc. They are guided by certain standards.

commom law relies on uniformity meaning that all the laws are the same

what is doctrine of precedent?

the rule that a legal principle that has been established by a superior court should be followed in other similar cases by that court and other courts.

what is obiter dicta

a judge's expression of opinion uttered in court or in a written judgement, but not essential to the decision and therefore not legally binding as a precedent.

like if a courts decision of a lower court/ the same court will not be binding to the outcome of the court case.

stare decicis

to stand on what has already been decided before.

ratio decendendi

“rationale for the decision." The term refers to a key factual point or chain of reasoning in a case that drives the final judgment.

a court will be binded to the decisions of a supior court refering to the court hierachy

reversing a decision

a court finds the law has been missapllied it will reverse the judgement and will give a correct ratio decendi for the lower court

disaproving of a decision

occurs when a court of the same level disagrees with a case

distinguishes a decision

occurs when a judge shows that there are significant differences between the facts in the case before the court and the facts of the precedent setting case.

overruling

A judge in a higher court can overrule a precedent established in a lower court when a similar case comes before the higher court