Criminology Revision notes
Unit 4
,1.1 Describe processes for law
making
Government processes of Law Making:
Parliament:
- Most of the countries laws are made by passing Acts of Parliament
3 parts of Parliament:
● The Monarch
● The house of Lords
● The House of Commons
The lords:
- There are only 92 hereditary peers
- Majority are life peers who can't pass on their position to family
- Job is to double check on new laws
The commons:
- Most important part of parliament
- Made up of the elected representatives of the people
- 650 MPS
- Each MP is elected to represent a constituency
The government:
- Job is to run the country
- Formed by a political party that has a majority of the 650 MPS
- Prime minister is the leader
Bill: The proposal for a new law
● Bills need to be agreed by the House of lords and Commons and receive Royal
Assent to become law.
,Parliamentary stages of a Bill:
Green paper:
● Government publishes one before putting in a bill
● Initial report that creates a public discussion of the subject
● Includes questions for organisations to respond to
White paper:
● A document setting out plans in detail for legislation
● Includes a draft of the Bill they intend to put to Parliament
First reading:
● Government introduces the bill to the commons, where it receives a reading
● Which is a formal announcement of the bill
● A vote is used to allow it to pass to the next stage
Second reading:
● Main principles of bill are considered and debated by the whole House of
Commons
● A vote is taken
● Government usually win the vote, so it passes to the next stage
The Committee stage:
● Bill is examined in detail by a small committee of MPS from different parties
● The committee will report back to the whole House and propose amendments
to the bill
The report stage:
● Gives MPs the chance to consider the committees report and debate and vote
on amendments
Third reading:
● Final chance for the Commons to debate the bill
● No amendments can happen
● The house can vote to pass it or reject it
, The Lords:
● The bill then goes through the same stages at the house of Lords
● If the Lords amended the bill, it will return to the commons so they can
accept or reject their amendments
● House of Commons has the final say
Royal Assent:
● The Monarchs agreement to make the bill into a law
● The new law will come into force immediately
Examples to use:
Criminal Justice act 2003:
- Introduced a change in the double jeopardy law following Ann Mings Campaign
- This enabled the killer of Julie Hogg and two of the suspects of the Stephen
Lawrence murder to be re tried
- Enables a retrial of serious crimes such as murder and rape
The crime sentences Act 1997:
- Introduced mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offences
- Eg Automatic life sentence for second sexual or serious violent offence
Judiciary processes of law making:
Judicial precedent:
● Past decisions of judges create law for future judges to follow
● Where the point of law in a new case is the same as a previous case, the judge
should make the same decision
● Treating similar cases in the same way promotes consistency
● System is now known as common law
Court hierarchy:
● Supreme court
● Crown court
Unit 4
,1.1 Describe processes for law
making
Government processes of Law Making:
Parliament:
- Most of the countries laws are made by passing Acts of Parliament
3 parts of Parliament:
● The Monarch
● The house of Lords
● The House of Commons
The lords:
- There are only 92 hereditary peers
- Majority are life peers who can't pass on their position to family
- Job is to double check on new laws
The commons:
- Most important part of parliament
- Made up of the elected representatives of the people
- 650 MPS
- Each MP is elected to represent a constituency
The government:
- Job is to run the country
- Formed by a political party that has a majority of the 650 MPS
- Prime minister is the leader
Bill: The proposal for a new law
● Bills need to be agreed by the House of lords and Commons and receive Royal
Assent to become law.
,Parliamentary stages of a Bill:
Green paper:
● Government publishes one before putting in a bill
● Initial report that creates a public discussion of the subject
● Includes questions for organisations to respond to
White paper:
● A document setting out plans in detail for legislation
● Includes a draft of the Bill they intend to put to Parliament
First reading:
● Government introduces the bill to the commons, where it receives a reading
● Which is a formal announcement of the bill
● A vote is used to allow it to pass to the next stage
Second reading:
● Main principles of bill are considered and debated by the whole House of
Commons
● A vote is taken
● Government usually win the vote, so it passes to the next stage
The Committee stage:
● Bill is examined in detail by a small committee of MPS from different parties
● The committee will report back to the whole House and propose amendments
to the bill
The report stage:
● Gives MPs the chance to consider the committees report and debate and vote
on amendments
Third reading:
● Final chance for the Commons to debate the bill
● No amendments can happen
● The house can vote to pass it or reject it
, The Lords:
● The bill then goes through the same stages at the house of Lords
● If the Lords amended the bill, it will return to the commons so they can
accept or reject their amendments
● House of Commons has the final say
Royal Assent:
● The Monarchs agreement to make the bill into a law
● The new law will come into force immediately
Examples to use:
Criminal Justice act 2003:
- Introduced a change in the double jeopardy law following Ann Mings Campaign
- This enabled the killer of Julie Hogg and two of the suspects of the Stephen
Lawrence murder to be re tried
- Enables a retrial of serious crimes such as murder and rape
The crime sentences Act 1997:
- Introduced mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offences
- Eg Automatic life sentence for second sexual or serious violent offence
Judiciary processes of law making:
Judicial precedent:
● Past decisions of judges create law for future judges to follow
● Where the point of law in a new case is the same as a previous case, the judge
should make the same decision
● Treating similar cases in the same way promotes consistency
● System is now known as common law
Court hierarchy:
● Supreme court
● Crown court
