ACCA LW GLO Chapter 1: Political & Legal Systems, Sources of Law and International Organisations: 60 flashcards
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1. Define 'politics' in the context of a country's governance.
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Politics means how countries are managed.
2. What is a dictatorship?
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A system run by a dictator where individual freedom may be heavily regulated.
3. What is a democracy?
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A system run by an elected body, where individuals have more freedom to regulate their own lives.
4. What is 'law'?
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The body of rules under which society operates, usually understood in local rather than global terms.
5. Name the three broad legal systems identified in the chapter.
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Common law, civil law and Sharia law.
6. Which countries are examples of common law systems?
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UK and US.
7. Which countries are examples of civil law systems?
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France and Germany.
8. Which countries are examples of Sharia law systems?
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Pakistan and Iran.
9. What is 'separation of powers'?
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The constitutional principle that different government powers should be separate.
10. What are the three parts of the modern separation of powers model?
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Legislature (makes law), executive (implements law) and judiciary (interprets law).
11. What is the role of the legislature?
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It makes the law and is the primary law maker in a state.
12. What is the role of the executive?
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It implements the law, bringing it into effect.
13. What is the role of the judiciary?
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It interprets the law and decides questions arising in disputes.
14. What is an 'unwritten constitution'?
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A constitution whose key rules have not been formally collected into one enactment, as in the UK.
15. What is the Westminster Model?
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A system where leading members of the executive are chosen from the legislature.
16. What does it mean that UK Parliament is 'sovereign'?
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UK courts do not have power to declare an Act of Parliament invalid.
17. What is 'judicial review'?
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A check on whether a public body had authority and followed proper procedures; it does not decide the decision's correctness on its merits.
18. What does 'ultra vires' mean?
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Outside its powers.
19. In criminal law, who brings the case and in whose name?
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The State brings the case in the name of the Crown, with case names such as R v ….
20. What is the standard of proof in criminal law?
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Guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
21. What is the standard of proof in civil law?
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Liability on the balance of probabilities.
22. What is a 'conflict of laws'?
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It occurs when parties from different legal jurisdictions interact and their legal rules conflict.
23. What are the three sources of international law?
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International treaties and conventions, international custom, and general principles of law.
24. What is 'judicial precedent'?
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The system of following decisions made in previous cases.
25. What is the difference between binding and persuasive precedent?
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Binding precedent must be followed by the relevant court; persuasive precedent may be followed but does not have to be.
26. What three conditions must be met for a precedent to bind?
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It must be based on a proposition of law, the facts must be materially the same, and the previous court must have power to bind.
27. What is 'legislation'?
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Law created by Parliament, the highest sovereign law-making body in the UK.
28. What must a Bill receive to become an Act?
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Approval by both Houses and Royal Assent from the Monarch.
29. What is 'delegated legislation'?
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Law enacted by another body authorised by Parliament, such as Orders in Council, Statutory Instruments, by-laws, Court Rules and professional regulations.
30. What are Orders in Council usually used for?
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National emergencies, made by government through the Privy Council.
31. What are by-laws and who makes them?
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Laws made by local authorities or other local bodies, limited to a specific geographic territory.
32. What is the literal rule of statutory interpretation?
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Use the ordinary dictionary meaning of words, even if the result is undesirable.
33. What is the golden rule of statutory interpretation?
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If the literal meaning gives more than one meaning or an absurd result, prefer the meaning that avoids absurdity.
34. What is the mischief rule of statutory interpretation?
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Interpret the law to remedy the problem the statute was intended to prevent.
35. What is the purposive rule of statutory interpretation?
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Consider what Parliament intended the law to achieve.
36. What does 'ejusdem generis' mean?
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General words take the same kind or class as the specific words before them.
37. What does 'expressio unius exclusio alterius' mean?
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If a statute lists what is covered, what is not listed is treated as excluded.
38. Which case illustrates the literal rule?
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Fisher v Bell (1961) – a flick-knife in a shop window was an invitation to treat, not an offer for sale.
39. Which case illustrates the golden rule?
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Adler v George (1964) – 'in the vicinity of' an Air Force base covered being inside it, avoiding an absurd result.
40. Which case illustrates the mischief rule?
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Gorris v Scott (1874) – a pens-on-ships rule aimed at contagious disease, not at sheep washed overboard; the claim failed.
41. Which case illustrates the purposive rule?
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Gardiner v Sevenoaks RDC (1950) – 'premises' included a cave, because the Act's purpose was safe storage of film wherever it was stored.
42. Which case illustrates ejusdem generis?
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Powell v Kempton Park Racecourse Co (1899) – a racecourse ring was outdoors and so outside the class of indoor places in the Betting Act.
43. Name the presumptions judges apply to statutes.
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A statute does not bind the Crown, cannot conflict with international law, does not normally have retrospective effect, does not alter the common law, does not exclude the jurisdiction of the court, and does not extend beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the UK.
44. What are the two hallmarks of civil law systems?
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Comprehensibility and certainty.
45. From what did civil law historically develop?
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Roman law.
46. What are the sources of Sharia law?
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The Quran, Sunnah, Madhab and the country's constitution.
47. What is 'Taqlid'?
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The theory that the law has already been interpreted sufficiently and does not require further interpretation.
48. What is 'Ijtihad'?
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Historic processes used for interpreting the law.
49. What is 'Ijma' as a type of Ijtihad?
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Consensus of opinion of jurists.
50. What is 'Qiyas' as a type of Ijtihad?
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Comparing two things to evaluate one in the light of the other.
51. What is 'Riba'?
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An unjustified increment in borrowing or lending money, paid in kind or money above the amount of the loan.
52. What is private international law?
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National/domestic rules used to determine jurisdiction and applicable law in international contracts, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
53. What is public international law?
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Law recognised by a group of nations, such as conventions, treaties, international custom and general principles.
54. What does the Rome Convention 1980 address?
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What law governs the validity of international contracts; it recognises the parties' expressed choice of law in a written contract.
55. What does the New York Convention 1958 address?
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Agreement of countries relating to referring cases to arbitration.
56. When was UNCITRAL established and by whom?
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In 1966 by the UN General Assembly.
57. What does UNCITRAL do?
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It is the legal body of the UN that has largely harmonised and unified public international law, issuing model laws and conventions on international trade.
58. When was the WTO formed and from what?
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Formed in 1995 from GATT, which existed from 1948.
59. What does the WTO cover?
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Trade in goods, services, inventions, creations and intellectual property.
60. How does WTO dispute settlement work?
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A panel of three or up to five experts hears the dispute; appeals are heard by three members of the seven-member Appellate Body.
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