Domande e risposte esame di Lingua inglese

Primary and Secondary Texts in the Legal Context

Primary texts in the legal context are texts that produce legal effects. Some examples of primary texts are treaties, directives and regulations, judgments and resolutions of international organs.

Secondary texts, on the other hand, are texts that don't produce legal effects. Examples of secondary texts include textbooks, casebooks, and law reviews.

Sources of Law in the English Legal System

In the English legal system, the two sources of law are legislation and judicial precedent.

Legal Sources of the English Constitution

The English Constitution derives from legislation, judicial precedent, and conventions.

The Bill of Rights as a Source of the Constitution

Yes, the Bill of Rights is a source of the Constitution.

The Legislature

The legislature, also known as "the Queen in Parliament," is composed of the monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.

22. What is a MP?

MP means Member of Parliament.

23. Which is the most important member of the legislature and why?

The most important member of the legislature is the House of Commons because it is the only representative chamber, elected by universal adult suffrage.

24. Which form of government has the UK today?

Today the UK is a Constitutional monarchy, this means that the Queen's powers are limited by the Constitution.

25. What does it mean that the Queen reigns but does not rule?

This sentence indicates that the Queen maintains her Crown and the symbolic role of national unity (reigns), but she doesn't govern the country (rule).

26. What is a constitutional convention?

A constitutional convention is an unwritten law that isn't part of legislation but it is imposed by usage and it is binding for the actors in the Constitution.

27. Which of the two chambers is the Upper House and which is the Lower House?

The

House of Lords has the delaying power, which allows them to delay the passage of a bill.

delaying power is the power to delay the approbation of a bill and it is in the hands of the House of Lords.

32. Who is the leader of the government?

Generally the leader of the government is the leader of the political party that wins the elections and has the majority of seats in the House of Commons.

33. Who appoints the PM?

The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen.

34. When will there be a political crisis?

When the Parliament doesn't approve a bill of the government, there will be a political crisis.

35. When must the PM offer his resignation to the Queen?

The PM must offer his resignation to the Queen when he loses a vote of confidence in the House of Commons.

36. What is the Queen's Speech and why is it important?

The Queen's Speech is the speech that the Queen reads to the chambers at the beginning of each parliamentary session. It contains the programme of the government.

37. Who prepares the Queen's Speech?

The Queen's Speech is prepared by the Prime Minister.

38. The Queen's Speech is prepared by the PM and the Queen must read it to the two Houses to present the programme of the government.

39. The Labour Government with Tony Blair as Prime Minister was the government with major constitutional reforms.

40. Referendum is a form of direct democracy where citizens are invited to vote on a specific matter; it is an exception in the English legal system. An example is Brexit.

41. The Scotland Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament in which the legislation authorizes a devolution of powers from central government to Scotland. In particular, this Act provides the establishment of the Scottish Parliament with limited legislative powers and a Scottish executive.

42. No, the legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament are not unlimited.

The legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament are limited by the Scotland Act 1998, for example Scotland can't legislate for other countries.⁴³

Which are the reserved matters in the Scotland Act 1998? The Scotland Act provides reserved matters at Schedule 5 that are managed by the central government or by the UK Parliament. The reserved matters are the relationship with other States, international treaties, the Crown succession and the union between Scotland and England.⁴⁴

Which sources of law have the priority in case of contrast? In case of contrast, legislation has the priority.⁴⁵

What is legislation? Legislation is the law enacted by the legislature according to a specific procedure.⁴⁶

Who enacted the legislation? The legislation is enacted by the legislature that is composed of the Queen, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.⁴⁷

Which is the difference between an Act of Parliament and a Bill? The difference between an Act of Parliament and a Bill is that the Bill

hasn’t theenacting words on the top of the text, because it is approved.

1. What is delegated legislation?

Delegated legislation is legislation delegated by the legislature to another body or person, for example the government or a minister. It is subordinated to the law of the Parliament.

2. What is the Royal Assent?

The Royal Assent is part of the Royal Prerogative and it is the approbation of the law by the Queen, it transforms the bill into a law and it gives to the law the force of law.

3. What is the Royal Prerogative?

Royal Prerogatives are powers and rights that the Queen maintains today as Head of the State.

4. Which difference is there between a convention and a declaration?

The difference between a convention and a declaration is that the convention is legally binding while the declaration has only indirect legal effects.

5. What is judicial precedent?

Judicial precedent is the body of principles formulated by superior courts (High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of the

UK) that judges are bound to follow when they have to decide a case. 53. Where do lawyers and judges find judicial precedent? Lawyers and judges can find judicial precedent in the judgement of the superior court which has decided a similar case, judgements can be found in the law reports. 54. Which is the difference between common law systems and civil law systems? The difference between the two legal systems is that in the common law systems judges are bound to follow precedents of the superior courts in similar cases, in civil law systems judges are only persuaded to follow them but they're not bound. 55. What is the stare decisis? The stare decisis is the principle that bound courts to follow precedents in similar cases. 56. What does it mean that the judge is a law-maker? The judge is a law-maker because in cases of first impression, that are cases where there aren't similar cases or legislation, the judge can make a new rule to decide the case. The judge

1. A case of first impression is a case where there isn't legislation and judicial precedent, so it is a new case without similar. In this case judges can create new rules.
2. A case of first instance is a case in which all proceedings are started, an appeal case is a case in which the court reviews the case lost in the precedent trial.
3. Only superior courts that are the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of the UK can create binding precedents.
4. No, it can't. Only appeal cases can create binding precedent.
5. The doctrine of binding precedent (stare decisis) follows the hierarchy of the English courts: there is vertical effect when a court is bound by a superior court to follow precedent,

There is horizontal effect when a court is bound to follow her own precedent decisions.

62. What is the part of the case that operates as binding precedent?

The part of the case that operates as binding precedent is the ratio decidendi, it is the principle on which the case was decided and the reason on which the judge based his decision.

63. What is the obiter dictum?

The obiter dictum is the part of the judgement that doesn't contain the ratio decidendi and in which there are other statements of law.

64. How can a judge find the ratio decidendi in a case?

The judge has to read the judgement of the case, the judgement is a decision made by a court on a matter before it.

65. What type of approach do the common law systems have?

The approach that the common law legal systems have is an inductive approach: it means that the decision is based on a system that moved from the specific case to a general principle or rule.

66. What type of approach do the civil law systems have?

The civil law system

has a deductive approach: it means that they apply the general rule to specific cases.

67. Which are English courts?

English courts are: the Supreme Courts of the UK, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the County courts, the magistrates’ courts and tribunals.

68. What is jurisdiction?

Jurisdiction is the power of a court to decide a case.

69. Which courts have civil jurisdiction?

Civil jurisdiction is exercised by the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal Civil division, the High Court (all divisions), county courts and magistrates’ courts.

70. Which courts have criminal jurisdiction?

Criminal jurisdiction is exercised by the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal Criminal division, the High Court (Qu