An Introduction to Law

Mrs Proudlock

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Welcome to Law!

I hope you enjoy the course and find it both challenging and thought-provoking. As a student of law, you
will be exploring many diverse topics such as how laws are made, fatal and non-fatal offences against the
person, property offences, defences including self-defence and the concept of liability. You will also be
looking in-depth at high-profile, real life cases such as that of serial killer Fred West and mercy killer
Frances Inglis, how these cases were brought to court, the defences used and how the defendant was
sentenced. You will study a wide range of criminal offences from assault and GBH, theft and robbery to
manslaughter and murder.

Studying law will allow you to develop a variety of skills which will be of great benefit to you as you apply
for university. As a law student, you are expected to develop problem-solving, analytical and essay writing
skills as well as team-work, initiative and independence. You are expected to read around the subject in
your own time if you intend to achieve an A/A* grade. You are also expected to keep up-to-date with
current law and news stories which will allow you to access higher grade bands and impress the examiner.

This booklet is designed to give you an insight as to what is expected of you during the course and how you
will be assessed during the course. It also includes useful information such as a list of sources of
information you should make use of throughout the course.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy law and I look forward to teaching you!

Mrs P

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Course Content

 Exam 1  Section B – Criminal Law

 Section A – The Legal System  Rules and Theory

 The Civil Courts and Other Forms of  Elements of Liability

Dispute Resolution
 Fatal Offences
 The Criminal Courts and Lay People
 Non-Fatal Offences
 Legal Personnel
 Property Offences

 Defences

 Preliminary Offences

 Evaluation

 Exam 2  Section B - Tort Law

 Section A – Law Making  Rules and Theory

 Parliamentary Law Making  Liability in Negligence

 Delegated Legislation  Occupiers’ Liability

 Statutory Interpretation  Torts Connected to Land

 Judicial Precedent  Vicarious Liability

 Law Reform  Defences

 Remedies

 Evaluation

 Section B - Human Rights Law

 Exam 3
 Rules and Theory
 Section A - The Nature of Law
 Provisions of Human Rights and Freedoms
 Introduction
 Enforcement of HR Law
 Law and Morality
 Key Provisions of ECHR
 Law and Justice
 Restrictions on HR Law
 Law and Society
 Evaluation

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Unit 1

Section A: The Legal System

Civil Courts and Lay People

• County Court and High Court: jurisdictions, pre-trial procedures, the three tracks

• Appeal courts

• Employment tribunals

• Alternative dispute resolution

• Evaluation on of the civil courts and other forms of dispute resolution

Criminal Courts and Lay People

• Criminal process: Jurisdiction of Magistrates’ and Crown Court, classification of offences, pre-trial procedures

• Appeal courts

• Sentencing and court powers: aims, factors and types of sentences

• Lay magistrates and juries: qualifications, selection, appointment and their role in criminal cases

• Evaluation of the different types of sentences and of using juries in criminal cases

Legal Personnel

• Barristers, solicitors and legal executives: role and regulation

• The judiciary: types of judges and their role

• The separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary

• Evaluation of the legal professions and the judiciary

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Section B: Criminal Law

Rules and Theory

General Elements of Criminal Liability

• Actus reus: Conduct and consequence crimes, Voluntary acts, Omissions, Causation

• Mens rea: Fault, Levels of mens rea, Transferred malice, Coincidence rule

Fatal Offences

• Murder: Actus reus & Mens rea

• Voluntary manslaughter: Defences of Loss of Control & Diminished Responsibility

• Involuntary manslaughter: Unlawful Act Manslaughter & Gross Negligence Manslaughter

Non-Fatal Offences

• Assault, Battery, s.47 OAPA 1861, s.20 OAPA 1861, s.18 OAPA 1861

Property Offences

• Theft

• Robbery

• Burglary

Defences

• General defences: Self-Defence, Duress, Consent

• Mental capacity defences: Insanity, Automatism, Intoxication

Preliminary Offences

• Attempts: Actus Reus & Mens Rea, Impossibility

Evaluation

• Evaluation of the non-fatal offences against the person, and the defences of intoxication, self-defence and consent
including ideas for reform

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Unit 2

Section A: Law Making

Parliamentary Law Making

• Legislative process: Green & White Papers, types of Bill, legislative stages in the HoC & HoL and role of the Crown

• Advantages and disadvantages of the legislative process

Delegated Legislation

• Types of delegated legislation

• Controls on delegated legislation by Parliament and the courts, and their effectiveness

• Reasons for the use of delegated legislation

• Advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislation

Statutory Interpretation

• Rules of statutory interpretation

• Intrinsic and extrinsic aids to interpretation

• Impact of European Union Law and the Human Rights Act 1998 on statutory interpretation

• Advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches and aids to statutory interpretation

Judicial Precedent

• The Doctrine of Precedent including stare decisis, ratio decidendi and obiter dicta

• The hierarchy of the courts

• Types of precedent

• Methods of avoiding precedent

• Advantages and disadvantages of precedent

Law Reform

• Influences on Parliament: political, public opinion, media, pressure groups, lobbyists and the Law Commission

• Advantages and disadvantages of influences on law making

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Section B: Tort Law

Rules and Theory

Liability in Negligence

• Liability in negligence for injury to people and damage to property

• The elements of negligence: duty, breach, damage

Occupiers’ Liability

• Liability in respect of lawful visitors (Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957)

• Liability in respect of trespassers (Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984)

Torts Connected to Land

• Public and private nuisance

• Rylands v Fletcher

Vicarious Liability

• Nature and purpose of vicarious liability

• Liability for employees

Defences

• Contributory negligence

• Volenti non fit injuria

• Defences special to claims connected to nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher

Remedies

• Compensatory damages

• Mitigation of loss

• Injunctions

Evaluation

• Evaluation of liability in negligence, occupiers’ liability and vicarious liability

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Unit 3

Section A: The Nature of Law

Introduction

• Law and rules

• The connections between law, morality and justice

• The differences between civil and criminal law

• An overview of the development of English Law

• The rule of law: definition on and importance

Law and Morality

• The distinction on between law and morals

• The diversity of moral views in a pluralist society

• The relationship between law and morals and its importance

• The legal enforcement of moral values

Law and Justice

• The meaning of justice

• Theories of justice

• The extent to which the law achieves justice

Law and Society

• The role law plays in society

• The law as a social control mechanism

• The way in which the law creates and deals with consensus and conflict

• The realist approach to law making

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Section B: Human Rights Law

Rules and Theory

Protection of the Individual’s Human Rights & Freedoms in the UK

• The History of the European Court of Human Rights

• The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998

• The entrenched nature of the Human Rights Act 1998 in the devolution of settlements

Key Provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights

• Article 5: the right to liberty and security

• Article 6: the right to a fair trial

• Article 8: the right to respect for family and private life

• Article 10: the right to freedom of expression

• Article 11: freedom of assembly

Restrictions on Human Rights Law

• Public order offences

• Police powers

• Interception of communications

• Duty of confidentiality

• Obscenity

• Torts of defamation and trespass

• Harassment

Enforcement of Human Rights Law

• Role of domestic courts

• The process of judicial review

• The role of the European Court of Human Rights

Evaluation

• Evaluation of human rights protection in the UK: Articles 5, 6, 8, 10 + 11 and the Human Rights Act 1998

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Resources

My Revision Notes – Use the OCR Law revision guide to revise content.

Flippedlaw.com – You will use this to complete homework which will prepare you for the next topic.

Edmodo.com – You will use this website to access resources and print your booklets from. I will also put
opportunities and notices on here.

The Lawyer Portal.com – This is a fantastic website for revision of the Legal Personnel topic but also for
anyone interested in a career in law.

Parliament.uk – Contains good resources and is particularly useful for the Parliamentary Law Making topic.

Lawteacher.org.uk – This website is designed for Law students. Here you can access the entire AS and A2
syllabus with lecture notes, case reports and other useful info.

e-lawresources.co.uk – A fantastic site to use, especially for case law.

Lawcom.gov.uk – This is the Law Commission’s website which you should refer to during topics such as
Parliamentary Law Making, Law Reform and Criminal Liability.

OCR.org.uk – You should use this website to complete past papers.

BBC News – Good to keep up-to-date with current news stories and changes in the law.

Newspapers – The Times has a law section every Thursday which contains interesting articles about current
legal issues. Well worth a look!

Open.ac.uk – The Open University’s website has free online courses relating to law for which you receive a
certificate on completion. This is useful for your studies and for university personal statements and/or CVs.

Golden Rules

1. Be organised. Start the course with an organised folder and keep it this way. Get yourself some file
dividers and flashcards (you’ll be needing a LOT of these). Organisation has been found to be
positively correlated with high grades.
2. Revise frequently. I am not suggesting you spend 4 hours each night revising but doing 15 – 20
minutes each day or an hour each week is a good idea as you’ll be learning a huge amount of
content which you need to be able to recall after two years.
3. Attempt exam questions. This is the best method of revision and the most appropriate for law.
4. Keep up-to-date with legal issues and cases in the news. Law changes on a daily basis and you will
impress the examiner if you are able to use contemporary examples. I’ll post updates on Twitter.
5. Make flashcards for key cases and test yourself regularly. This is a requirement of the course.

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