AS Law 2010-11 Introduction to AS Law

AS Law 2010-11

Introduction to

AS Law

Welcome to AS Law. I will not kid you, it is hard work – but it is interesting, relevant
and full of useless facts (did you know that it is still illegal to stand on the windowsill
to clean your windows in a terrace house?!). You will need to be organised, alert and
punctual.

I am not going to spend an hour telling you how to behave... I am only going to say five things:
Get yourself a folder, pen and paper
Always bring your handout.
Never miss a lesson without letting me know [email protected]
Hand in your work on time
Try your best and have an opinion.

Right, on to the course. Lose your notes? Look at the blog. www.queensburylaw.wordpress.com It currently has
some of last year’s stuff on it if you want to see what you will be doing, it also has the homework, and all the
PowerPoints and work for the year will be put up there for you as well. .

1. Taster:
Law is about reasoning, as well as facts and opinions. Now, let’s see what your legal judgement and knowledge
of the law is like (thanks to the BBC for this!)

PROBLEM ANSWER?
23 year old accountant dies.... can we charge?

Stolen goose – is there enough evidence?

Husband and wife... can he be charged?

Husband and wife (2)... what can we charge her with?

Driving with makeup... guilty?

2. Now: which of these are not real laws?

Melton Mowbray Pies If a man comes to your It is illegal for a lady to Cabs in London cannot
can only be made in front door with coal, eat chocolate on a bus carry rabid dogs or
you must allow him to corpses
Melton Mowbray It is illegal to sell a
have a jug of milk drunk person alcohol In England, it is illegal
to eat mince pies on
You can assault You cannot buy ugly It is illegal to die in the
someone without strawberries and Houses of Parliament December 25th
tomatoes in the
touching them supermarket

AS Law 2010-11

Thinking... thinking...

Law, Morality and Justice

What do we mean by these words? Law
Legal = Morality Justice

Morality =

Justice =

Can you think of an offence which addresses all three?

Can you think of something which morally might be thought of as ‘bad’, but is not illegal?

Can you think of something which might be both legally and morally wrong, but you cannot achieve justice?

When we are sentencing a criminal offender, what do you think the judge is focused on?

LOOK AT THESE TWO CASES. BOTH ARE BASED ON REAL CASES WHICH WE WILL RETURN TO THIS YEAR:

A young woman in her 20s hasn’t been sleeping for the last few nights. Her three month old son will not stop
crying as he is unwell. The young woman has a job interview the following day, and has been depressed since
the birth of the child. During the course of the evening, she loses his temper and shakes the child, causing the
child to die.

What might we charge her with? Why?
Sentence?

A young woman lives with her boyfriend and her young daughter. She is aware that her boyfriend was violent
to his ex-girlfriend and child. She goes out to work leaving her daughter with the boyfriend. She comes back to
find the daughter dead. She was beaten and swung against the banister, breaking her bones in at least 10
different places and snapping her neck.

What might we charge him with? Why?
What about the mother? Why?
Sentence?

AS Law 2010-11

What happens when the system goes wrong?

As with anything, it was created by people and we all make mitksaes mistakes. This happens in the criminal
justice system as well – they can be deliberate... or accidental. Below are the details on one such miscarriage of
justice. Read through the facts. What do you think?

“Let Him Have It”

Derek Bentley, a 19-year-old robber, was under arrest when his younger
accomplice, Chris Craig, 16, shot and killed police officer Sidney Miles in 1952.

Craig was armed with a Colt .45 and had given Bentley a knuckleduster and a knife.
Bentley said that he was unaware that they were going to carry out the robbery on
the confectionery warehouse until Craig started climbing gates leading into an
alleyway. A neighbour spotted the break-in and called the police. When they
arrived, Craig resisted arrest. During this time, police said Bentley had shouted: "Let
him have it, Chris!"

WHAT INTERPRETATIONS COULD YOU HAVE GIVEN THIS PHRASE?

The trial lasted barely two-and-a-half days, and the jury heard no evidence of Bentley's medical condition. He
had a mental age of 11 and was easily influenced

Convicted of murder, Bentley was hanged on January 28 1953 - the day after the home secretary, Sir David
Maxwell Fyfe, rejected a clemency plea from MPs. Craig escaped the gallows because he was a minor. He was
sentenced to 10 years.

In 1998, he was finally cleared of the offence. He was given a posthumous pardon, and had the conviction
quashed. Why?

“Since the trial judge in his summing-up failed to direct the jury on the standard and burden of proof, to give
sufficient direction on the law of joint enterprise, or adequately to summarise the defence case, made
prejudicial comments about the defendants and their defences, and indicated that the police officers' evidence,
because of their bravery on the night in question, was more worthy of belief than that of the defendants,
Bentley was denied the fair trial to which he was entitled and his conviction was in consequence unsafe.”

(Times Law Reports)

Why was he charged with murder?

What were the failures in the system?

What recommendations would you make to the criminal process (from the police through the courts) to
ensure that this doesn’t happen again?
Which do you think was the main focus of the judge at the first trial: justice, legality or morality? Why?

AS Law 2010-11

What about the other side of the course?

INTERPRETING THE LAW

R v Bassett [2008] WLR (D) 157

Charge: Voyerism of a man under s.68(1)(a) Sexual Offences Act 2003.
In order to be liable for the offence, the victim had to be taking part
in a ‘private act’ e.g. exposing breasts by undressing.

Facts: The defendant (D) concealed a camera in his bag to spy on other men in the changing rooms at
the swimming pool. He spied on a man who was wearing trunks in the shower and washing his
3 year old daughter’s hair.

Problem: Are male breasts covered by the act?

Task:
Should male breasts be covered by the act? Why?

Courts have to decide what Parliament meant when they wrote the Act.
Sometimes, Parliament will write an act which is badly put together, the courts then need to work out exactly
what they mean.

The Christmas Act 2010
This is an act to encourage the celebration of Christmas as a national holiday and time of charity
This Act provides that:
1. Christmas shall always fall on the same date every year
2. Each adult will be entitled to free food on Christmas
3. Every household shall buy a tree
4. Every household shall display a wreath at the entrance to their house
5. All deer shall be given a red nose for the occasion.
Read the following situations and decide who (if anyone) has broken the law.
1. Bob owns a very large house with a long, windy drive. He has placed his wreath at the gate at the top of the
drive

2. Louise has decided to paint the noses of the deers in the local park red for Christmas

3. The Smiths decide to celebrate Christmas by buying a holly bush

4. Pick two words from the act which you think might cause problems because of their meaning. Try to come
up with a better definition of them below:
a.
b.