Question 1

What is covered in the law making part of OCR A-Level Law?

Accepted Answer

Component 2 Section A covers the sources of law and how they are made. It includes parliamentary law making (Green and White Papers, the legislative process and parliamentary supremacy), delegated legislation (Orders in Council, statutory instruments, bylaws and their controls), statutory interpretation (the literal, golden and mischief rules, the purposive approach, rules of language and aids), judicial precedent (stare decisis, ratio and obiter, the hierarchy and avoiding precedent), and law reform and the European Union, including the post-Brexit status of retained law.

Question 2

What is parliamentary supremacy?

Accepted Answer

Parliamentary supremacy, described by Dicey, has three parts: Parliament can make or unmake any law; no Parliament can bind its successor; and no court can override an Act of Parliament. It is qualified by the Human Rights Act 1998 (declarations of incompatibility), devolution and, while the UK was a member, EU law (Factortame). After Brexit the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 restored Parliament's legal freedom, so Parliament remains legally supreme but is politically and practically constrained.

Question 3

What are the rules of statutory interpretation?

Accepted Answer

Judges use the literal rule (the plain ordinary meaning, even if absurd, as in Berriman), the golden rule (modifying the literal meaning to avoid absurdity, as in Re Sigsworth), the mischief rule (interpreting words to suppress the mischief the Act addressed, from Heydon's Case and Smith v Hughes) and the purposive approach (giving effect to Parliament's intended purpose, as in Jones v Tower Boot Co). They also use the rules of language and internal and external aids, including Hansard within the limits of Pepper v Hart.

Question 4

How does judicial precedent work?

Accepted Answer

Judicial precedent (stare decisis) means the decisions of higher courts bind lower courts in later cases with similar facts. The binding part is the ratio decidendi; obiter dicta are persuasive only. The Supreme Court binds all lower courts and can depart from its own decisions under the Practice Statement 1966; the Court of Appeal is bound by itself subject to Young v Bristol Aeroplane. Judges avoid precedent by overruling, reversing or distinguishing.

Question 5

What happened to EU law after Brexit?

Accepted Answer

While the UK was a member, EU law had supremacy over conflicting statute through the European Communities Act 1972 (Factortame), with regulations applying directly and directives being implemented. After Brexit, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 repealed the 1972 Act, ended the supremacy of EU law for the future, and converted existing EU-derived rules into retained EU law, now relabelled assimilated law, which Parliament is free to amend or repeal.

OCR A-Level Law: law making (Component 2, Section A) complete overview

Parliamentary law making

Delegated legislation

Statutory interpretation and precedent

Law reform and the EU

How law making is examined

Sources & how we know this