Video: How are laws made? Criminal vs Civil law

﻿What we're going to look at today is how laws are made in England. We're going to look at where they're made and who makes them. And hopefully you will enjoy it. There's a couple of videos in to watch as well. What I'd like you to do before we start is get yourself pen and paper, get yourself a space, be ready to learn and then we'll start the lesson. Let's go. Okay, so how are laws made. These are things we can learn this lesson. we're going to find out how we make laws in England. So the laws and the process that an idea for a law goes through lots of proposal goes through before it's made into a law. We're just going to find out what is the role of Parliament in lawmaking and how Parliament makes laws in the UK. We're going to look at that and we'll see that in the video later on. And we're also going to look at the two sorts of laws that we talk about in citizenship teaching. And that's criminal versus civil law. So is a new law actually needed? Now I want you to imagine that something has changed. So perhaps a new government has been elected on a manifesto to introduce new policies or campaigners have been making a big effort to change the law. So for example, it could be mobile phone usage whilst driving, marriage equality or climate change that means the law needs to change. These are some reasons why government might create or change the law. So let's have a little look at mobile phone usage. Now years ago before people had mobile phones, we could drive our cars, we listened to the radio, we talked to people in the car. We were still distracted by things but it wasn't quite the same as having a phone. Then when everybody starts to get their own phones, we had far more road traffic accidents that were related to people texting, and calling people whilst they were on their phone. So they had to change the law and actually make it legal to text and drive and to use your phone as it's hands free. I think that's important to remember that lots of things change through time like technology and we really have to change laws as we go along. So where do they actually make most of the laws in the UK? Well, this picture is the Houses of Parliament and I've stretched it a bit to fit in the slide. So it looks a little bit short and far but it isn't normally like that. So you can look on the internet and find out a bit about that. Now at this point, we're going to be watching a video and when we watch the video I've like you to think about these two questions. This first question is what are the names of the two chambers in the house of parliament and which is the elected chamber in the house. Would like you to note down those two questions. So pause the video so you can note it down. And then when you're ready, you can watch the video, we'll carry on with the film and you can find the answers to the questions. So, did you find the answers? Well, they are of course the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They are the two chambers in the House of Commons and the elector chambers is, sorry They are the two chambers in the house of parliament. The House of Commons and the House of Lords and the elector chamber is the House of Commons. So, I hope you've got those right. Give yourselves a big tick on both of those answers if you must have found that. So when we looked at Parliament, we looked at the two different things and all those people that are in there are in there to make sure we run the country the way we want it to run. and those laws that help us to do that. And it's important that we understand that not all laws are made in Parliament but most of them are there. Okay? Now, in Parliament, we've got Members of Parliament, and they come from and different areas in the UK. So here we're going to look at what is a constituency? As you can see Great Britain, Northern Ireland are divided up into 650 areas. There's approximately 100,000 people in each area called a constituency. Each constituency has a Member of Parliament, who is elected by the people who live there who are over 18 at the time of voting. Now if you look really closely you can see somewhere like Dorset for instance, seems to have huge areas. And if you go to cities like Birmingham or London. There's lots of tiny areas each one of those is represented by a single member of parliament. But the reason that there's big areas and small areas is because it's about the number of people not the amount of land that it covers. And that's really important to realise that. So, your member of parliament is working in the House of Commons representing you. Even though you are under 18 and your parents may not have voted for them, if they are your constituency MP, then they are your representative. You can find out quite easily who these people are. And if you've gone to the parliament website, the UK Parliament website and we search using your postcode, you can find out the name of your Member of Parliament. You can invite or you can email to your member of parliament and their contact details should be there as well and you can communicate with them about any issue that is business's Parliament and you can even complain about the Prime Minister. So what do MPs do all day? Well, their main job is to represent the people and they debate issues of the day. For example, today they were discussing the response to the Coronavirus and also what's happening in the United States of America in terms of race riots. MPs vote on laws and they also put questions to the government about their decisions. So it's called holding the government to account where they ask the government what they've done about a certain issue, what are they going to do about it? And often they'll say whether they agree with the government or not. And that means that the Prime Minister and his ministers have to justify what they're doing and why they're doing it. Okay, you've watched the video. So let's do a little task. This is a complete the sentence task. I'd like to choose the correct words. It's probably best if you pause the video right now this video so that you can keep this on the page. And I've like you to fill in the sentence using the words from the bottom table. Okay, so a proposal for a new what? Is called a bill. Bills are usually introduced by the blank although some proposed by individual. The bill has to pass through a number of what? Before it becomes an act of what? Each has to pass through three in both the House of and the House of Lords. So pause the video,, copy down the whole sentence filling in the words Hello again, did you do that? How you get in on? What I've like to do is get your pen ready to give yourself a tick if you've got it right if you've got it wrong then note down the correct word instead. So don't worry. If you have got it wrong you can just make a correction. So let's read this. A proposal for a new law is called a bill. Bills are usually introduced by the government although some are proposed by individual MPs. And the bill has passed through a number of stages before it becomes an Act of Parliament. Each bill has to pass through three readings in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. So if you've got that right gives yourself lots of ticks. make corrections if you need to. So what we learned so far about laws and how they're made? So they're actually passed through lots of different stages and that it's quite a long process. They can't just propose a law one day and be law the next it has to lots of people have to have a say in it. And that's part of our democracy. So, when laws are also created they fit into one of two categories. And in citizenship, we talk about these two main categories and that's civil law and criminal law. And English law can be divided into these two main types. Laws about crimes such as theft, vandalism, assault, which the government enforces part of what is called criminal law and laws concerning your private rights in your dealings with other people such as borrowing and lending money, a part of what is called civil law. So let's have a look at a couple of examples. I've got a little task for you here. We've got four examples of criminal laws and civil laws and different examples. and I've like you to say which example fits under which law. So we've got law example one. Which is a teenager was is so angry they punched the shop window smashing it. Law example two. Your grandparent tripped on a wobbly paving slab in the street and broke their arm. Law example three. A couple's relationship has ended and they've decided to divorce and law example four, a person smuggled cannabis into the country hidden in their car. Now, pause the video and when it's paused, I've like you to write and decide which is which which example would come under criminal law and which example would come under civil law. So spend a few minutes working that out reading it through considering which is which and writing down your answer. Okay, let's see how you got on. These are the answers to the task. I've put it into two columns. So we've got criminal law and civil law. And in the criminal law column we have got two examples. And the first one is a person smuggled cannabis into the country, hidden in their car. Now is illegal to possess and deal cannabis and so it is a crime and you could be dealt with by the police and then on to the courts. And the second one in criminal law is the teenager was so angry, they punched a shop window, smashing it. Although that's against the owner of the shop that is still crime. Things that are violent come under criminal law. So that's right. Give yourself a tick there. In the civil law column, we've got two examples as well. A couple's marriage has ended and they have decided to divorce. Well, that isn't a crime. You can divorce under English law but you need to go and see your solicitor about that. And then you go to courts and you apply for that. But it's not a criminal court, it's the family court and so it's civil law. The next example, your grandparent tripped on a wobbly paving slab in the street and broke their arm. Now this is the problem of the council. They have to provide safe pavements but they would get into trouble with the police with this, it's up to your grandparent to contact the council and make a complaint and this comes under civil law. Okay. So what have we learned this lesson? so we know we know now there are laws and the process that a proposal goes through before it's made it into law is in the Houses of Parliament and it goes from the House of Commons and backwards and forwards House of Lords until it is made into law and then the Queen gives it Royal Assent. That means she says yes, this law is okay. It can go into the English law. And what is the role of Parliament lawmaking? Well, we looked at that in the videos in the two videos. Why do you have two main types of law? So we looked at criminal versus civil law and both examples. So I hope you're happy with both of these. So I'd like you to take away a couple of tasks. We've got two. Sorry, three activities I'd like to do. The first one is to use the internet to find out how an MP votes in the House of Commons. There's quite a lot on the news about that at the moment. So it's definitely worth going to have a look at that. I'd like you also to challenge yourself and draw a diagram of the House of Commons and I want you to say who sits where in the house. Then finally, I've like you to go to the UK Parliament website and research to find out what topics your MP has spoken about. Now you have to go to Hansard, which is on the UK Parliament website. And that's a record of everything that happens in the Houses of Parliament every day. And you can just put in a topic and find out which MPs have spoken about it. Now also, you can find out how your MP votes. So have a think and read about their votes and think whether or not your MP votes in the way that you would want them to and have a look at that. So pause this. You can note down the things you wanted to take a screenshot if you wanted to do that and then you can use this as a takeaway task to keep you busy for the next few days. Well, there you go I hope you've enjoyed your lesson today. I am looking forward to seeing you in the future. There's more lessons about the law and also how you can get active and involved in changing laws yourself in the future. So I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Take care. Bye

Worksheet: How are laws made? Criminal vs Civil law

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Completed: How are laws made? Criminal vs Civil law

In this lesson we will be learning how laws are made in England, and the difference between criminal and civil law. We will also focus on the role of Parliament in the law making process.

Citizenship

How are laws made? Criminal vs Civil law

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