Strengthening Canada’s Bilingual Future: New Investments in Francophone Immigration
Canada’s bilingual identity is a key part of its heritage. Supporting French-speaking communities outside Quebec
Alex Darin
Overview of AQA A-level Law qualifications
Subject content:
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| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| Nature of law | • The difference between binding legal rules and principles and other rules and norms of behavior. • The difference between criminal law and civil law. • Different sources of law: custom, statute and common law. |
| Nature of law: law and society | • The role of law in society. • Balancing enforceable rights with competing interests (public vs. private). • The significance of fault in civil and criminal law. |
| Nature of law: law and morality | • Distinction between law and morality in a pluralist society. • Importance of the relationship between law and morality. • Legal enforcement of moral values. |
| Nature of law: law and justice | • Meaning and theories of justice. • How well civil and criminal law achieve justice. |
| The rule of law | • The constitutional principle of the rule of law. • Key aspects: no one punished without legal basis, equality before the law, fairness, and clarity in the legal system. |
| Law making: parliamentary law making | • Green and White Papers. • The formal legislative process. • The main influences on parliament and the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy and its limitations. • The pros and cons of influencing parliamentary lawmaking. |
| Law making: delegated legislation | • Types: Orders in Council, Statutory Instruments, and Bylaws (from local authorities and public bodies). • Parliamentary and judicial controls over delegated legislation. • Reasons for using delegated legislation. • Advantages and disadvantages of delegated legislation. |
| Law making: statutory interpretation | • The rules of statutory interpretation: literal, golden and mischief rules; the purposive approach. • Aids: Internal (intrinsic) and external (extrinsic). • Impact of EU law and the Human Rights Act 1998 on interpretation. • Pros and cons of different approaches to statutory interpretation. |
| Law making: judicial precedent | • Doctrine of judicial precedent. • Court hierarchy, including the Supreme Court. • Stare decisis, ratio decidendi and obiter dicta; law reporting in outline and the reasons for it. • The operation of judicial precedent: following, overruling and distinguishing. • Pros and cons of the doctrine of judicial precedent and the operation of precedent. |
| Law making: law reform | • The work of the Law Commission: reform, codification, consolidation and repeal. • Pros and cons of law reform via the Law Commission. |
| Law making: the European Union | • EU institutions: The Council, Commission, Parliament, and Court of Justice, along with their functions. • Sources of EU law: treaties, regulations, and directives. • The effect of EU law on the legal system of England and Wales. |
| The legal system: the civil courts and other forms of dispute resolution | • Civil courts: Overview of the track and appeal systems. • Other dispute resolution methods: Tribunal structure, mediation, and negotiation. |
| The legal system: the criminal courts and lay people | • Overview of the criminal process, offence classification, and appeals. • Powers of criminal courts and adult offender sentencing. • Role of lay people: magistrates’ powers and juries’ role in criminal courts. • Pros and cons of using juries in criminal courts. |
| The legal system: legal personnel and the judiciary | • Roles of barristers, solicitors, and legal executives. • Regulation of legal personnel. • Types of judges and their roles in civil and criminal courts. • The independence of the judiciary: security of tenure, immunity from suit, independence from the Executive. • Reason for and advantages of judicial independence and the methods by which it is achieved. |
| The legal system: access to justice and funding | • Alternative legal advice sources: helplines, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), law centres, trade unions. • Private funding: personal resources, insurance, conditional fee agreements. • Public funding: state support for criminal and civil cases. |
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| The rules of criminal law | Covers general elements of criminal liability, including liability for offences against individuals, property offences, and attempted crimes. |
| Theory in criminal law | • Harm as the basis for criminalising conduct. • Autonomy, fault and individual responsibility. • Principles in formulating rules of criminal law: fair labelling, correspondence, maximum certainty, no retrospective liability. |
| General elements of liability | • Actus reus: conduct; acts and omissions and state of affairs; voluntariness and involuntariness; causation; consequences. • Additional fault elements: mens rea; intention and subjective recklessness; negligence; transferred malice. • No fault: strict liability. • Coincidence of actus reus and mens rea. |
| Fatal offences against the person | • Murder: A common law offence. • Voluntary manslaughter: – Loss of control (s54 Coroners and Justice Act 2009). – Diminished responsibility (s2 Homicide Act 1957 as amended). • Involuntary manslaughter: – Unlawful act manslaughter. – Gross negligence manslaughter. |
| Non-fatal offences against the person | • Common assault: assault, battery. • Offenses Against the Person Act 1861: – s47: Assault/beating causing actual bodily harm. – s20: Unlawful and malicious wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm. – s18: Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent. |
| Property offences | • Theft (s1 Theft Act 1968). • Robbery (s8 Theft Act 1968). |
| Preliminary offence | Attempt (s1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981). |
| Defences Capacity defences | • Insanity. • Automatism. • Intoxication. |
| Defences Necessity defences | • Self-defence/prevention of crime. • Duress. • Duress of circumstances. |
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| The rules of tort law | Rules and principles concerning liability and fault in actions for negligence, occupiers’ liability, nuisance and vicarious liability, and associated defences and remedies. |
| Theory of tort law | • Public policy factors in the Caparo three-part test for duty of care in injury/property damage claims. • Policy factors for pure economic loss and psychiatric injury liability. • Factors influencing the objective standard of care in negligence cases. • Criteria for granting injunctions and balancing conflicting interests. • The nature and purpose of vicarious liability. |
| Liability in negligence for physical injury and property damage | • Duty of care: Based on the ‘neighbour’ principle and the Caparo three-part test. • Breach of duty: Measured against an objective standard of care. • Damage: Involves both factual and legal causation (remoteness of damage). |
| Liability in negligence for economic loss and psychiatric injury | • Liability for pure economic loss caused by negligent acts and negligent misstatements. • Liability for psychiatric injury sustained by primary and secondary victims. |
| Occupiers’ liability | • Liability in respect of visitors (Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957). • Liability in respect of trespassers (Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984). |
| Nuisance and the escape of dangerous things | • Private nuisance. • The rule in Rylands v Fletcher. |
| Vicarious liability | • Nature and purpose of vicarious liability. • Testing employment status. • Other areas of vicarious liability. |
| Defences | • Contributory negligence. • Consent (volenti non fit injuria). • Specific defences for private nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher. |
| Remedies | • Compensatory damages for physical injury, property damage, and economic loss. • Principle of mitigating loss. • Injunctions. |
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| The rules of contract law | Rules and principles of contract law concerning formation, terms, vitiating factors, discharge of a contract and associated remedies. |
| Theory of contract law | • Freedom of Contract vs. Consumer Protection: Balancing individual freedom in contracts with the need to safeguard consumers. • Offers and Acceptances: Differences between offers, unilateral contracts, and invitations to treat; rationale for the postal rule and its application to electronic communications. • Consideration: Purpose and its link to privity and economic duress. • Exemption Clauses: Their nature and effectiveness in contracts. • Remedies: Types and effectiveness, with a focus on consumer remedies. |
| Essential requirements of contract | • Offer and acceptance. • Consideration (including privity of contract). • Intention to create legal relations. |
| Contract terms: general | • Express and implied terms. • Conditions, warranties and innominate terms. |
| Contract terms: specific terms implied by statute law in relation to consumer contracts | • Goods Contracts: – s9: Satisfactory quality – s10: Fitness for a particular purpose – s11: Description • Remedies: – s20: Right to reject (short-term) – s23: Right to repair or replace – s24: Right to price reduction or final rejection • Service Contracts: – s49: Reasonable care and skill – s52: Performance within a reasonable time • Remedies: – s55: Right to repeat performance – s56: Right to price reduction |
| Contract terms: exclusion clauses | • Basic understanding of the nature of exclusion and limitation clauses. • Common law control of exclusion clauses: rules relating to incorporation; brief understanding of the rules relating to construction. • Statutory control of exclusion clauses: Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (s2 and s3); Consumer Rights Act 2015 (s31, s57 and s65). |
| Vitiating factors | • Misrepresentation (nature, types and remedies). • Economic duress (definition and remedies). |
| Discharge of a contract | • Performance. • Breach (actual and anticipatory breach). • Frustration. |
| Remedies | • Compensatory damages: recoverable loss, causation, remoteness, mitigation. • Equitable remedies: specific performance, rescission. • Termination of contract for breach. |
| Scope of study | Content |
|---|---|
| Rules in Human Rights law | • Right to life. • Right to liberty and security. • Right to privacy. • Freedom of expression. • Freedom of assembly and association. • European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): Framework for these rights. • UK law: Aligns with the ECHR. |
| Theory in Human Rights | • Theories of rights. • Rights contrasted with liberties. • The scope of ‘fundamental human’ rights. |
| Human Rights in international law | • Second World War: Catalyst for the development of human rights law. • United Nations: Created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). • The Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights 1953. |
| Human Rights in the United Kingdom prior to the Human Rights Act 1998 | The status of the European Convention on Human Rights in the United Kingdom, and the impact of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. |
| Human Rights in the United Kingdom after the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 | • Extent and method of incorporation and interpretation of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. • Impact on constitutional arrangements and on law in the United Kingdom including entrenched nature of the Human Rights Act 1998 in the devolutionary settlement of Scotland and Northern Ireland. • Criticisms of Human Rights. |
| Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | • Article 2.1: right to life • Article 2.2: justified exceptions. |
| Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | • Article 5.1: right to liberty and security of person. • Article 5.1a–5.1c: justified deprivation of liberty – lawful arrest or detention. • Article 5.2–5.5: additional requirements to justify deprivation of liberty in cases of lawful arrest or detention. |
| Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | Article 8.1: right to respect for private and family life, his home and for his correspondence. |
| Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | • Article 10.1: right to freedom of expression. Receive information and ideas. Communicate information and ideas. |
| Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | Article 11.1: right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others. |
| Restrictions | • Article 8.2: Restrictions on the right to privacy (Article 8.1) • Article 10.2: Restrictions on freedom of expression (Article 10.1) • Article 11.2: Restrictions on freedom of assembly and association (Article 11.1) • General requirements relating to restrictions. |
| Enforcement | • Claims before the European Court of Human Rights: – Role of Domestic Courts: Integration with national legal systems. – Effect of Decisions: Impact on states and claimants. • Judicial Review Process: Overview of the process. |
| Human Rights and English law | • Right to Life: Criminal and civil provisions, investigatory procedures, homicide and related offences, self-defence, police obligations, protective policing, civil negligence, and independent investigations of deaths in custody. • Deprivation of Liberty: Laws related to restrictions on freedom. • Privacy and Communication: Legal provisions protecting or restricting these rights. • Expression, Assembly, and Association: Relevant laws affecting privacy versus freedom of expression, assembly, and association. |
| Reform | Reform of the protection of Human Rights in the UK. |
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Assessment
| Component | Content | Questions | Final score | Weighting of final grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | • The nature of law and the English legal system (25 marks out of 100). • Criminal law (75 marks out of 100). | A combination of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions. | 100 marks | 33% of A-level |
| Paper 2 | • The nature of law and the English legal system (25 marks out of 100). • Tort (75 marks out of 100). | A combination of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions. | 100 marks | 33% of A-level |
Paper 3 | • Law of contract (75 marks out of 100). • The nature of law and the English legal system (25 marks out of 100). OR • Human rights (75 marks out of 100). • The nature of law and the English legal system (25 marks out of 100). | A combination of multiple choice, short answer and extended writing questions. | 100 marks | 33% of A-level |
Weighting of assessment objectives for A-level Law
Exams will assess students on the following objectives:
AO1: Demonstrate knowledge of the English legal system and legal principles.
AO2: Apply legal rules to scenarios, presenting arguments with legal terminology.
AO3: Analyze and evaluate legal rules, principles, and issues.
| Assessment objectives AOs* | Paper 1 (%) | Paper 2 (%) | Paper 3 (%) | Overall Weighting (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AO1 | 13.33 | 13.33 | 13.33 | 40 |
| AO2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
| AO3 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |
| Overall weighting of components | 33.33% | 33.33% | 33.33% | 100 |
Assessment weightings
Marks from exam papers will be adjusted to match the component weightings. The final mark is the sum of these scaled marks, and grade boundaries will be determined based on the total scaled mark.
| Сomponent | Maximum raw mark | Scaling factor | Maximum scaled mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 100 | ×1 | 100 |
| Paper 2 | 100 | ×1 | 100 |
| Paper 3 | 100 | ×1 | 100 |
| Total scaled mark: | 300 |
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