20/05/2013 - 26/05/2013 - Murder

Hello again, I’m writing this instead of doing revision for my exams, so I thought that I ought to write is about what I’m meant to be studying. So, murder, why not?

Murder is a common law offence meaning that it is not actually written down in the statute books of parliament, it has just been made by judges. The most accepted definition is that of Lord Coke which is:

‘The unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being, under the King or Queen’s Peace with malice aforethought expressed or implied.’

If a murder is done by a British citizen in another country, they are still tried in a English court.

*in any offence, there must be two things taken into account, the actus reus meaning the physical act and the mens rea which is what is going on in the mind at the time.

The actus reus in this case is the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being, under the King or Queen’s peace. The killing must be unlawful. For example a lawful killing would be self defence. Murder is a result crime, the defendant cannot be guilty unless their act or failure to act caused the death.

*An omission is a failure to act

In nearly every case the actus reus would be an act such as a shooting but is can also be committed by an omission if the defendant has a duty to the victim. These are

-          A duty because of a contract

-          A duty because of a relationship

-          A duty that has been taken voluntarily

-          A duty because a chain of events was started

In relation to the ‘reasonable person in being’ it basically means that it has to be a human being. But there are two problems in relation to this. These are

- Is a foetus in the womb a reasonable creature in being?

- Is a victim still alive if they are ‘braindead’ but being kept alive by a life support machine?

With the foetus, it has been said that a murder charge cannot be charged. It must have an independent existence from the mother. The defendant can be charged with manslaughter.

In relation to braindead, a doctor is allowed to switch off a life support machine without charge but if someone else did it then they would be liable for murder.

More on next blog.

13/05/2013 - 19/05/2013 - Referendums

Referendums

A referendum, as my friend and politics buddy Nathaniel would say is the ‘consultation of the population’. Basically it’s a political question that is asked directly to the public by a vote that has two answers. For example in 2011, there was a referendum asked to the UK public by the government (mostly the Liberal Democrats) whether it was a good idea to change the voting system from the First Past The Post system/winner takes all (if over 325 constituencies are won that becomes the next government) to the AV plus system (the alternative vote that gives minority parties more of a chance to become government and would most likely result in a coalition government). This resulted in a massive no result but it was a nice try.

So that is the jist of it, a referendum is a simple question with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Most of these have been on constitutional issues. There are two types of referendum, these are pre legislative meaning that it is consulting the nation before a law has been passed. There is also a post legislative meaning that it is consulting the nation either after a law has been passed or the question will be on a piece of legislation.

In the UK there have been referendums on:

·        Major legislation, such as the Alternative Vote Referendum

·        Minor or local, such as whether to have a mayor or not.

·        Prohibition, such as whether to make public houses close on Sundays

·        Transport, whether bringing in a congestion charge or not

·        Parish, whether to give more power to a parish council

Note: a referendum is not compulsory for a government to follow but they would be very unpopular if they did not go with the view of the public.

06/05/2013-12/05/2013- Council Elections

Council Elections

This years council elections were held on Thursday 2^nd May. It was held in 35 local authorities. There were 2300 seats being contested for, these are the candidates.

• Conservatives: 2,263 candidates
• Labour: 2,168 candidates
• Liberal Democrats: 1,763 candidates
• UKIP: 1,745 candidates
• Green Party: 893 candidates
• BNP: 99 Candidates
• English Democrats: 38 candidates
• Independent: 900 candidates.

Here is a step by step result of what parties got the most candidates.

• Conservatives

The Conservative Party now rules 18 Councils; they lost 10 Councils in this election. They have 1,116 Councillors; they lost 335 Councillors.

• Labour

The Labour Party now rules 3 Councils; they lost 2 Councils in this election. They have 538 Councillors; they gained 291 Councillors.

• Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats do not rule any Councils, this is no change. They have 352 Councillors; they lost 124 Councillors.

• UKIP

The UKIP do not rule any Councils, this is no change. They have 147 Councillors; they gained 139 Councillors.

• Green Party

The Green Party do not rule any Councils, this is no change. They have 22 Councillors; they gained 5 Councillors.

• British National Party

The British National Party do not rule any Councils, this is no change. They have no Councillors; they lost 3 Councillors.

• English Democrats

The English Democrats do not rule any Councils, this is no change. They have no Councillors, this is no change.

• Independent

There are no Councils run by Independent Candidates, this is no change. They have 165 Councillors; they have gained 24 Councillors.

UKIP did well and Nigel Farage is in the limelight as the leader. Miliband is not as happy as he thought he would be and Cameron and Clegg are disheartened but were expecting bad results.

29/05/2013 - 05/05/2013 - Boris Johnson

This week’s post is about the probably most loved politician in the United Kingdom. I’m of course talking about Boris Johnson the mayor of London.

Side note: I would just like to mention that Boris Johnson is a politician and is not a comedian. He is the real mayor of London and does not use the title as his stage name. I mention this because he was voted the best British comedian in Germany, them thinking the Mayor of London being a stage name.

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was actually born in America (If he lived out there for 14 years he could become President! Just saying). He’s Oxford educated along with a certain Prime Minister David Cameron. After university, he started writing for a number of British Newspapers including The Times and the Daily Telegraph. He started becoming noticed while serving as the Member of Parliament for Henley in the House of Commons. He was elected to Parliament in 2001.

He is one of the most well known British Politicians; this could also be due to his trademark hair, which is quite frankly never tidy. The bosses at the Olympic Games made him get a decent hair cut for the arrival of the flame. Due to him being instantly recognised by his first name alone, he became a popular candidate for the London Mayor elections.

Despite his friendliness he has at times, like many politicians, stuck is foot in it. This has included a number of racial problems, gay rights and affairs that were picked out from newspapers.

Boris has two younger brothers and a sister.

Rachel Johnson is the next eldest, and is a journalist and novelist.

Leo Johnson is an entrepreneur and film maker.

Jo Johnson is chief policy maker of the Conservative party for Orpington.  

22/04/2013-28/04/2013 - Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the person responsible for all the money in the United Kingdom. It is the most important job after the Prime Minister and if they have to step down for any reason the Chancellor will take over, this was seen with the Labour Government when Tony Blair stepped down in 2007, Gordon Brown the then Chancellor took over. The current Chancellor of the Exchequer is George Osborne of the Conservative Party.

The Chancellor is situated in the House next to the Prime Minister, 11 Downing Street. This house is not seen often except on Budget Day where the Chancellor has to come out of the House and hold the famous Red Briefcase alongside with some cabinet members who have assisted him with the Budget . The Chancellor has a team of Junior Ministers and Civil Servants who serve him continuously.

The original Budget Box was used in 1860 to 1997 and can be viewed in the ‘No’ Lobby in the House of Commons. Gordon Brown was the second chancellor to use a brand new budget box.

There was a tradition that stopped with Alistair Darling whereby before the Budget Speech the Chancellor was allowed any drink of their choice, this included alcohol. Most chancellors had the traditional Whisky for the so called Dutch courage. The most unusual choice was sherry with a beaten egg as drank by William Gladstone.

George Osborne is the current Chancellor as of 12^th May 2010 in the coalition agreement. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2001. He is Oxford educated and has worked for the Conservatives since then as a researcher, adviser and speech writer. In 2005 he ran David Cameron’s campaign to become party leader, the was then appointed Shadow Chancellor.

15/04/2013 - 21/04/2013 - The Judiciary

The Judiciary

The Judicial branch of state includes all the Judges and courts in the United Kingdom. These are put into three different categories, Criminal, Appeal and Civil Courts these are summarised below.

Criminal

The Magistrates Courts

There are around 400 of these courts in England and Wales, nearly one in each town. Every single case will be tried here and then moved to the Crown Court if needed. 97% of cases are sorted; these are usually Traffic offences or shoplifting cases. They are tried by Justices of the peace or lay magistrates, in other words, people with no legal training and work on a voluntary basis.

The Crown Courts

There are 90 Crown Courts in England and Wales. Each year the Crown Court tries around 8000 cases a year. The Crown Courts trial every case above Assault and Battery. Most court cases you see on the news will be tried in the Crown Courts. The Judges that sit in there are usually Circuit Judges and Recorders, who are part time judges. These will need intense legal training and could have been appointed after being a barrister or solicitor.

The Appeal Courts

The High Court

       Then

The Court of Appeal

       Then

The Supreme Court

These are all appeal courts that those convicted can appeal for a reversal of that charge if they think it was wrong or an injustice. High Court Judges, Appeal Judges and Supreme Court Judges are the most highly ranked Judges.

The Civil Courts

The Civil Courts include the County Courts and the High Court. Here are tried small claims for less that £5000, fast track cases between £5000 and £25000 and multi track cases of over £25000. Also disputes between land, and business partnerships are tried. Family law such as divorces also comes under this court.