Identify the Law

So what is LAW? The Law A Law In pairs discuss and come up with a definition The Law A Law The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

So why bother with laws? Copy and complete the table into your book. Offences Against the Person Act 1861 You can not physically hurt other people • Society would lack order. Theft Act 1968 You can’t take other people’s stuff Education Act 1944 Everyone is entitled to a free education Motor Vehicle Regulations 1935 You have to be a certain age and pass a test before you can drive a vehicle Copy and complete the table into your book. Why do we need these laws? The first one has been done for you.

The answers… Offences Against the Person Act Theft Act Education Act • People would be able to harm each other with no consequences. • Society would lack order. Theft Act • No one’s property would be protected. • Nothing would really belong to anyone because someone could just take it. Education Act • Schools could charge people to go to school. • Only rich people might be able to afford education. Motor Vehicle Regulations • People would have to drive without learning so there would be a lot more crashes. • Young children might try and drive even though they are too small to reach the pedals.

Meet dave Dave’s been up to a bit of mischief over the holidays. He’s broken not 1 but 2 different types of laws. Worse still, he got caught……. Dave loves games, and was really happy to get a new PS3 for his birthday.

Bad decision Dave  The trouble started when he went to EB Games to get the cool games he had seen on Good Game Spawn Point. He wanted 2 games but only had $80, so he took one of them without paying for it. Cameras are everywhere these days, so ….

He got caught, and his parents went ballistic and grounded him.

It doesn‘t end there….The shop manager is going to press criminal charges against Dave. His mum is really upset because she has booked a holiday to Florida for next summer and now she might have to cancel it because you can’t get into the USA with a criminal record. No one in Dave’s family is talking to him. Dave is feeling pretty sorry for himself when he hears someone throwing pebbles at his bedroom window. His girlfriend Sarah is standing in the garden asking him to come out. Dave jumps out and they both run over the next door neighbour’s garden to avoid being seen by Dave’s parents.

Not so lucky Dave! His neighbour, Jim, has seen them and is on the phone to the police. It’s the 3rd time this week that his garden has been run through by kids and he wants justice. He is determined to stick to the promise on his sign "trespassers will be prosecuted“. Jim phones his lawyer, he is going to bring a civil prosecution against Dave for trespassing.

So what’s the difference between Civil and Criminal Law? A dispute between two people. Civil cases are when someone feels damage has been done to them Criminal When someone breaks a law. Crimes against society as a whole, e.g. theft, murder

And finally The Magistrates Court or District Court ?? Draw a comic strip of an event that involves the breaking of a civil OR a criminal law We’ll find out next lesson what happens in court