The Nature of Law

What The Nature of Law covers

What law is for and how it relates to society, morality and justice — including the Hart-Devlin debate and the rule of law. Sat by everyone, as part of the 25 marks each paper gives to the nature of law and the English legal system.

The 17 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Distributive and Corrective JusticeRecall questions on what justice means in law and on the distinction between distributive and corrective justice.Open →
• Theories of Justice: Rawls, Nozick and MarxRecall questions on Rawls's difference principle, Nozick's entitlement theory and the Marxist critique of justice.Open →
• What Law Does in SocietyRecall questions on law as a means of keeping order, protecting people, enabling change and settling disputes.Open →
• How Law and Morality Are EnforcedRecall questions on who makes law and how it is enforced, what morality consists of, and how the two differ in their sanctions.Open →
• Moral Diversity in a Pluralist SocietyRecall questions on issues where citizens disagree fundamentally and on the difficulty that creates for law-making.Open →
• The Hart-Devlin DebateRecall questions on what prompted the debate, Devlin's argument for shared moral bonds and the conclusions each side drew.Open →
• Procedural Justice and UtilitarianismRecall questions on what justice means in law, procedural and corrective justice, the utilitarian test, restorative justice, judicial discretion, the origins of equity and how the adversarial system aims at a fair process.Open →
• The Rule of Law: Core RequirementsRecall questions on Dicey's three elements, the ban on retrospective law and arbitrary punishment, equality before the law, clarity and accessibility, independent courts and the difference between the rule of law and rule by law.Open →
• Law, Rights and the Resolution of DisputesRecall questions on law as a control on conduct, a means of settling disputes and a protector of person and property.Open →
• Fault and Strict LiabilityRecall questions on why fault matters in criminal and civil law and on what justifies strict liability offences.Open →
• Where Law and Morality OverlapRecall questions on how law and morality differ in creation and enforcement and on the areas in which they coincide.Open →
• Wolfenden and R v BrownRecall questions on what the Wolfenden Report recommended and the view it reflected, and on the decision in R v Brown.Open →
• Aristotle on JusticeRecall questions on the Aristotelian account of distributive and corrective justice and what each is concerned with.Open →
• Justice through Civil and Criminal LawRecall questions on how civil law delivers corrective justice and where it falls short, and on the aims of criminal punishment.Open →
• Criminal and civil law comparedHow criminal and civil law differ in purpose, parties, case names, the burden and standard of proof, courts and outcomes, including private prosecutions and conduct that leads to both kinds of proceedings, as in Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police.Open →
• Custom, statute and common law as sourcesThe three traditional sources of English law: custom and the tests a valid custom must meet, statute law and the Parliament Acts, and common law made through precedent, and how the sources relate when they conflict.Open →
• Equality, Fairness and Clarity before the LawRecall questions on when a person may be punished and on equality before the law, fairness and the demand that law be clear.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The Nature of Law further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Legal rule vs Moral rule

  Legal rule: a rule enforced by the state with formal sanctions. Moral rule: a standard of conduct enforced by social disapproval rather than the state.

• Natural law theory vs Legal positivism

  Natural law theory: the view that law derives its authority from an underlying moral order. Legal positivism: the view that law is valid because of how it was made, whatever its moral content.

• Justice vs Equity

  Justice: the principle that people receive what is due to them. Equity: the body of principles developed to soften the rigidity of the common law.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is justice?

   Model answer

   Justice is the quality of being fair, reasonable, and impartial in the treatment of individuals and the resolution of disputes.

2. 2

   Define distributive justice.

   Model answer

   Distributive justice concerns the fair allocation of resources, benefits, and burdens across society.

3. 3

   Give an example of how distributive justice might apply in society.

   Model answer

   Distributive justice applies in decisions about taxation, welfare benefits, or healthcare allocation, where resources and burdens must be fairly distributed across society.

4. 4

   What is corrective justice?

   Model answer

   Corrective justice concerns rectifying wrongs through compensation or punishment to restore balance between parties.

5. 5

   How does corrective justice apply when someone breaches a contract?

   Model answer

   Corrective justice seeks to restore balance by requiring the wrongdoer to compensate the victim, rectifying the wrong caused by the breach.

6. 6

   Define procedural justice.

   Model answer

   Procedural justice concerns fairness in the processes and methods used to reach legal decisions.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The Nature of Law revision questions

What does The Nature of Law cover in AQA A-Level Law?

17 subtopics: distributive and corrective justice, theories of justice: rawls, nozick and marx, what law does in society, how law and morality are enforced, moral diversity in a pluralist society, the hart-devlin debate, procedural justice and utilitarianism, the rule of law: core requirements, law, rights and the resolution of disputes, fault and strict liability, where law and morality overlap, wolfenden and r v brown, aristotle on justice, justice through civil and criminal law, criminal and civil law compared, custom, statute and common law as sources and equality, fairness and clarity before the law. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The Nature of Law organised?

By the AQA 7162 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.