Chapter 2

When the defendant in a criminal trial is found not guilty of a crime and is therefore allowed to walk free from court.

A piece of written law that has been made by Parliament. An Act goes through a series of stages in both Houses of Parliament. An Act of Parliament is also referred to as an example of statute law, or primary legislation.

The Attorney General is the Government’s chief legal adviser and is politically accountable for the work of a number of State bodies, including the Treasury Solicitor, the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Attorney General can refer cases to the Court of Appeal where an acquittal is questionable on a point of law or where a sentence has been passed which is considered ‘unduly lenient’.

A Conditional Fee Arrangement is one where the lawyer agrees only to recover his or her fee if the client wins the case. Often popularly referred to as ‘no win, no fee’ agreements.

A set of rules and customs that set out, in effect, how a country should be run. A constitution does not have to be written but may have evolved over the years. The British constitution is an example of an unwritten constitution.

A charter setting out a series of fundamental human rights, such as the right to life and the right to respect for private and family life. It was incorporated into English law by the Human Rights Act 1998.

A term that represents the government of the day, and particularly the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet of senior Ministers. It is the administration that runs the country and is one of the three organs of the state along with the judiciary and the legislature.

The principle that the judiciary should be permitted to act independently of the other main organs of government, namely the executive and the legislature.

Free legal assistance given to those who qualify for it. Legal aid is only available in certain types of cases, and only if the applicant meets the financial criteria set out at the time of application.

The primary law-making body in the constitution. In English law, the legislature refers to the Parliament at Westminster. It is one of the three organs of government, the others being the executive and the judiciary. The legislature makes primary legislation.