AQA A-Level Law
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Foundations: Nature of law and the English legal system
Nature of law and legal concepts
3.1 - Legal rules, sources and civil/criminal lawThis lesson builds the shared foundation for Papers 1, 2 and 3: what makes a rule legal, how legal rules differ from other norms, how to classify civil and criminal liability, and how custom, statute and common law operate as sources of law. AQA success depends on turning these distinctions into...
3.1 - Law, society and faultThis lesson teaches how law operates in society by turning some claims into enforceable rights, balancing competing public and private interests, and deciding when fault should matter. It supports AQA Law success because these ideas are assessed as non-substantive law concepts across Papers 1, 2...
3.1 - Law and moralityThis lesson teaches the AQA 7162 nature of law topic on law and morality: the distinction between enforceable legal rules and moral judgement, the diversity of moral views in a pluralist society, the relationship between law and morality, and the legal enforcement of moral values. It is routed to...
3.1 - Law and justiceThis Nature of law lesson teaches the meaning of justice, the main theories and types of justice, and how to judge whether civil, criminal and human rights outcomes achieve justice. It is routed to Paper 1, where you relate justice to Criminal law, and Paper 3, where you relate it to your selecte...
3.1 - The rule of lawThis lesson teaches the constitutional doctrine of the rule of law for AQA A-level Law 7162. You will learn the AQA core principles, how to apply them to law making, the legal system and substantive law, and how to use legality, equality, fairness and clarity as precise criteria in Paper 3. The r...
Law making
3.1 - Parliament and parliamentary supremacyThis lesson teaches how proposed law becomes an Act of Parliament in England and Wales, how Parliament is influenced before and during that process, and why parliamentary supremacy makes statute the strongest domestic legal source. For AQA Law, the aim is to move beyond a loose process story: you...
3.1 - Delegated legislation and controlsDelegated legislation is law made by a person or body other than Parliament, using law-making power delegated by Parliament through an enabling Act. This lesson teaches the three AQA types, why delegation is used, how Parliament and the courts control it, and how to turn those points into precise...
3.1 - Statutory interpretationThis lesson teaches how judges in England and Wales work out the legal meaning of statutory words when a dispute reaches court. For AQA A-level Law, statutory interpretation is a Paper 1 law-making topic and a wider legal skill: strong answers identify the interpretive problem, choose the relevan...
3.1 - Judicial precedentJudicial precedent is the method by which earlier court decisions guide later legal reasoning in England and Wales. This lesson teaches the doctrine, the court hierarchy, ratio decidendi, obiter dicta, law reporting, and the ways courts follow, distinguish and overrule earlier cases, so that you...
3.1 - Law reform and the Law CommissionThis lesson teaches how law reform works through the Law Commission in England and Wales. It covers reform, codification, consolidation and repeal, then turns the Law Commission process into AO1 knowledge and AO3 evaluation that is especially useful for Paper 2 non-substantive law questions.
3.1 - EU law and England and WalesThis lesson explains the European Union institutions, the main sources of EU law and the ways EU law has affected the law of England and Wales, both during UK membership and after withdrawal. It turns a broad constitutional topic into precise definitions, careful application and legally grounded...
The legal system
3.1 - Civil courts and dispute resolutionThis lesson explains how civil disputes are routed through courts, tracks, appeals, tribunals, mediation and negotiation in England and Wales. For AQA A-level Law, the skill is not to recite every institution: it is to choose the correct dispute-resolution route, explain its legal features, and e...
3.1 - Criminal courts, sentencing and lay peopleThis lesson explains how criminal cases in England and Wales are classified, routed through the magistrates' court and Crown Court, appealed, and sentenced. For AQA A-level Law, this is shared English legal system content: success depends on using accurate court roles, distinguishing judges, magi...
3.1 - Legal personnel and the judiciaryThis lesson teaches the AQA 3.1 legal-system content on barristers, solicitors, legal executives, regulation, types of judge, judicial roles in civil and criminal courts, and judicial independence. The exam skill is to move beyond naming people in the system: you must explain what each legal acto...
3.1 - Access to justice and fundingThis lesson explains how people in England and Wales obtain legal advice and fund legal help in civil and criminal cases. For AQA A-level Law, the skill is to distinguish advice sources, private funding, civil state funding and criminal state funding, then evaluate whether legal rights can be use...
Paper 1: Criminal law
Theory and general liability
3.2 - Criminal theory and principles of criminalisationThis lesson explains when criminal law is justified and how offences should be formulated. It supports AQA Paper 1 by turning harm, autonomy, fault, individual responsibility, fair labelling, correspondence, maximum certainty and no retrospective liability into precise AO1 definitions and usable...
3.2 - Actus reus, omissions and causationActus reus is the external element of criminal liability in England and Wales. This lesson teaches how AQA expects you to identify conduct, circumstances, consequences, omissions, state of affairs liability, voluntariness and causation, then use them precisely in Paper 1 criminal law answers.
3.2 - Mens rea, strict liability and coincidenceThis lesson teaches the fault side of criminal liability for AQA A-level Law Paper 1. You will learn how intention, subjective recklessness, negligence, transferred malice, strict liability and coincidence operate as legal tools, then use them to build precise AO1 rule statements, fact-sensitive...
Fatal offences
3.2 - Murder - common law liabilityThis lesson teaches murder as a common law fatal offence for AQA Paper 1 Criminal law. You will learn how to prove the actus reus, causation and mens rea in the correct order, how to use authority as a reasoning tool, and how to make controlled AO2 and AO3 points without drifting into separate pa...
3.2 - Voluntary manslaughterThis lesson teaches the two AQA Paper 1 partial defences that reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter: loss of control under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and diminished responsibility under the Homicide Act 1957 as amended. You will learn the statutory elements, the evidential route into eac...
3.2 - Involuntary manslaughterThis lesson teaches the two common law routes to involuntary manslaughter in AQA A-level Law Paper 1: unlawful act manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter. You will learn how to choose the correct route, state each element with authority, apply causation carefully, and evaluate the offence...
Property offences and preliminary offences
3.2 - TheftThis lesson teaches theft under s1 Theft Act 1968 for AQA Paper 1 Criminal law. You will learn the statutory structure, the actus reus and mens rea elements, the main AQA case tools, and the method for applying each element to a scenario before reaching a calibrated conclusion.
3.2 - Robbery and attemptThis lesson teaches robbery under section 8 Theft Act 1968 and attempt under section 1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981. It supports AQA Paper 1 by showing how to build precise element-by-element answers: first decide whether a completed robbery can be proved, then decide whether incomplete conduct has...
Defences
3.2 - Capacity defencesThis lesson teaches the three capacity defences required for AQA A-level Law Paper 1: insanity, automatism and intoxication. You will learn how each defence affects actus reus, mens rea and responsibility, how to select the correct defence from a scenario, and how to build a precise AQA answer us...
3.2 - Necessity defencesThis lesson teaches the AQA Paper 1 criminal law defences grouped as necessity defences: self-defence/prevention of crime, duress by threats and duress of circumstances. You will learn how to separate the defences, state the operational tests, apply threat, necessity, proportionality and escape-r...
Paper 2: Tort
Negligence
3.3 - Negligence duty of careThis lesson teaches duty of care for physical injury and property damage in Paper 2 tort. You will learn how Donoghue, Robinson and Caparo work together, when policy matters, and how to turn the duty question into precise AQA AO1, AO2 and AO3 reasoning.
3.3 - Negligence breach, damage and causationThis lesson teaches the post-duty elements of common law negligence for AQA A-level Law Paper 2: breach of duty, actionable damage, factual causation and legal causation/remoteness. You will learn how to move from rule to authority to fact-sensitive application, so that an answer does not merely...
Special negligence categories
3.3 - Pure economic loss and negligent misstatementIn this Paper 2 tort lesson you will learn how negligence deals with financial loss in England and Wales, especially where the claimant has not suffered personal injury or damage to their own property. The lesson supports AQA Law success by making you classify the loss first, separate negligent a...
3.3 - Psychiatric injuryThis lesson teaches liability in negligence for psychiatric injury sustained by primary and secondary victims. It focuses on the classification, control mechanisms and policy reasons AQA expects in Paper 2 tort answers, so that you can move from a humanly sympathetic fact pattern to a legally con...
Land-based torts
3.3 - Occupiers' liabilityThis lesson teaches the AQA Paper 2 tort rules on liability for visitors under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 and for trespassers under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984. You will learn how to classify the claimant, prove the statutory gateways, apply warnings, children and obvious-risk facts...
3.3 - Nuisance and Rylands v FletcherThis lesson teaches the two land-based torts named in AQA Paper 2: private nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher. You will learn how to distinguish unreasonable interference with land from the escape of dangerous things, how to identify the correct claimant and defendant, and how to build A...
Paper 3A Route: Law of contract
Contract formation
3.4 - Agreement - offer, invitations to treat and acceptanceThis Paper 3A contract lesson teaches agreement as the first formation issue: whether the parties reached a legally recognised offer matched by valid acceptance. It supports AQA success by turning offer, invitation to treat, counter-offer, request for information, unilateral offers, postal accept...
3.4 - Consideration, privity and bargain theoryIn this lesson you will learn how consideration supplies the bargain element of a contract, how privity limits who can enforce contractual rights, and why AQA links both ideas to freedom of contract and economic duress. This supports Paper 3A success because consideration and privity questions re...
3.4 - Intention to create legal relations and formation synthesisThis lesson teaches intention to create legal relations as one of AQA's essential requirements of contract, then brings together offer, acceptance, consideration and intention into a formation checklist. It supports Paper 3A by training you to decide whether a contract exists on mixed facts, sele...
Contract terms
3.4 - Contract terms - express, implied and classificationContract terms are the promises and obligations that make a contract legally useful. In AQA Paper 3A, this topic helps you move from "there is a contract" to "what rights and remedies follow", because you must decide whether an obligation is a term, how it entered the contract, and whether its br...
3.4 - Consumer Rights Act implied terms and consumer remediesThis lesson teaches the Consumer Rights Act 2015 rules AQA lists for Paper 3A contract: implied terms in consumer contracts for goods and services, and the statutory remedies that follow breach. The exam skill is not just remembering section numbers; it is classifying the contract, choosing the r...
3.4 - Exclusion and limitation clausesThis lesson teaches how exclusion and limitation clauses are controlled in AQA A-level Law Paper 3A. You will learn the common law sequence of incorporation and construction, then the statutory controls in UCTA 1977 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015, so that you can decide whether a trader or busi...
Discharge and remedies
3.4 - Discharge of contractThis lesson teaches how contractual obligations come to an end in AQA A-level Law Paper 3A: by performance, by breach, and by frustration. It builds the habit AQA rewards: identify the route to discharge, state the rule with authority, apply the facts to the threshold, and reach a careful conclus...
3.4 - Contract remedies and terminationThis lesson teaches the Paper 3A remedy consequences of breach: compensatory damages, recoverable loss, causation, remoteness, mitigation, specific performance, rescission and termination for breach. It supports AQA Law success by making you choose the legally correct consequence, explain the con...
Paper 3B Route: Human rights
Human rights theory and origins
3.5 - Rights theory, liberties and fundamental human rightsThis lesson explains how rights theory, liberties and fundamental human rights operate in AQA A-level Law Paper 3B. You will learn to define the key concepts, classify rights accurately, avoid overclaiming that rights are absolute, and use the theory to support Article-level application and AO3 e...
3.5 - International origins of human rights protectionThis lesson explains how modern human rights protection developed from the Second World War and its aftermath into the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights 1953. For AQA Paper 3B, this is the foundation f...
Convention rights and English law
3.5 - Article 2 right to life and English lawThis Paper 3B Human Rights lesson teaches Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights as a practical legal tool in English law. You will learn the right to life, the limited justified exceptions, police protection and planning duties, civil and Human Rights Act routes, and the independen...
3.5 - Article 5 liberty and security of personThis lesson teaches Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights as it is used in AQA A-level Law Paper 3B: when police or another public authority restrain a person, when that restraint becomes a deprivation of liberty, how lawful arrest and detention are justified, and what safeguards a...
3.5 - Article 8 privacy and communicationsArticle 8 protects respect for private and family life, home and correspondence, but it is a qualified right. In AQA Paper 3B, this topic is used to analyse police searches, private information, communications, medical or personal data, and conflicts between privacy and expression. The aim is not...
3.5 - Articles 10 and 11 expression, assembly and associationThis lesson teaches how Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights protect expression, peaceful assembly and association, and how English law may restrict speech, protest and organisation. It supports AQA Paper 3B by turning Convention rights, public-order statutes and proporti...
3.5 - Qualified rights and lawful restrictionsThis lesson teaches how Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights can be restricted lawfully. For AQA Paper 3B, the key skill is not simply saying that a right is "qualified"; it is proving whether the interference is legally justified through legality, legitimate aim, nece...
Enforcement and reform
3.5 - Human rights enforcement and judicial reviewEnforcement is the route from a Convention right on paper to a legal response in a real dispute. In AQA Paper 3B, this topic helps you decide whether a claimant should use the Human Rights Act 1998 in a domestic court, judicial review of a public decision, or a claim before the European Court of...
3.5 - Reform of UK human rights protectionThis lesson teaches how to evaluate reform of human rights protection in the UK for AQA A-level Law Paper 3B. You will use the Human Rights Act 1998, Convention rights, enforcement routes and rights theory as the baseline, then judge whether proposed changes would improve protection, accountabili...