GCSE Law

are you doing AQA?

for criminal law , study theft, robbery, burglary, non fatal offences/defences and murder and manslaughter. Make sure you know he rules/actus reus mens rea for each . Know at least one case per actus reus , e.g the actus reus of assault is to cause v apprehend immediate un;lawful violence , apprehend means to cause fear (logdon) etc...

Thankyou and if we're given one specific scenario like murder for example can you just keep repeating the same case such as R v Martin and jus keep on comparing to the same case for similar questions?

Yes, you could use Martin, but personally I would focus on the mens rea for murder ; cite Vickers to support gbh rule, and then just decide whether you think it's direct (mohan ) or oblique intention (Woollin)l by applying either to your scenario.

Theory - state what the law is e.g. Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a reasonable creature in being under the queens peace with malice aforethought. This definition comes from Coke

Application - identify the actus reus and mens rea and go through every element. E.g. The elements of that definition that make up the actus reus are unlawful killing, reasonable creature in being, under the queens peace. The mens rea is malice aforethought.

Cases - apply the cases to the relevant pieces of law. E.g. Malice aforethought was defined in Maloney as an intention to kill or cause GBH.

This may be a little too in depth but the way to make sure you're getting all the relevant points is to take every offence in the scenario separately and apply the TAC method, as shown above, using what you have been taught. If you take a systematic approach to it, you can't go wrong.

Good luck

Thankyou very much!! I was just wondering if there is a different structure to each question as some are five marks and then you have 3 marks, 5 marks etc.. Also on Unit 1 do you have to know all of the content? That may seem like a stupid question but you get the first section and then you chose between the criminal or civil section (8 or 9 to answer) so could I get away with just skimming over civil processes because I'm almost certain i'm picking the criminal section to answer.

I'm sorry I can't help any further, I did my GCSEs five years ago. I think GCSE and A-level is very much a fact regurgitating exercise for short answer questions. If you're asked to apply, use the TAC method

So it's better to use multiple cases to support your point? such as for the acts reus and the mens rea? I'm just thinking how are you supposed to fit it all into the time for full marks because I remember last time I only just finished the test and time was up and I didn't get to read through anything. Also, what revision resources do you use?

If you use cases it needs to be approrpriate to the point you are making. one case does not cover all and in many circumsntances another case may be more on point.

No problem, thank you very much for the help!