AQA A-Level Law Specification Breakdown
The AQA A-Level Law specification covers a broad range of topics, including the Nature of Law, the English Legal System, Criminal Law, Tort Law, Contract Law, and Human Rights Law. This guide breaks down the specification by theme and topic, linking each area to relevant revision guides, articles, podcasts, and videos to support effective revision. Use the tables below as a revision checklist to track your progress, identify gaps in your knowledge, and access resources tailored specifically to AQA A-Level Law students.
| 1 | The Nature of Law and the English Legal System | ||
| 1.1 | Nature of Law | Video | |
| 1.1.1 | Legal Rules and Norms of Behaviour | Article | |
| 1.1.2 | Criminal and Civil Law and the Sources of Law | ||
| 1.2 | Law and Society | ||
| 1.2.1 | The Role Law Plays in Society | ||
| 1.2.2 | The Effect of Law on Enforceable Rights | ||
| 1.2.3 | Fault in Civil and Criminal Law | ||
| 1.3 | Law and Morality | ||
| 1.3.1 | Distinction Between Law and Morality and the Diversity of Morals in a Pluralist Society | ||
| 1.3.2 | The Relationship Between Law and Morality | ||
| 1.3.3 | The Legal Enforcement of Moral Values | ||
| 1.4 | Law and Justice | ||
| 1.4.1 | Meaning of Justice and Theories of Justice | ||
| 1.4.2 | The Extent Law Achieves Justices | ||
| 1.5 | The Rule of Law | ||
| 1.5.1 | The Constitutional Doctrine of the Rule of Law | ||
| 1.6 | Parliamentary Law Making | ||
| 1.6.1 | Green and White Papers | ||
| 1.6.2 | The Formal Legislative Process | ||
| 1.6.3 | The Influences on Parliament | ||
| 1.6.4 | Parliamentary Supremacy | ||
| 1.6.5 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Influences on Parliamentary Law Making | ||
| 1.7 | Delegated Legislation | ||
| 1.7.1 | Types of Delegated Legislation | ||
| 1.7.2 | Parliamentary and Judicial Controls | ||
| 1.7.3 | The Reasons for Using Delegated Legislation | ||
| 1.7.4 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Delegated Legislation | ||
| 1.8 | Statutory Interpretation | ||
| 1.8.1 | The Rules of Statutory Interpretation | ||
| 1.8.2 | Internal and External Aids | ||
| 1.8.3 | The Impact of European Union Law and the Human Rights Act 1998 | ||
| 1.8.4 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Statutory Interpretation | ||
| 1.9 | Judicial Precedent | ||
| 1.9.1 | The Doctrine of Judicial Precedent | ||
| 1.9.2 | The Hierarchy of Courts | ||
| 1.9.3 | Stare Decisis, Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dicta | ||
| 1.9.4 | The Operation of Judicial Precedent | ||
| 1.9.5 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Judicial Precedent | ||
| 1.10 | Law Reform | ||
| 1.10.1 | The Work of the Law Commission | ||
| 1.10.2 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Reform | ||
| 1.11 | The European Union | ||
| 1.11.1 | The Institutions of the European Union | ||
| 1.11.2 | The Different Sources of European Union Law | ||
| 1.11.3 | The Impact of European Union Law | ||
| 1.12 | The Civil Courts and Other Forms of Dispute Resolution | ||
| 1.12.1 | Civil Courts | ||
| 1.12.2 | Other Forms of Dispute Resolution | ||
| 1.13 | The Criminal Courts and Lay People | ||
| 1.13.1 | The Criminal Process | ||
| 1.13.2 | Criminal Court Powers and Sentencing of Adult Offenders | ||
| 1.13.3 | The Role of Lay People | ||
| 1.13.4 | Advantages and Disadvantages of Juries | ||
| 1.14 | Legal Personnel and the Judiciary | ||
| 1.14.1 | Barristers, Solicitors and Legal Executives | ||
| 1.14.2 | Regulation of Legal Personnel | ||
| 1.14.3 | The Role of Judges | ||
| 1.14.4 | The Independence of the Judiciary | ||
| 1.14.5 | Reasons for and Advantages of Judicial Independence | ||
| 1.15 | Access to Justice and Funding | ||
| 1.15.1 | Alternative Sources of Legal Advice | ||
| 1.15.2 | Private Funding | ||
| 1.15.3 | Public Funding | ||
| 2 | Criminal Law | ||
| 2.1 | The Rules of Criminal Law | ||
| 2.1.1 | General Elements of Criminal Liability | ||
| 2.1.2 | Liability for Offences Against the Person | ||
| 2.1.3 | Property Offences | ||
| 2.1.4 | Attempts | ||
| 2.2 | Theory in Criminal Law | ||
| 2.2.1 | Harm as the Basis for Criminalising Conduct | ||
| 2.2.2 | Autonomy, Fault and Individual Responsibility | ||
| 2.2.3 | Principles in Formulating Rules of Criminal Law | ||
| 2.3 | General Elements of Liability | ||
| 2.3.1 | Actus Reus | ||
| 2.3.2 | Additional Fault Elements | ||
| 2.3.3 | No Fault | ||
| 2.3.4 | Coincidence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea | ||
| 2.4 | Fatal Offences Against the Person | ||
| 2.4.1 | Common Law Offence of Murder | ||
| 2.4.2 | Voluntary Manslaughter | ||
| 2.4.3 | Involuntary Manslaughter | ||
| 2.5 | Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person | ||
| 2.5.1 | Common Assault | ||
| 2.5.2 | Offences Against the Person Act | ||
| 2.6 | Property Offences | ||
| 2.6.1 | Theft | ||
| 2.6.2 | Robbery | ||
| 2.7 | Preliminary Offences | ||
| 2.7.1 | Attempt | ||
| 2.8 | Capacity Defences | ||
| 2.8.1 | Insanity | ||
| 2.8.2 | Automatism | ||
| 2.8.3 | Intoxication | ||
| 2.9 | Necessity Defences | ||
| 2.9.1 | Self-Defence | ||
| 2.9.2 | Duress | ||
| 2.9.3 | Duress of Circumstance | ||
| 3 | Tort Law | ||
| 3.1 | The Rules of Tort Law | ||
| 3.1.1 | Liability and Fault in Actions for Negligence | ||
| 3.1.2 | Occupiers' Liability | ||
| 3.1.3 | Nuisance and Vicarious Liability | ||
| 3.1.4 | Defences and Remedies | ||
| 3.2 | Theory of Tort Law | ||
| 3.2.1 | Duty of Care | ||
| 3.2.2 | Liability | ||
| 3.2.3 | Standard of Care | ||
| 3.2.4 | Injunction as a Remedy | ||
| 3.2.5 | Vicarious Liability | ||
| 3.3 | Liability in Negligence for Physical Injury and Damage to Property | ||
| 3.3.1 | Duty of Care | ||
| 3.3.2 | Breach of Duty | ||
| 3.3.3 | Damage | ||
| 3.4 | Liability in Negligence for Economic Loss and Psychiatric Injury | ||
| 3.4.1 | Liability for Pure Economic Loss | ||
| 3.4.2 | Liability for Psychiatric Injury | ||
| 3.5 | Occupiers' Liability | ||
| 3.5.1 | Liability in Respect of Visitors | ||
| 3.5.2 | Liability in Respect of Trespassers | ||
| 3.6 | Nuisance and the Escape of Dangerous Things | ||
| 3.6.1 | Private Nuisance | ||
| 3.6.2 | Rylands v Fletcher | ||
| 3.7 | Vicarious Liability | ||
| 3.7.1 | Nature and Purpose of Vicarious Liability | ||
| 3.7.2 | Testing Employment Status | ||
| 3.7.3 | Other Areas of Vicarious Liability | ||
| 3.8 | Defences in Tort Law | ||
| 3.8.1 | Contributory Negligence | ||
| 3.8.2 | Consent | ||
| 3.8.3 | Defences Specific to Private Nuisance and the Rule in Rylands v Fletcher | ||
| 3.9 | Remedies in Tort Law | ||
| 3.9.1 | Compensatory Damages and Mitigation of Loss | ||
| 3.9.2 | Injunctions | ||
| 4 | Law of Contract | ||
| 4.1 | The Rules of Contract Law | ||
| 4.1.1 | Formation of a Contract | ||
| 4.1.2 | Terms of a Contract | ||
| 4.1.3 | Vitiating Factors | ||
| 4.1.4 | Discharge of a Contract | ||
| 4.1.5 | Remedies in Contract Law | ||
| 4.2 | Theory of Contract Law | ||
| 4.2.1 | Freedom of Contract | ||
| 4.2.2 | Offers, Invitations to Treat, and Acceptances | ||
| 4.2.3 | Consideration, Privity and Economic Duress | ||
| 4.2.4 | Exemption Clauses | ||
| 4.2.5 | Consumer Remedies | ||
| 4.3 | Essential Requirements of Contract | ||
| 4.3.1 | Offer and Acceptance | ||
| 4.3.2 | Consideration | ||
| 4.3.3 | Intention to Create Legal Relations | ||
| 4.4 | General Contract Terms | ||
| 4.4.1 | Express and Implied Terms | ||
| 4.4.2 | Conditions, Warranties and Innominate Terms | ||
| 4.5 | Specific Contract Terms Implied by Contract Law | ||
| 4.5.1 | Terms Implied into a Contract to Supply Goods | ||
| 4.5.2 | Remedies for the Breach of a Term Implied into a Contract to Supply Goods | ||
| 4.5.3 | Terms Implied into a Contract to Supply Services | ||
| 4.5.4 | Remedies for the Breach of a Term Implied into a Contract to Supply Services | ||
| 4.6 | Exclusion Clauses | ||
| 4.6.1 | Nature of Exclusion and Limitation Clauses | ||
| 4.6.2 | Common Law Control of Exclusion Clauses | ||
| 4.6.3 | Statutory Control of Exclusion Clauses | ||
| 4.7 | Vitiating Factors | ||
| 4.7.1 | Misrepresentation | ||
| 4.7.2 | Economic Duress | ||
| 4.8 | Discharge of a Contract | ||
| 4.8.1 | Performance | ||
| 4.8.2 | Breach | ||
| 4.8.3 | Frustration | ||
| 4.9 | Remedies in Contract Law | ||
| 4.9.1 | Compensatory Damages | ||
| 4.9.2 | Equitable Remedies | ||
| 4.9.3 | Termination of Contract for Breach | ||
| 5 | Human Rights Law | ||
| 5.1 | Rules in Human Rights Law | ||
| 5.1.1 | Right to Life | ||
| 5.1.2 | Right to Liberty and Security of Person | ||
| 5.1.3 | Right to Privacy | ||
| 5.1.4 | Right to Freedom of Expression | ||
| 5.1.5 | Right to Freedom of Assembly and Association | ||
| 5.2 | Theory in Human Rights | ||
| 5.2.1 | Theories of Rights | ||
| 5.2.2 | Rights Contrasted with Liberties | ||
| 5.2.3 | 'Fundamental' Human Rights | ||
| 5.3 | Human Rights in International Law | ||
| 5.3.1 | The Second World War and its Aftermath | ||
| 5.3.2 | The United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 |
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| 5.3.3 | The Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 |
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| 5.4 | Human Rights in the United Kingdom Prior to the Human Rights Act 1998 | ||
| 5.4.1 | The European Convention on Human Rights | ||
| 5.4.2 | European Court of Human Rights | ||
| 5.5 | Human Rights in the United Kingdom After the Enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 | ||
| 5.5.1 | Incorporation and Interpretation of the Provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. | ||
| 5.5.2 | The Impact on Constitutional Arrangements | ||
| 5.5.3 | Criticisms of Human Rights | ||
| 5.6 | Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | ||
| 5.6.1 | Article 2.1: Right to Life | ||
| 5.6.2 | Article 2.2: Justified Exceptions | ||
| 5.7 | Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | ||
| 5.7.1 | Article 5.1: Right to Liberty and Security of Person | ||
| 5.7.2 | Article 5.1a–5.1c: Justified Deprivation of Liberty – Lawful Arrest or Detention. |
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| 5.7.3 | Article 5.2–5.5: Additional Requirements to Justify Deprivation of Liberty in Cases of Lawful Arrest or Detention. | ||
| 5.8 | Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | ||
| 5.8.1 | Article 8.1: Right to Respect for Private and Family Life | ||
| 5.9 | Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | ||
| 5.9.1 | Article 10.1: Right to Freedom of Expression | ||
| 5.10 | Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1953 | ||
| 5.10.1 | Article 11.1: Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and to Freedom of Association | ||
| 5.11 | Restriction in Human Rights Law | ||
| 5.11.1 | Article 8.2, Article 10.2 and Article 11.2 | ||
| 5.11.2 | General requirements relating to restrictions | ||
| 5.12 | Enforcement of Human Rights | ||
| 5.12.1 | Claims Before the European Court of Human Rights | ||
| 5.12.2 | The process of judicial review | ||
| 5.13 | Human Rights and English Law | ||
| 5.13.1 | The Right to Life | ||
| 5.13.2 | Deprivation of Liberty | ||
| 5.13.3 | Privacy and Communication | ||
| 5.13.4 | Expression, Assembly and Association | ||
| 5.14 | Reform of Human Rights Law | ||
| 5.14.1 | Reform of the Protected Human Rights in the UK |