All Free Law and Constitution MCQs with Answers

Every Law and Constitution question in the bank, across all chapters, each with the correct answer and a written explanation. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

2,940 questions · page 15 of 147

  • A. It is enforceable against a specific person or group
  • B. It is enforceable against society at large
  • C. It exists only against the state in public law
  • D. It arises only from ownership of property

Explanation: A right in personam operates against a determinate person or persons, such as a contractual right against a debtor.

Correct answer: It is enforceable against a specific person or group
  • A. The capacity to hold rights and bear duties
  • B. The ability to exercise political power
  • C. The moral quality of obeying the law
  • D. The physical existence of a human being

Explanation: Legal personality is the capacity recognised by law to possess rights and duties.

Correct answer: The capacity to hold rights and bear duties
  • A. Liability imposed on one person for another's legally relevant act
  • B. Liability imposed only after proof of personal intention
  • C. Liability arising solely from an agreement between two persons
  • D. Liability that ends whenever the injured person accepts compensation

Explanation: Vicarious liability makes one person, commonly an employer, legally responsible for an act committed by another, commonly an employee…

Correct answer: Liability imposed on one person for another's legally relevant act
  • A. It is law deliberately enacted by a recognised law-making authority
  • B. It is a practice accepted by a community over a long period
  • C. It is a rule inferred from the moral order of the universe
  • D. It is a principle created only through repeated judicial decisions

Explanation: Legislation is deliberately made and promulgated by an authority empowered to legislate, such as Parliament.

Correct answer: It is law deliberately enacted by a recognised law-making authority
  • A. General words following specific words are limited to the same class
  • B. Every statutory word must receive its ordinary dictionary meaning
  • C. A statute must be interpreted to avoid every possible injustice
  • D. Earlier judicial decisions must always control later decisions

Explanation: Ejusdem generis means of the same kind or class. When specific terms are followed by general terms, the general terms are normally read as…

Correct answer: General words following specific words are limited to the same class
  • A. A legal duty is recognised and enforceable through the legal system
  • B. A legal duty is always based on personal conscience
  • C. A moral duty is always punishable by a court
  • D. A moral duty can never influence the development of law

Explanation: A legal duty is imposed or recognised by law and may attract a legal remedy or sanction for breach.

Correct answer: A legal duty is recognised and enforceable through the legal system
  • A. Like cases should be treated alike under general rules
  • B. Punishment should always match the offender's income
  • C. Resources should be distributed according to personal need
  • D. Every dispute should be decided without using legal rules

Explanation: Formal justice requires consistency and equal treatment by applying general rules to similar cases.

Correct answer: Like cases should be treated alike under general rules
  • A. A judicial decision that may influence a court but does not bind it
  • B. A decision that automatically overrides every statute
  • C. A decision that binds only the judge who originally delivered it
  • D. A decision that has legal force only when approved by a jury

Explanation: A persuasive precedent can guide judicial reasoning but leaves the later court free to accept or reject it.

Correct answer: A judicial decision that may influence a court but does not bind it
  • A. Political sovereignty concerns the ultimate political power, while legal sovereignty concerns the supreme law-making authority
  • B. Political sovereignty belongs only to courts, while legal sovereignty belongs only to voters
  • C. Political sovereignty means judicial review, while legal sovereignty means social custom
  • D. Political sovereignty concerns private rights, while legal sovereignty concerns criminal liability

Explanation: Political sovereignty identifies the body or force regarded as ultimately controlling the state in practice, while legal sovereignty…

Correct answer: Political sovereignty concerns the ultimate political power, while legal sovereignty concerns the supreme law-making authority
  • A. The practical outcome may depend on facts, institutions and judicial choices
  • B. Judges decide cases solely by applying mechanically fixed rules
  • C. Legal validity depends entirely on whether a rule is morally good
  • D. Custom is the only genuine source of law in every legal system

Explanation: Legal realists emphasise how facts, judicial behaviour, institutional setting and practical consequences affect decisions.

Correct answer: The practical outcome may depend on facts, institutions and judicial choices
  • A. A legal duty imposed on another person
  • B. A legal disability imposed on another person
  • C. A legal privilege enjoyed by another person
  • D. A legal liability created for another person

Explanation: An immunity means that another person lacks the legal power to alter the holder's legal position.

Correct answer: A legal disability imposed on another person
  • A. A rule that removes the need to prove any legal fact
  • B. An assumption accepted by law despite contrary factual reality
  • C. A moral principle applied when no statute exists
  • D. A judicial statement that has no legal significance

Explanation: A legal fiction treats an assumed fact as true for a legal purpose, even when it is not literally true.

Correct answer: An assumption accepted by law despite contrary factual reality
  • A. To give every statutory word its ordinary meaning
  • B. To prevent courts from considering earlier legal rules
  • C. To identify and remedy the defect targeted by the statute
  • D. To interpret legislation only according to dictionary definitions

Explanation: The mischief rule asks what defect in the previous law Parliament intended to correct.

Correct answer: To identify and remedy the defect targeted by the statute
  • A. Law is entirely independent of economic and social power
  • B. Law mainly expresses universal principles of natural justice
  • C. Law can reflect and preserve the interests of dominant classes
  • D. Law develops only through customs accepted by local communities

Explanation: Marxist jurisprudence views law in relation to economic structure and class power.

Correct answer: Law can reflect and preserve the interests of dominant classes
  • A. The effect of legal rules on gender equality and social power
  • B. The replacement of written law by religious customs
  • C. The complete separation of law from all social institutions
  • D. The classification of legal rules according to their historical age

Explanation: Feminist jurisprudence examines how law may reproduce gender inequality or ignore women's experiences.

Correct answer: The effect of legal rules on gender equality and social power
  • A. The new rule applies only to events occurring in the future
  • B. The old rule continues permanently for every pending case
  • C. The new rule applies only to criminal proceedings
  • D. The judgment becomes advisory and creates no legal rule

Explanation: Prospective overruling changes the legal rule for future conduct while preserving the earlier rule for past transactions or cases.

Correct answer: The new rule applies only to events occurring in the future
  • A. Whether the final distribution of wealth is equal
  • B. Whether the punishment is proportionate to the offence
  • C. Whether the decision-making process is fair and impartial
  • D. Whether every legal rule follows a religious command

Explanation: Procedural justice concerns the fairness of the process used to reach a decision, including impartiality, hearing, and consistent…

Correct answer: Whether the decision-making process is fair and impartial
  • A. A right requiring another person to provide a benefit
  • B. A right requiring others to refrain from interference
  • C. A right that can never be enforced by a court
  • D. A right belonging only to a public authority

Explanation: A negative right generally requires others to abstain from specified conduct, such as interfering with property or personal liberty.

Correct answer: A right requiring others to refrain from interference
  • A. The guilty intention accompanying an offence
  • B. The physical element or prohibited conduct of an offence
  • C. The punishment imposed after conviction
  • D. The motive that explains why an offence occurred

Explanation: Actus reus is the external or physical element of a crime, such as an act, omission, or prohibited state of affairs.

Correct answer: The physical element or prohibited conduct of an offence
  • A. The study of political institutions and constitutional conventions
  • B. The science of the first principles of civil law
  • C. The historical record of decisions made by superior courts
  • D. The moral study of ideal conduct in private relationships

Explanation: Salmond described jurisprudence as the science of the first principles of civil law.

Correct answer: The science of the first principles of civil law