(Legal Aptitude I) Flashcards

A passage argues that juries should be replaced by professional judges because 'jurors lack legal training.' The author provides no evidence that legally trained decision-makers produce better outcomes. Which flaw does this reveal?

Answer: Begging the question — the author assumes legal training improves outcomes without demonstrating it

The argument assumes that legal training produces better verdicts, but this is the very proposition it needs to prove — making it question-begging.

An LNAT passage describes a case where Parliament passed a law with the stated purpose of preventing tax avoidance. Courts later applied the law to catch a transaction that Parliament had not specifically considered. Which rule of statutory interpretation did the court most likely use?

Answer: The purposive approach, applying the statute in line with its underlying aim

The purposive approach extends a statute to situations not literally covered but within the legislature's evident purpose, here preventing avoidance.

A human rights treaty requires states to protect the right to life 'except in cases absolutely necessary to prevent unlawful violence.' A state uses lethal force to disperse a peaceful protest. Which analysis is correct?

Answer: The use of force likely violates the treaty because a peaceful protest does not constitute unlawful violence

The treaty exception is narrow and requires actual unlawful violence; a peaceful protest does not meet that threshold, making lethal force disproportionate and likely unlawful.

A law review passage states: 'The presumption of innocence is incompatible with pre-trial detention.' Which counterargument most directly weakens this claim?

Answer: Pre-trial detention can be justified by flight risk or risk of interference with evidence without implying guilt

Pre-trial detention based on procedural grounds (flight risk, evidence tampering) does not treat the defendant as guilty — it addresses practical risks, leaving the presumption of innocence intact at trial.

Under the doctrine of promissory estoppel in contract law, which scenario would most likely invoke the doctrine?

Answer: A landlord promises to reduce rent for six months; the tenant relies on this and declines higher-paying work; the landlord then demands full rent for those months

Promissory estoppel prevents a party from going back on a clear promise when the other party has relied on that promise to their detriment.

A passage distinguishes between 'rule-based' and 'standard-based' legal regulation. Which example best illustrates a rule-based approach?

Answer: A regulation prohibiting driving faster than 70 mph on motorways

A bright-line speed limit is a classic rule — precise, predictable, and applied without discretionary judgment — in contrast to open-textured standards like 'reasonable.'

An author argues that capital punishment deters serious crime by citing statistics from one US state that abolished the death penalty and subsequently saw a rise in homicide rates. What is the most significant logical weakness?

Answer: Post hoc ergo propter hoc — the homicide rise followed abolition but may have had independent causes

Assuming that abolition caused the rise in homicides because one followed the other commits the post hoc fallacy — many other factors could explain the trend.