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English common law is the legal system of England and Wales,[1] and is the basis of common law[2] legal systems throughout the world[3] (as opposed to civil law or pluralist systems in other countries, such as Scots law). The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, Common law and Religious law. History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. Legal pluralism allows for moral laws that are unwritten as formal laws Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. It was exported to Commonwealth countries while the British Empire was established and maintained, and it forms the basis of the jurisprudence of most of those countries. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Jurisprudence is the Theory and Philosophy of Law. Scholars of jurisprudence or legal philosophers hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature English law prior to the American revolution is still part of the law of the United States, except in Louisiana, and provides the basis for many American legal traditions and policies, though it has no superseding jurisdiction. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The law of the United States was originally largely derived from the Common law system of English law, which was in force at the time of the Revolutionary The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America

English law in its strictest sense applies within the jurisdiction of England and Wales. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Whilst Wales now has a devolved Assembly, any legislation which that Assembly enacts is enacted in particular circumscribed policy areas defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006, other legislation of the U. The Government of Wales Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further K. parliament, or by orders in council given under the authority of the 2006 Act. Furthermore that legislation is, as with any by-law made by any other body within England and Wales, interpretted by the undivided judiciary of England and Wales. [4] Also see below

The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent (stare decisis) to the facts before them. A judge, or justice, is an Official who presides over a Court of law A court is a forum used by a power base to adjudicate disputes and dispense civil, labour administrative and criminal Justice under its In Common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a Legal case establishing a principle or rule that a Court or other judicial Stare decisis is a common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions A decision of the highest appeal court in England and Wales, the House of Lords, is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions. Court of Appeal, Court of Appeals, and Appellate Division redirect here for a list of specific courts using those titles see Court of Appeal The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function has a judicial function as a Court of last resort within the United Kingdom. Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal Courts responsible for the administration of Justice in England For example, there is no statute making murder illegal. A statute is a formal written enactment of a Legislative authority that governs a Country, State, City, or County. In English law, murder is considered the most serious form of Homicide, in which one person kills another either intending to cause death or intending to It is a common law crime - so although there is no written Act of Parliament making murder illegal, it is illegal by virtue of the constitutional authority of the courts and their previous decisions. An Act of Parliament is a Law enacted as Primary legislation by a national or sub-national Parliament. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament; murder, by way of example, carries a mandatory life sentence today, but had previously allowed the death penalty. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment.

England and Wales are constituent countries of the United Kingdom, which is a member of the European Union and EU law is effective in the UK. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Law of the European Union is the unique legal system which operates alongside the laws of Member States of the European Union (EU [5] The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil law and so the civil law system is also in England in this form, and the European Court of Justice, a predominantly civil law court, can direct English and Welsh courts on the meaning of EU law. This article refers to the European Union court not the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe The Court of Justice

The oldest law currently in force is the Distress Act 1267, part of the Statute of Marlborough, (52 Hen. The Statute of Marlborough (52 Hen 3 was a set of laws passed by King Henry III of England in 1267. The Statute of Marlborough (52 Hen 3 was a set of laws passed by King Henry III of England in 1267. 3). [6] Three sections of Magna Carta, originally signed in 1215 and a landmark in the development of English law, are still extant, but they date to the reissuing of the law in 1297. Magna Carta ( Latin for Great Charter, literally " Great Paper " also called Magna Carta Libertatum ( Great Charter of Freedoms

Contents

England and Wales as a distinct jurisdiction

The United Kingdom is a state consisting of several legal jurisdictions. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Notably 1/England and Wales 2/Scotland 3/Northern Ireland. The formerly separate jurisdiction of Wales was absorbed into England by Henry VII Tudor. By the Act of Union, 1707 Scotland retained an independent church and judiciary. The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into Ireland lost its independent parliament later than Scotland but its established church was historically an archbishopric of the anglican church headed by the king or queen and deferring to the archbishop of canterbury, for the most part the legal system is separate from that of England and Wales. The legal system of the Republic of Eire is completely separate from that of the U. K. now, but that of Northern Ireland retains some links from the Imperial past, inasmuch as it is based on the medieval English common law system, there are many English statutes from the time of Poyning on that apply in Northern Ireland and there is an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords from the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland. The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function has a judicial function as a Court of last resort within the United Kingdom.

":The civilized portion of the earth is divided up into certain units of territory in each of which a particular law proper to that territory alone prevails, and that territory is for legal purposes a unit. "

":§ 2. 2. What Determines the State. — It has been seen that the existence of separate legal units within the dominions of a single sovereign is a fact, the result of historical accidents. . . . . . when Hawaii was annexed to the United States it remained a separate legal unit; but when Wales was conquered by England it became a part of the legal unit, England. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland " Beale.

Statehood is also defined in public international law by the Montevideo Convention, which refers to the following criteria as necessary to establish true statehood: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states. The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States was a treaty (which was later accepted as part of customary international law signed at Montevideo, Uruguay

Some jurisdictions such as Australia use the term "law unit" and some authors use the word "country", believing that these words are less confusing than the use of the word "state". For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The majority view is that "state" is the best term. Hence, for Conflict purposes, England and Wales constitute a single state.

This is important for a number of reasons, one of the more significant being the distinction between nationality and domicile. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty In Conflict of Laws, domicile (sometimes termed domicil in the U Thus, an individual would have a British nationality and a domicile in one of the constituent states, the latter law defining all aspects of a person's status and capacity. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A person's status is a set of social conditions or relationships created and vested in an individual by an act of Law rather than by the consensual acts of the Discussion As an aspect of the Social contract between a state and its Citizens the state adopts a role of protector to the weaker and more vulnerable members Dicey and Morris (p26) list the separate states in the British Islands. The term British Islands is used in the law of the United Kingdom to refer collectively to the following four states the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern "England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn or Mann (Mannin) is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical The Bailiwick of Jersey ( Jèrriais: Jèrri) is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. The Bailiwick of Guernsey (Bailliage de Guernesey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. Alderney ( French: Aurigny; Auregnais: Aoeur'gny) is the most northerly of the Channel Islands and a British Crown dependency Sark (Sercq Sercquiais: Sèr) is a small Island in the southwestern English Channel. . . is a separate country in the sense of the conflict of laws, though not one of them is a State known to public international law. Conflict of laws (or private international law) is that branch of International law and intranational interstate law that regulates all Lawsuits involving " But this may be varied by statute. The United Kingdom is one state for the purposes of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. Great Britain is a single state for the purposes of the Companies Act 1985. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Companies Act 1985 (1985 c 6 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, enacted in 1985 which enables companies Traditionally authors referred to the legal unit or state of England and Wales as England although this usage is becoming politically unacceptable in the last few decades.

Wales

See also: Contemporary Welsh Law

Although devolution has accorded some degree of political autonomy to Wales in the National Assembly for Wales, it did not have sovereign law-making powers until after the 2007 Welsh general election when the Government of Wales Act 2006 granted powers to the Welsh Assembly Government to enact some primary legislation. Contemporary Welsh Law is a term applied to the body of primary and secondary Legislation generated by the National Assembly of Wales Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a State to government at subnational level The National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. The Government of Wales Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG (Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru LlCC) was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of Primary legislation is Legislation made by the Legislative branch of Government. The legal system administered through both civil and criminal courts remains unified throughout England and Wales. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This is different from the situation of Northern Ireland, for example, which did not cease to be a state when its legislature was suspended (see Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972). Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The term State has several meanings in law in Private international law and Conflict of laws, State can refer to a well-defined jurisdiction with its own set The Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions Act 1972 (c 22 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced Direct rule in

A major difference is also the use of the Welsh language, as laws concerning it apply in Wales and not in England. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic The Welsh Language Act 1993 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English language in Wales with regard to the public sector. The Welsh Language Act 1993 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English Welsh can also be spoken in Welsh courts.

Since 1967 most lawyers have refferred to our countries legal system as "the Laws of England and Wales" following the Welsh Language Act, 1967,[7], (see below) as may be seen by looking at the Applicable law section of most commercial agreements from these countries. Before, from 1746-1967 this was not necessary (see below) but may have been done quite often nonetheless.

Statutory framework

The Interpretation Act 1978, Schedule 1 distinctively identifies the following: "British Islands", "England", and "United Kingdom". The Interpretation Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that governs the interpretation of terms within acts of Parliament The use of the term "British Isles" is virtually obsolete in statutes and, when it does appear, it is taken to be synonymous with "British Islands". The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan For interpretation purposes, England includes a number of specified elements:

"Great Britain" means England (with Wales) and Scotland including its adjacent territorial waters and the islands of Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides, and Rockall (by virtue of the Island of Rockall Act 1972). Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands or incorrectly the Orkneys) is an Archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km north Shetland (formerly spelled Zetland, from etland; Old Norse non Hjaltland; Sealtainn is an Archipelago off the northeast coast of See also Hebrides (disambiguation The Hebrides (ˈhɛbrɨˌdiːz "HEB-ri-deez" Gaelic: Innse Gall) comprise a widespread and diverse Rockall is a small uninhabited rocky Islet in the north Atlantic Ocean, and one of the sea areas named in the Shipping Forecast broadcast on BBC The "United Kingdom" means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and their adjacent territorial waters. It does not include the Isle of Man; nor the Channel Islands, whose independent status was discussed in Rover International Ltd. The Channel Islands ( Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are a group of Islands v Canon Film Sales Ltd. (1987) 1 WLR 1597 and Chloride Industrial Batteries Ltd. v F. & W. Freight Ltd. (1989) 1 WLR 823. The "British Islands" means the "United Kingdom", the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.

Common law

Since 1189, English law has been described as a common law rather than a civil law system (i. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. e. there has been no major codification of the law, and judicial precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive). In Law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a Jurisdiction in certain areas usually by subject forming a Legal code. In Common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a Legal case establishing a principle or rule that a Court or other judicial This may have been due to the Norman conquest of England, which introduced a number of legal concepts and institutions from Norman law and Islamic law into England. Norman law refers to the customary law of Normandy which developed between the 10th and 13th centuries following the establishment of the Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. [8] In the early centuries of English common law, the justices and judges were responsible for adapting the Writ system to meet everyday needs, applying a mixture of precedent and common sense to build up a body of internally consistent law, e. A judge, or justice, is an Official who presides over a Court of law In Law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial Jurisdiction. g. the Law Merchant began in the Pie-Powder Courts (a corruption of the French "pieds-poudrés" or "dusty feet", meaning ad hoc marketplace courts). The Law Merchant is a legal system used by merchants in medieval Europe, including England. Law French is an archaic language originally based on Old Norman and Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and later English As Parliament developed in strength, and subject to the doctrine of separation of powers, legislation gradually overtook judicial law making so that, today, judges are only able to innovate in certain very narrowly defined areas. The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. Separation of powers, a term ascribed to French Enlightenment Political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the Governance Legislation (or " Statutory law " is law which has been promulgated (or " Enacted quot by a Legislature or other Governing Time before 1189 was defined in 1276 as being time immemorial. Time immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of Memory, record or Tradition.

Precedent

One of the major problems in the early centuries was to produce a system that was certain in its operation and predictable in its outcomes. Too many judges were either partial or incompetent, acquiring their positions only by virtue of their rank in society. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions Thus, a standardised procedure slowly emerged, based on a system termed stare decisis. Stare decisis is a common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions Thus, the ratio decidendi of each case will bind future cases on the same generic set of facts both horizontally and vertically. Ratio decidendi (plural rationes decidendi is a Latin phrase meaning "the reason (or ratio nale for the decision The highest appellate court in the UK is the House of Lords (the judicial members of which are termed Law Lords or, specifically if not commonly Lords of Appeal in Ordinary) and its decisions are binding on every other court in the hierarchy which are obliged to apply its rulings as the law of the land. The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function has a judicial function as a Court of last resort within the United Kingdom. The Court of Appeal binds the lower courts, and so on. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords above

Overseas influences

The influences are two-way.

Subjects and links

Criminal law

Main article: English criminal law

English criminal law derives its main principles from the common law. English criminal law refers to the body of Law in England and Wales which deals with Crimes and their consequences Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive The main elements of a crime are the actus reus (doing something which is criminally prohibited) and a mens rea (having the requisite criminal state of mind, usually intention). In English Criminal law, intention is one of the types of Mens rea ( Latin for "guilty mind" that when accompanied by an A prosecutor must show that a person has caused the offensive conduct, or that the culprit had some pre-existing duty to take steps to avoid a criminal consequence. This article refers to the legal tests of remoteness causation and foreseeability in the Tort of negligence The types of different crimes range from those well known ones like manslaughter, murder, theft and robbery to a plethora of regulatory and statutory offences. For a discussion of the law in other countries see Manslaughter In the English law of Homicide, manslaughter is a less serious In English law, murder is considered the most serious form of Homicide, in which one person kills another either intending to cause death or intending to The Theft Act 1968 (1968 c60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, governing most of the general property offences in English law. Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. It is estimated that in the UK, there are 3,500 classes of criminal offence. Certain defences may exist to crimes, which include self defence, necessity, duress, and in the case of a murder charge, under the Homocide Act 1957, diminished responsibility or provocation. In English Criminal law, the defence of self-defence provides for the right of people to act in a manner that would be otherwise unlawful in order to preserve the For the discussion on general principles and policy see Necessity In English law, the defence of necessity recognises that there may For duress in US law see Duress Duress in English criminal law is a complete common law defence operating in favour of those who commit For the law in other Criminal jurisdictions see Diminished responsibility. For a description of the general principles see Provocation (legal. It has often been suggested that England should codify its criminal law, in an English Criminal Code, however there has been no overwhelming support for this in the past. The Jurisdiction of England and Wales does not have a Criminal Code though such an instrument has been often recommended and attempted

Constitutional law

Family law

Tort

Main article: English tort law

Contract

Main article: English contract law

Property

Trusts

Main article: Trust law in England and Wales

Labour law

Main article: British labour law

Evidence

Miscellaneous

References

  1. ^ Jurisdiction Of Courts In England And Wales And Their Recognition Of Foreign Insolvency Proceedings
  2. ^ http://dictionary.law.com/definition2.asp?selected=248
  3. ^ The Common Law in the British Empire
  4. ^ Website of the government in Wales. In the 1760s William Blackstone described the Fundamental Laws of England in Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book the First - Chapter the First: Of the The family law system is in this article used to refer to the laws procedures and rules governing family matters as well as the authorities agencies and groups which participate in or Residence is a term used to refer to not always similar concepts in various parts of English law including taxation immigration and family law A bastard (also called whoreson) in the law of England and Wales was a person whose parents at the time of their birth were not married to each other Tort law in England and Wales concerns civil wrongs as distinguished from criminal wrongs. In Tort, there can be no Liability in Negligence unless the Claimant establishes both that he or she was owed a duty of care by the defendant In Tort, there can be no Liability in Negligence unless the Claimant establishes both that he or she was owed a duty of care by the defendant In Tort, there can be no Liability in Negligence unless the Claimant establishes both that he or she was owed a duty of care by the defendant Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee ( 1 WLR 583 is an English tort law case that lays down the typical rule for assessing the appropriate standard of reasonable This article refers to the legal tests of remoteness causation and foreseeability in the Tort of negligence Breaking the chain (or novus actus interveniens, literally "new act intervening" refers in English law to the idea that causal connections are deemed to In the English law of Negligence, the acts of the claimant may give the defendant a defence to liability whether in whole or part if those acts unreasonably add Loss of chance in English law refers to a particular problem of causation which arises in tort and contract In the English law of Tort, loss of right is a new heading of potential liability arising as a matter of policy to counteract limitations perceived in the more traditional Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from the Latin meaning "the thing itself speaks" but is more often translated "the thing speaks for itself This article is about vicarious liability in private litigation for vicarious liability in criminal law see Vicarious liability (criminal. Rylands v Fletcher ( 1868) LR 3 HL 330 is a landmark English legal case in which the Court of the Exchequer Chamber first applied the doctrine English contract law is an influential system regulating the law of Contract that operates in England and Wales Consideration is one of the three main building blocks of a Contract in English contract law. Estoppel is a legal Doctrine that may be used in certain situations to prevent a person from relying upon certain Rights or upon a set of facts Damages for Breach of contract is a Common law remedy, available as of right Chose (pronounced "shows" French for "thing" a term used in the Common law tradition in different senses Trust law in England and Wales is the original and foundational Law of Trusts in the world and a unique contribution of English law to the Legal system British labour law is that body of law which regulates the rights restrictions obligations of trade unions workers and employers in Great Britain. History of the rule The rules of hearsay began to form properly in the late seventeenth century and had become fully established by the early nineteenth century In the United Kingdom, the sale of alcohol is restricted - pubs restaurants shops and other premises must be Licensed by the local authority Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English
  5. ^ K-Zone law - The impact of the EU on UK law
  6. ^ Legal oddities
  7. ^ www. notaries. org, footnote 1 |url=http://www.notaries.org.uk/page32/page108/page108.html
  8. ^ Makdisi, John A. (June 1999), “The Islamic Origins of the Common Law”, North Carolina Law Review 77 (5): 1635-1739 

See also

Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive A Law Commission, or Law Reform Commission, is an independent body set up by a government to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations on those Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. Welsh law, the Law of Wales, was traditionally first codified by Hywel Dda ("Hywel the Good" during the period between 942 and 950 when Contemporary Welsh Law is a term applied to the body of primary and secondary Legislation generated by the National Assembly of Wales The constitutional status of Cornwall, in the southwest of the United Kingdom, is the subject of ongoing debate
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