English law

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English law, in the context of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, generally means the legal system of England and Wales.[1]


The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying legal precedent (stare decisis) to the facts before them. A decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the highest appeal court in England and Wales, is binding on every other court. For example, murder is a common law crime rather than one established by an Act of Parliament. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament; murder, for example, now carries a mandatory life sentence rather than the death penalty. English and Welsh courts recognise the primacy of statute law over common law where the two overlap.[2]






Statute law[edit]

Statutory framework[edit]



"Great Britain" means England, Wales, Scotland, their adjacent territorial waters and the islands of Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides and, by virtue of the Island of Rockall Act 1972, Rockall. "United Kingdom" means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and their adjacent territorial waters, but not the Isle of Man, nor the Channel Islands, whose independent status was discussed in Rover International Ltd. v Canon Film Sales Ltd. (1987) 1 WLR 1597 and Chloride Industrial Batteries Ltd. v F. & W. Freight Ltd. (1989) 1 WLR 823. "British Islands" – but not "British Isles" – means the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Types of statute law[edit]

Citation style[edit]

Main article: Short title

Statutory law is referred to as "Title of Act Year",[3] where the title is the "short title", and ends in "Act", as in "Interpretation Act 1978". Compare with American convention, which includes "of", as in "Civil Rights Act of 1964".

This became the usual way to refer to Acts in the second half of the 19th century, starting in the 1840s; previously Acts were referred to by their long title together with the regnal year of the parliamentary session in which they received Royal Assent, and the chapter number. For example, the Pleading in English Act 1362 was referred to as 36 Edw. III c. 15, meaning "36th year of the reign of Edward III, chapter 15", though in the past this was all spelt out, together with the long title.

Common law[edit]

Since 1189, English law has been described as a common law rather than a civil law system; in other words, no major codification of the law has taken place and judicial precedents are binding as opposed to persuasive. This may be a legacy of the Norman conquest of England, when a number of legal concepts and institutions from Norman law were introduced to England. In the early centuries of English common law, the justices and judges were responsible for adapting the system of writs to meet everyday needs, applying a mixture of precedent and common sense to build up a body of internally consistent law. An example is the Law Merchant derived from the "Pie-Powder" Courts, named from a corruption of the French pieds-poudrés ("dusty feet") implying ad hoc marketplace courts. As the Parliament of England became ever more established and influential, legislation gradually overtook judicial law-making such that today, judges are only able to innovate in certain very narrowly defined areas.




Overseas influences[edit]

The influences are two-way.

  • England exported English Common law and English Statute law to most parts of the British Empire, and many aspects of that system have survived after Independence or otherwise cessation of British rule. "English law" prior to the American Revolutionary Wars (American War of Independence) is still an influence on United States law, and provides the basis for many American legal traditions and policies. Many jurisdictions that have maintained the use of English Common law continue to incorporate modern developments of the Common law in England, and decisions from England are in many jurisdictions usually considered persuasive.
  • For a number of jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain remains the ultimate court of appeal in place of a local Supreme Court.
  • Similarly, because Britain remains a strong international trading nation, international consistency of decision making is of vital importance, so Admiralty Law is strongly influenced by Public International Law and the modern commercial treaties and conventions regulating shipping.

Subjects and links[edit]

Criminal law[edit]

Main article: English criminal law


Administrative law[edit]

Family law[edit]


Main article: English tort law


Main article: English contract law


Main article: English property law


Labour law[edit]

Main article: British labour law



See also[edit]


  1. ^ Jurisdiction Of Courts In England And Wales And Their Recognition Of Foreign Insolvency Proceedings. Insolvency.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2013-02-03.
  2. ^ R v. Rimmington (2005) UKHL 63 at para 30. Bailii.org. Retrieved on 2013-02-03.


  • Beale, Joseph H. (1935) A Treatise on the Conflict of Laws. ISBN ISBN 1-58477-425-8
  • Slapper, Gary; David Kelly (2008-07-15). The English Legal System. London: Routledge-Cavendish. ISBN 978-0-415-45954-9. 
  • Barnett, Hilaire (2008-07-21). Constitutional & Administrative Law. London: Routledge-Cavendish. ISBN 978-0-415-45829-0.