English Law and Legal System: Types and Principles of Criminal Law

Running head: ENGLISH LAW AND LEGAL SYSTEM
Criminal Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CRIMINAL LAW
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Main Body..................................................................................................................................2
Types of Law..........................................................................................................................2
Statutory Law.....................................................................................................................3
Common Law.....................................................................................................................3
Civil Law and Criminal Law..............................................................................................3
Principles of Law...................................................................................................................4
Actus Reus and Mens Rea..................................................................................................4
Precedent............................................................................................................................5
Binding Court Hierarchy....................................................................................................5
Burden of Proof and Standard of Proof..............................................................................6
Structure and Workings of Criminal Courts..........................................................................7
Magistrate Courts...............................................................................................................7
Crown Court.......................................................................................................................8
Court of Appeal..................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

2CRIMINAL LAW
Introduction
The English Law has evolved from the Legal System of Common Law prevailing in the
England and Wales. The English Legal System has under its purview both the Civil and
Criminal Legal Structures (Partington 2016). Under the English Law Regime, both the Civil
and the Criminal legal systems have their own procedural and judicial structures. The main
sources from where the English Legal System gains the authority are the prevalent laws.
Among these laws, the statutory legislation and the common law precedents has the utmost
authority. The conventions of the Parliament, the customs and other academic volumes. The
authority, under the English Law, is exercised by the Judiciary and the courts are another
significant and crucial part of the English Legal System. The judiciary under the English
Legal System has been divided under different strata, both laterally and vertically (Pakes
2017). According to the kinds of cases they address, the courts under this system can be
categorised into civil courts and criminal courts. There exists further subdivisions among the
civil and criminal courts.
This assignment will present a discussion on the main types and principles of law. In
addition to that, a detailed analysis of the types of law prevailing under the English Legal
System will be provided. The main principles relating to criminal law will also be discussed
in this assignment. It will also analyse the structure and workings of the Criminal courts
under this system. A detailed analysis of the route for appeal in the criminal court structure
will also be provided.
Main Body
Types of Law
The English Legal System is a bundle of different legal systems, which includes Civil
Law, Criminal Law, Common Law and Statute Law.

3CRIMINAL LAW
Statutory Law
The statutory legislations have the supreme authority over all other laws prevailing in the
United Kingdom. These legislations includes the Parliamentary Acts, by-laws and
regulations. The principal law makers in the United Kingdom are the Parliament of the
United Kingdom. The parliament is solely entrusted with the power to make laws that is
applicable in the country. The Parliament of the United Kingdom has two Houses, namely,
the House of Lords and the House of Commons (Williams 2014).
Common Law
In case, there is an absence of statutory laws with respect to a situation, the common law
principles will prevail. These common law principles have evolved from the decisions of the
courts and the prevailing customs. The common law has developed by the decisions of the
judges where both the laws contained in the statutes and the principles of law that has been
formulated in the previous decisions of the court. In this context, it can be stated that the
decisions of the appellate courts gains the authority of Law (Carlen and França 2017).
Civil Law and Criminal Law
There are mainly two kinds of laws, namely the Civil law and the criminal law.
Civil Law
The laws that are concerned with the civil wrongdoings and contracts are referred to as the
civil laws. The law of property is also included in the Civil law system. Civil law can be
divided into the substantive and the procedural laws. The basic concern of the Civil law are
the rights and interests of the people. It also includes the different duties that are imposed
upon a person by virtue of their existence in the society. The proceedings that are instituted
under the Civil law regime are generally concerned with compensation and fines and does not
encourages punitive measures. However, punitive and exemplary damages are in certain
cases awarded in the proceedings under this system. This system of law is generally