Sources of Law in the English Legal System

This assignment delves into the foundation of the English legal system by examining its three main sources of law. It analyzes legislation, highlighting the process of statute creation and its impact on society. The role of common law in evolving legal principles based on societal changes is explored. Additionally, the assignment discusses the significance of human rights laws and EU law within the English legal framework.

Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Different types of sources of law within English legal system.......................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Constitution is a written document which is comprised of various rules, principles and
provision, required to run a country. It helps in describing all the rules and laws being framed by
the government which are required to be followed by each and every individual belonging to that
territory. The present report is responsible for making comprehensive discussion regarding
various types of sources of law within English legal system. The wide range of sources include,
Legislation, Common law, Human rights act and European union law. Legislation is inclusive of
the statutes which has been converted into any act or law after several readings and amendments.
Common law is related to the decisions made by the court that ultimately gets converted into law
and all the other decision are made considering it. Human rights act and EU law ensures that
these two are not hampered during the preparation of new statutes and legislations.
Different types of sources of law within English legal system
Sources of law are considered to be the origin, which bind rules enabling the state to govern
its territory. English law has been created with the help of four sources. These are legislations,
case (common) laws, human right laws and European Union (EU) laws1. Parliament is
considered to be the supreme law-making authority with exception of EU law. The four laws are
described as under:
Legislation
The legislations are created by the parliament starts as a bill. Government MPs brings the
public bill which has to go through several stages in the form of first and second readings, pass
stages of committee and also indulged into third reading before it goes to the House of Lords for
revision initiating certain amendments in it2. The bill can be converted in law only if it has been
able to receive Royal assent. However, in case of devolved law, it comes from persons or bodies
which have already been able to get authorization from parliament in order to enact laws. It is
important for devolved laws to come from parent and enabling act and be consistent3. One of the
examples that can be discussed in lieu of the same is Scotland Act 1998 which was passed by
1 Rizzo, C. R. and Pérez, M. J. M., 2012. Structure and design of the British Law Report Corpus
(BLRC): a legal corpus of judicial decisions from the UK. Journal of English Studies. 10.
pp.131-145.
2 Preston-Shoot, M. and McKimm, J., 2012. Tutor and student experiences of teaching and
learning law in UK social work education. Social Work Education. 31(7). pp.896-913.
3 Tavner, P., 2012. Offshore Wind Turbines: Reliability. Availability and Maintenance, The
Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, UK.
1

Westminster Parliament with the aim of creation of Scottish parliament having certain legislative
power in hand, with respect to education, health, criminal and other civil law amongst various
areas. Hence, the laws that are passed by Scottish Parliament are therefore enabled by Scotland
Act4.
Legislation have also power to codify and consolidate various provisions and different
statutes within one without changing them. One such Act in Insolvency Act 1986. Codification is
one concept under legislation which helps in bringing all the laws under one topic. It is inclusive
of custom, common law and statute which can be brought under one new statute. The pre-
existing laws can also be changed as in the case of Theft Act 1968.
Legislation or devolved legislation, which is passed in any of the acts, also plays an
important role for sheer volume of new laws. Other sources of law present in the English system
may not be able to reflect quick change that is represented by the statute.
Common Law
Common law is considered to be another substantial part of law making. Courts have
rights to create law in the manner that statutes can be interpreted. When parliament indulges in
creating statutes, they are able to cover a wide range of circumstances which may not be thought
of by the team while preparing the laws. It helps in making the statutes specific in such a manner
that all the circumstances being covered and clarification is required to be prepared on the same
by the court. In addition to this, court also indulge in clarifying the language being stated in law,
which is unclear. It helps in rectifying the language and other errors that could have been made
in process of drafting of the statute. The will of parliament through the statute is properly
represented in such a manner that it can effectively be understood by people5.
An attempt, being made by the Parliament, to interpret the laws, helps in binding the system
with judicial precedent. Principles that are decided at the end of the case are followed in future
cases as well, which are similar in nature. The accuracy and consistency in the decisions are
maintained in order to measure the predictability in the overall outcomes of the cases6. The
4 Tompson, L. and et.al., 2015. UK open source crime data: accuracy and possibilities for
research. Cartography and geographic information science. 42(2). pp.97-111.
5 Law, R. J. and et.al., 2013. Alternative flame retardants, Dechlorane Plus and BDEs in the
blubber of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded or bycaught in the UK during
2008. Environment international. 60. pp.81-88.
6 Hart, K., 2012. The roots of the global economic crisis (Respond to this article at http://www.
therai. org. uk/at/debate). Anthropology Today. 28(2). pp.1-3.
2

approach is also efficient enough where, quoting cases make is rather easier to reach to the
decision rather than arguing on similar point again. This type of adherence is called as stare
decisis and is bind to all the lower courts by appellate courts. In addition to this, appellate courts
are themselves bound by their own decisions made by them earlier.
Considering the case R v R [1992] 1 A.C. 599, statutory representation tends to be quite
important. As per the decision made by House of Lords, in the quoted case, that rape is possible
within marriages as well7. The decision was deviated from previous precedent as it was due to
substantial change in social construction related to this aspect. Hence, it can be stated that,
common law sometimes requires modifications with the changing condition of the country. It
leads to alteration in the present statute being followed by courts.
Human Right law
Law is also created with the help of human rights One act was passed to recognise
European Union law which is a part of British laws, called European Communities Act 1972. It
was then able to become the domestic law which was then incorporated in European
Conventions in Human rights. There are certain conventional rights and freedom which have
been able to become part of English domestic law. It has been able to become directly
enforceable in the courts. These have directly come from domestic rather than international
rights which are directly sourced from Human Rights Act 1998. The main purpose of this act is
to set certain basic human rights which are already being listed in the act and are fully
enforceable and respected in UK. It has essentially been able to change the overall way of how
justice system of UK works. It has been able to make public authorities more responsible for
their overall decision making8.
The ultimate consequence of this act is that it has been able to put human rights at the
centre of UK legal system. As per this act, it is expected by the citizens that all the public
organizations and agencies should respect all the basic human rights that have been mentioned in
the act. If any of the individual feel that their rights have been ignored, then, they have rights to
bring case in UK court and can challenge the action being taken by public organizations and
7 Canter, L., 2013. The source, the resource and the collaborator: The role of citizen journalism in
local UK newspapers. Journalism. 14(8). pp.1091-1109.
8 Ayeh, J. K., Au, N. and Law, R., 2013. “Do we believe in TripAdvisor?” Examining credibility
perceptions and online travelers’ attitude toward using user-generated content. Journal of Travel
Research. 52(4). pp.437-452
3

agencies on the grounds of interference being made with respect to the rights9. For instance,
people have right to freely express their views or opinion on one or the other aspect. They also
enjoy basic human right of having adequate privacy. Also, citizens have right to have fair trials
in the court.
In formation of any of the new statute or bringing modifications in the existing one, it
becomes important to consider all the aspects that are directly or indirectly related to human
rights and all the provisions that have already been included in this act by the authorities10.
European Union law
Another source of law that originates from the court of justice of European Union. Since,
all the acts and provisions that are followed in the country have direct association to the
interpretation being laid down by Justice of the European Union, it is the duty of parliament that
all the rules that have been included in it are considered while preparing any new act for the
country. Hence, it is important to be taken into consideration that, no contradictory statements
are issued in the new statutes which are included by Justice of European Union in some other
manner. Since, UK is still a part of European Union, it becomes important for them to follow all
the statutes and laws tat have been included in it. Hence, it can be stated that EU takes all the
precedence of UK and hence have to be implemented and followed in the territory in a well-
defined manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that there are three sources of law based on
which the whole English legal System has been designed. The first is legislation which are
prepared by estimating the demand of people and ensure that all the new statutes produced is
proof read and suggested amendments have been made appropriately11. The other source of
common law where changes are brought in the existing laws as per the changes in the society or
9 Wallace, S. E. and et.al., 2014. Protecting personal data in epidemiological research:
DataSHIELD and UK law. Public Health Genomics. 17(3). pp.149-157.
10 Foster, K., 2012. Is there a global sports law?. In Lex Sportiva: What is Sports Law? (pp. 35-
52). TMC Asser Press.
11 The Legal System of the United Kingdom. 2015. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.cilex.org.uk/about_cilex/about-cilex-lawyers/what-cilex-lawyers-do/the-uk-
legal-system >
4

alterations in the requirements. Human right laws and Eu laws are required to be taken into
consideration by the authorities while framing any new law or indulging in amendments of
existing one.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ayeh, J. K., Au, N. and Law, R., 2013. “Do we believe in TripAdvisor?” Examining credibility
perceptions and online travelers’ attitude toward using user-generated content. Journal of
Travel Research. 52(4). pp.437-452..
Canter, L., 2013. The source, the resource and the collaborator: The role of citizen journalism in
local UK newspapers. Journalism. 14(8). pp.1091-1109.
Foster, K., 2012. Is there a global sports law?. In Lex Sportiva: What is Sports Law? (pp. 35-52).
TMC Asser Press.
Hart, K., 2012. The roots of the global economic crisis (Respond to this article at http://www.
therai. org. uk/at/debate). Anthropology Today. 28(2). pp.1-3.
Law, R. J. and et.al., 2013. Alternative flame retardants, Dechlorane Plus and BDEs in the
blubber of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded or bycaught in the UK
during 2008. Environment international. 60. pp.81-88.
Preston-Shoot, M. and McKimm, J., 2012. Tutor and student experiences of teaching and
learning law in UK social work education. Social Work Education. 31(7). pp.896-913.
Rizzo, C. R. and Pérez, M. J. M., 2012. Structure and design of the British Law Report Corpus
(BLRC): a legal corpus of judicial decisions from the UK. Journal of English Studies. 10.
pp.131-145.
Tavner, P., 2012. Offshore Wind Turbines: Reliability. Availability and Maintenance, The
Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, UK.
Tompson, L. and et.al., 2015. UK open source crime data: accuracy and possibilities for
research. Cartography and geographic information science. 42(2). pp.97-111.
Wallace, S. E. and et.al., 2014. Protecting personal data in epidemiological research:
DataSHIELD and UK law. Public Health Genomics. 17(3). pp.149-157.
Online
The Legal System of the United Kingdom. 2015. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.cilex.org.uk/about_cilex/about-cilex-lawyers/what-cilex-lawyers-do/the-uk-
legal-system >
6