English Legal System: Characteristics and Sources
English Legal System: Characteristics and Sources
Task
Critically assess the different sources and characteristics of the English Legal System. To what extents have external influences affected its development.
Introduction
The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the longest living monarchies in Europe and has the longest Parliament. In legislative terms, the UK is a non-federal state that is composed of three countries (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and one principality (Wales) (Slapper & Kelly, 2008). Surprisingly, UK is one of the few countries that do not have a written constitution: however, UK has a body of law that is of constitutional significance. Furthermore, UK law is also not codified, process that brings a degree of certainty to the law as it allows citizens to clearly identify whether something is unlawful and how the investigation process will develop. Lack of codification leads to the legal system being inflexible as technological developments precede beyond that which the legislators contemplated (Slapper & Kelly, 2008). Nevertheless, despite its flaws and stiffness, the English common-law, as a representative of the common-law of the UK, is one of the most prolific ones: during the British Empire all colonies had to adopt the same or slightly modified legal system. Today, countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia have legal systems similar to the ones used in the UK. This essay sets to analyze the components of the English legal system by looking at its history, development and interaction with other international law systems, especially the European Union (EU).
History of law
The common law was created after Henry the 8th wanted a more unified and national law affecting the whole of England.(Slapper & Kelly, 2008).
Throughout the history, the English legal system has been a very dynamic entity as each ruler tried to leave his legacy: following William’s initial success in establishing a unitary
Task
Critically assess the different sources and characteristics of the English Legal System. To what extents have external influences affected its development.
Introduction
The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the longest living monarchies in Europe and has the longest Parliament. In legislative terms, the UK is a non-federal state that is composed of three countries (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and one principality (Wales) (Slapper & Kelly, 2008). Surprisingly, UK is one of the few countries that do not have a written constitution: however, UK has a body of law that is of constitutional significance. Furthermore, UK law is also not codified, process that brings a degree of certainty to the law as it allows citizens to clearly identify whether something is unlawful and how the investigation process will develop. Lack of codification leads to the legal system being inflexible as technological developments precede beyond that which the legislators contemplated (Slapper & Kelly, 2008). Nevertheless, despite its flaws and stiffness, the English common-law, as a representative of the common-law of the UK, is one of the most prolific ones: during the British Empire all colonies had to adopt the same or slightly modified legal system. Today, countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia have legal systems similar to the ones used in the UK. This essay sets to analyze the components of the English legal system by looking at its history, development and interaction with other international law systems, especially the European Union (EU).
History of law
The common law was created after Henry the 8th wanted a more unified and national law affecting the whole of England.(Slapper & Kelly, 2008).
Throughout the history, the English legal system has been a very dynamic entity as each ruler tried to leave his legacy: following William’s initial success in establishing a unitary