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class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Common law and civil law</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Common_law_and_civil_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Common_law_and_equity" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Common_law_and_equity"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Common law and equity</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Common_law_and_equity-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Public_law_and_private_law" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Public_law_and_private_law"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Public law and private law</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Public_law_and_private_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Legal_remedies" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Legal_remedies"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.5</span> <span>Legal remedies</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Legal_remedies-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sources_of_English_law" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sources_of_English_law"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Sources of English law</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sources_of_English_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Statute_law" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Statute_law"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Statute law</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Statute_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Common_law" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Common_law"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Common law</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Common_law-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Common law subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Common_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Possible_Islamic_Origins" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Possible_Islamic_Origins"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Possible Islamic Origins</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Possible_Islamic_Origins-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Early_development" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Early_development"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.2</span> <span>Early development</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Early_development-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Overseas_influences" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Overseas_influences"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.3</span> <span>Overseas influences</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Overseas_influences-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Reciprocity" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Reciprocity"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.3.1</span> <span>Reciprocity</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Reciprocity-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Courts_of_final_appeal" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Courts_of_final_appeal"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.3.2</span> <span>Courts of final appeal</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Courts_of_final_appeal-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-International_law_and_commerce" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#International_law_and_commerce"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.3.3</span> <span>International law and commerce</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-International_law_and_commerce-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-British_jurisdictions" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#British_jurisdictions"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>British jurisdictions</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-British_jurisdictions-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle British jurisdictions subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-British_jurisdictions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Application_of_English_law_to_Wales" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Application_of_English_law_to_Wales"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6.1</span> <span>Application of English law to Wales</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Application_of_English_law_to_Wales-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Classes_of_English_law" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Classes_of_English_law"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Classes of English law</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Classes_of_English_law-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>Bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">English law</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" 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Available in 26 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-26" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">26 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelse_reg" title="Engelse reg – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Engelse reg" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%8A" title="القانون الإنجليزي – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="القانون الإنجليزي" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%9C_%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A8" title="ইংরেজ আইন – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="ইংরেজ আইন" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bs mw-list-item"><a href="https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englesko_pravo" title="Englesko pravo – Bosnian" lang="bs" hreflang="bs" data-title="Englesko pravo" data-language-autonym="Bosanski" data-language-local-name="Bosnian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bosanski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dret_d%27Anglaterra" title="Dret d'Anglaterra – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Dret d'Anglaterra" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglick%C3%A9_pr%C3%A1vo" title="Anglické právo – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Anglické právo" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsgeschichte_von_England_und_Wales" title="Rechtsgeschichte von England und Wales – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Rechtsgeschichte von England und Wales" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho_de_Inglaterra" title="Derecho de Inglaterra – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Derecho de Inglaterra" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_en_Angleterre-et-Galles" title="Droit en Angleterre-et-Galles – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Droit en Angleterre-et-Galles" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B1%D5%B6%D5%A3%D5%AC%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%AB%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6%D6%84" title="Անգլիական իրավունք – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Անգլիական իրավունք" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%80_%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BF" title="अंग्रेजी विधि – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="अंग्रेजी विधि" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukum_Inggris_dan_Wales" title="Hukum Inggris dan Wales – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Hukum Inggris dan Wales" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diritto_dell%27Inghilterra_e_del_Galles" title="Diritto dell'Inghilterra e del Galles – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Diritto dell'Inghilterra e del Galles" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kn mw-list-item"><a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%87%E0%B2%82%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B2%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%B7%E0%B3%8D_%E0%B2%A8%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%AF%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%AF" title="ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನ್ಯಾಯ – Kannada" lang="kn" hreflang="kn" data-title="ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ನ್ಯಾಯ" data-language-autonym="ಕನ್ನಡ" data-language-local-name="Kannada" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ಕನ್ನಡ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undang-undang_Inggeris" title="Undang-undang Inggeris – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Undang-undang Inggeris" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Melayu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E6%B3%95" title="イングランド法 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="イングランド法" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direito_da_Inglaterra" title="Direito da Inglaterra – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Direito da Inglaterra" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BE" title="Английское право – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Английское право" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_law" title="English law – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="English law" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelsk_r%C3%A4tt" title="Engelsk rätt – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Engelsk rätt" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%99%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D" title="ஆங்கிலச் சட்டம் – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="ஆங்கிலச் சட்டம்" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0ngiliz_hukuku" title="İngiliz hukuku – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="İngiliz hukuku" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BE" title="Англійське право – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Англійське право" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%B2%DB%8C_%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86" title="انگریزی قانون – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="انگریزی قانون" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BB%87_th%E1%BB%91ng_ph%C3%A1p_lu%E1%BA%ADt_Anh" title="Hệ thống pháp luật Anh – Vietnamese" lang="vi" 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data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Law of the United Kingdom">Law of the United Kingdom</a>.</div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"English and Welsh law" redirects here. For Senedd-made legislation, see <a href="/wiki/Welsh_law" title="Welsh law">Welsh law</a>. For UK Acts of Parliament only applying to Wales, see <a href="/wiki/Wales-only_laws" class="mw-redirect" title="Wales-only laws">Wales-only laws</a>. For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/English_law_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="English law (disambiguation)">English law (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg/220px-Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="147" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg/330px-Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg/440px-Royal_Courts_of_Justice_Quadrangle_September_2023.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4500" data-file-height="3000" /></a><figcaption>The <a href="/wiki/Royal_Courts_of_Justice" title="Royal Courts of Justice">Royal Courts of Justice</a> is on the <a href="/wiki/Strand,_London" title="Strand, London">Strand</a> in <a href="/wiki/London" title="London">London</a>. Together with its adjacent Thomas More Building and its outpost Rolls Building on Fetter Lane, it is the main seat of the <a href="/wiki/High_Court_of_Justice" title="High Court of Justice">High Court of Justice</a> and the ordinary seat of the <a href="/wiki/Court_of_Appeal_of_England_and_Wales" class="mw-redirect" title="Court of Appeal of England and Wales">Court of Appeal</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p><b>English law</b> is the <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">common law</a> <a href="/wiki/List_of_national_legal_systems" title="List of national legal systems">legal system</a> of <a href="/wiki/England_and_Wales" title="England and Wales">England and Wales</a>, comprising mainly <a href="/wiki/English_criminal_law" title="English criminal law">criminal law</a> and <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(common_law)" title="Civil law (common law)">civil law</a>, each branch having its own <a href="/wiki/Courts_of_England_and_Wales" title="Courts of England and Wales">courts</a> and <a href="/wiki/Procedural_law" title="Procedural law">procedures</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Principal_elements">Principal elements</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Principal elements"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Although the common law has, historically, been the foundation and prime source of English law, the most authoritative law is statutory <a href="/wiki/Legislation" title="Legislation">legislation</a>, which comprises <a href="/wiki/Act_of_Parliament" class="mw-redirect" title="Act of Parliament">Acts of Parliament</a>, <a href="/wiki/Statutory_Instrument" class="mw-redirect" title="Statutory Instrument">regulations</a><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/By-law" title="By-law">by-laws</a>. In the absence of any statutory law, the common law with its principle of <i><a href="/wiki/Stare_decisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Stare decisis">stare decisis</a></i> forms the residual source of law, based on judicial decisions, custom, and usage.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Common law is made by sitting <a href="/wiki/Judge" title="Judge">judges</a> who apply both <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_legislation" class="mw-redirect" title="United Kingdom legislation">statutory law</a> and established principles which are derived from the <a href="/wiki/Ratio_decidendi" title="Ratio decidendi">reasoning</a> from <a href="/wiki/Precedent" title="Precedent">earlier</a> <a href="/wiki/Legal_case" class="mw-redirect" title="Legal case">decisions</a>. <a href="/wiki/Equity_(law)" title="Equity (law)">Equity</a> is the other historic source of judge-made law. Common law can be amended or repealed by <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_England" title="Parliament of England">Parliament</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>b<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Not being a <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)" title="Civil law (legal system)">civil law</a> system, it has no comprehensive <a href="/wiki/Codification_(law)" title="Codification (law)">codification</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>c<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, most of its criminal law has been codified from its common law origins, in the interests both of certainty and of ease of prosecution.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For the time being, <a href="/wiki/Murder_in_English_law" title="Murder in English law">murder</a> remains a common law crime rather than a statutory offence.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>d<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although Scotland and Northern Ireland form part of the United Kingdom and share Westminster as a primary legislature, they have separate legal systems outside English law. </p><p><a href="/wiki/International_treaty" class="mw-redirect" title="International treaty">International treaties</a> such as the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Rome" title="Treaty of Rome">Treaty of Rome</a><sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>e<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or the <a href="/wiki/Hague-Visby_Rules" class="mw-redirect" title="Hague-Visby Rules">Hague-Visby Rules</a> have <a href="/wiki/Incorporation_of_international_law#Dualist_systems" title="Incorporation of international law">effect in English law</a> only when adopted and ratified by Act of Parliament.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Adopted treaties may be subsequently denounced by executive action,<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> unless the denouncement or withdraw would affect rights enacted by Parliament. In this case, executive action cannot be used owing to the doctrine of <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_sovereignty" title="Parliamentary sovereignty">parliamentary sovereignty</a>. This principle was established in the case of <i><a href="/wiki/R_(Miller)_v_Secretary_of_State_for_Exiting_the_EU" class="mw-redirect" title="R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU">R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union</a></i> in 2017. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Legal_terminology">Legal terminology</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Legal terminology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Criminal_law_and_civil_law">Criminal law and civil law</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Criminal law and civil law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Justice_(3643291515).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg/170px-Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="170" height="194" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg/255px-Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg/340px-Justice_%283643291515%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1400" data-file-height="1600" /></a><figcaption>Statue of <a href="/wiki/Lady_Justice" title="Lady Justice">Lady Justice</a> on the dome of the <a href="/wiki/Central_Criminal_Court_(England_and_Wales)" class="mw-redirect" title="Central Criminal Court (England and Wales)">Central Criminal Court of England and Wales</a> in the <a href="/wiki/City_of_London" title="City of London">City of London</a> (the "<a href="/wiki/Old_Bailey" title="Old Bailey">Old Bailey</a>")</figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/English_criminal_law" title="English criminal law">Criminal law</a> is the law of crime and punishment whereby the <a href="/wiki/Crown_Prosecution_Service" title="Crown Prosecution Service">Crown</a> prosecutes the accused. <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(common_law)" title="Civil law (common law)">Civil law</a> is concerned with <a href="/wiki/Tort" title="Tort">tort</a>, contract, families, companies and so on. Civil law courts operate to provide a party<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>f<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> who has an <a href="/wiki/Cause_of_action" title="Cause of action">enforceable claim</a> against another party with a <a href="/wiki/Legal_remedy" title="Legal remedy">remedy</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Damages" title="Damages">damages</a> or a <a href="/wiki/Declaratory_judgment" title="Declaratory judgment">declaration</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Common_law_and_civil_law">Common law and civil law</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Common law and civil law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In this context, <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)" title="Civil law (legal system)">civil law</a> is the system of <a href="/wiki/Codification_(law)" title="Codification (law)">codified</a> law that is prevalent in Europe. Civil law is founded on the ideas of <a href="/wiki/Roman_law" title="Roman law">Roman law</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>g<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>By contrast, English law is the archetypal <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">common law</a> jurisdiction, built upon <a href="/wiki/Case_law" title="Case law">case law</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Common_law_and_equity">Common law and equity</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Common law and equity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In this context, <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">common law</a> means the judge-made law of the <a href="/wiki/Court_of_King%27s_Bench_(England)" title="Court of King's Bench (England)">King's Bench</a>; whereas <a href="/wiki/Equity_(law)" title="Equity (law)">equity</a> is the judge-made law of the (now-defunct) <a href="/wiki/Court_of_Chancery" title="Court of Chancery">Court of Chancery</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Equity is concerned mainly with <a href="/wiki/English_trust_law" title="English trust law">trusts</a> and <a href="/wiki/Equitable_remedy" title="Equitable remedy">equitable remedies</a>. Equity generally operates in accordance with the principles known as the "<a href="/wiki/Maxims_of_equity" title="Maxims of equity">maxims of equity</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>h<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The reforming <a href="/wiki/Judicature_Acts" title="Judicature Acts">Judicature Acts</a> of the 1880s amalgamated the courts into one Supreme Court of Judicature which was directed to administer both law and equity.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Neo-Gothic" class="mw-redirect" title="Neo-Gothic">neo-Gothic</a> <a href="/wiki/Royal_Courts_of_Justice" title="Royal Courts of Justice">Royal Courts of Justice</a> in The Strand, London, were built shortly afterwards to celebrate these reforms. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Public_law_and_private_law">Public law and private law</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Public law and private law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Public law<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>i<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> is the <a href="/wiki/Law" title="Law">law</a> governing relationships between individuals and the <a href="/wiki/Government" title="Government">state</a>. Private law encompasses relationships between private individuals and other private entities (but may also cover "private" relationships between the government and private entities). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Legal_remedies">Legal remedies</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Legal remedies"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A <a href="/wiki/Legal_remedy" title="Legal remedy">remedy</a> is "the means given by law for the recovery of a <a href="/wiki/Right" class="mw-redirect" title="Right">right</a>, or of <a href="/wiki/Financial_compensation" title="Financial compensation">compensation</a> for its infringement".<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most remedies are available only from the court, but some are "<a href="/wiki/Self-help_(law)" title="Self-help (law)">self-help</a>" remedies; for instance, a party who lawfully wishes to cancel<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>j<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> a contract may do so without leave;<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>k<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and a person may take his own steps to "<a href="/wiki/Nuisance_abatement" title="Nuisance abatement">abate a private nuisance</a>". </p><p>Formerly, most civil actions claiming damages in the <a href="/wiki/High_Court" class="mw-redirect" title="High Court">High Court</a> were commenced by obtaining a <a href="/wiki/Writ#History#Rationalisation_of_writs" title="Writ">writ</a> issued in the Queen's name. After 1979, writs have merely required the parties to appear, and writs are no longer issued in the name of the Crown.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After the <a href="/wiki/Woolf_Reforms" class="mw-redirect" title="Woolf Reforms">Woolf Reforms</a> of 1999, almost all civil actions other than those connected with insolvency are commenced by the completion of a Claim Form <sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as opposed to a writ, originating application, or a summons.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sources_of_English_law">Sources of English law</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Sources of English law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Sources_of_law" title="Sources of law">Sources of law</a></div><figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg/220px-SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="280" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg/330px-SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/SirWilliamBlackstone.jpg 2x" data-file-width="402" data-file-height="512" /></a><figcaption>Sir <a href="/wiki/William_Blackstone" title="William Blackstone">William Blackstone</a> in 1774, after his appointment as a Justice of the <a href="/wiki/Court_of_King%27s_Bench_(England)" title="Court of King's Bench (England)">Court of King's Bench</a></figcaption></figure> <p>In England there is a hierarchy of sources, as follows:<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li>Legislation (primary and secondary)</li> <li>The case law rules of common law and equity, derived from <a href="/wiki/Judicial_precedent" class="mw-redirect" title="Judicial precedent">precedent decisions</a></li> <li>Parliamentary conventions<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>l<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>General customs</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Books_of_authority" title="Books of authority">Books of authority</a><sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>m<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p>The rule of <a href="/wiki/European_Union_law" class="mw-redirect" title="European Union law">European Union law</a> in England, previously of prime importance, has been ended as a result of <a href="/wiki/Brexit" title="Brexit">Brexit</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Statute_law">Statute law</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Statute law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Statutory_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Statutory law">Statutory law</a></div> <p><b>Primary legislation</b> in the UK may take the following forms: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Acts_of_Parliament_in_the_United_Kingdom" class="mw-redirect" title="Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom">Acts of Parliament</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Acts_of_the_Scottish_Parliament" class="mw-redirect" title="Acts of the Scottish Parliament">Acts of the Scottish Parliament</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Act_of_the_Senedd" class="mw-redirect" title="Act of the Senedd">Acts of the Senedd</a>, or previously <a href="/wiki/Act_of_the_National_Assembly_for_Wales" class="mw-redirect" title="Act of the National Assembly for Wales">Acts of the National Assembly for Wales</a> and <a href="/wiki/Measures_of_the_National_Assembly_for_Wales" class="mw-redirect" title="Measures of the National Assembly for Wales">measures of the National Assembly for Wales</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statutory_rules_of_Northern_Ireland" title="Statutory rules of Northern Ireland">Statutory rules</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland_Assembly" title="Northern Ireland Assembly">Northern Ireland Assembly</a></li></ul> <p><a href="/wiki/Order_in_Council" title="Order in Council">Orders in Council</a> are a <i><a href="/wiki/Sui_generis" title="Sui generis">sui generis</a></i> category of legislation. </p><p><b>Secondary (or "delegated") legislation</b> in England includes: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Statutory_instrument_(UK)" title="Statutory instrument (UK)">Statutory instruments</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ministerial_order_(UK)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ministerial order (UK)">ministerial orders</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/By-law" title="By-law">By-laws</a> of <a href="/wiki/Metropolitan_borough" title="Metropolitan borough">metropolitan boroughs</a>, <a href="/wiki/County_council" title="County council">county councils</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Town_council" title="Town council">town councils</a></li></ul> <p>Statutes are cited in this fashion: "<a href="/wiki/Short_title" class="mw-redirect" title="Short title">Short Title</a> Year", e.g. <a href="/wiki/Theft_Act_1968" title="Theft Act 1968">Theft Act 1968</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>n<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This became the usual way to refer to Acts from 1840 onwards; previously Acts were cited by their <a href="/wiki/Long_title" class="mw-redirect" title="Long title">long title</a> with the <a href="/wiki/Regnal_year" title="Regnal year">regnal year</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_session" class="mw-redirect" title="Parliamentary session">parliamentary session</a> when they received <a href="/wiki/Royal_assent" title="Royal assent">royal assent</a>, and the chapter number. For example, the <a href="/wiki/Pleading_in_English_Act_1362" title="Pleading in English Act 1362">Pleading in English Act 1362</a> (which required <a href="/wiki/Pleading_(England_and_Wales)" title="Pleading (England and Wales)">pleadings</a> to be in English and not <a href="/wiki/Law_French" title="Law French">Law French</a>) was referred to as <i><a href="/wiki/36_Edw._3" class="mw-redirect" title="36 Edw. 3">36 Edw. 3</a>. c. 15,</i> meaning "36th year of the reign of <a href="/wiki/Edward_III_of_England" title="Edward III of England">Edward III</a>, chapter 15".<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>o<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (By contrast, American convention inserts "of", as in "<a href="/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" title="Civil Rights Act of 1964">Civil Rights Act <i>of</i> 1964</a>"). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Common_law">Common law</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Common law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">Common law</a></div> <p>Common law is a term with historical origins in the legal system of England. It denotes, in the first place, the Anglo-Norman legal system that superseded and replaced <a href="/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_law" title="Anglo-Saxon law">Anglo-Saxon law</a> in England following the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings" title="Battle of Hastings">Battle of Hastings</a> in 1066. Throughout the <a href="/wiki/Late_Medieval_Period" class="mw-redirect" title="Late Medieval Period">Late Medieval Period</a>, English law was codified through judge-made laws and precedents that were created in the proceedings of Royal justices in the <a href="/wiki/Circuit_court" title="Circuit court">Circuit courts</a> dictated by the <a href="/wiki/Eyre_(legal_term)" title="Eyre (legal term)">Eyres</a> throughout the country (these themselves evolving from the early medieval <a href="/wiki/Itinerant_court" title="Itinerant court">Itinerant courts</a>). This body of legal scholarship was first published at the end of the 19th century, <i>The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> in which <a href="/wiki/Sir_Frederick_Pollock,_1st_Baronet" title="Sir Frederick Pollock, 1st Baronet">Pollock</a> and <a href="/wiki/Frederic_William_Maitland" title="Frederic William Maitland">Maitland</a> expanded the work of <a href="/wiki/Edward_Coke" title="Edward Coke">Coke</a> (17th century) and <a href="/wiki/William_Blackstone" title="William Blackstone">Blackstone</a> (18th century). Specifically, the law developed in England's <a href="/wiki/Court_of_Common_Pleas_(England)" title="Court of Common Pleas (England)">Court of Common Pleas</a> and other common law courts, which became also the law of the colonies settled initially under the Crown of England or, later, of the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>, in <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>, <a href="/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a>, <a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a>, <a href="/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a>, <a href="/wiki/Indian_subcontinent" title="Indian subcontinent">Indian Subcontient</a>, <a href="/wiki/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> and elsewhere. </p><p>This law further developed after those courts in England were reorganised by the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Judicature_Act" title="Supreme Court of Judicature Act">Supreme Court of Judicature Acts</a> passed in the 1870s. It developed independently, in the legal systems of the United States and other jurisdictions, after their independence from the United Kingdom, before and after the 1870s. The term is used, in the second place, to denote the law developed by those courts, in the same periods, pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial, as distinct from within the jurisdiction, or former jurisdiction, of other courts in England: the <a href="/wiki/Court_of_Chancery" title="Court of Chancery">Court of Chancery</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Ecclesiastical_court" title="Ecclesiastical court">ecclesiastical courts</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Admiralty_court" title="Admiralty court">Admiralty court</a>. </p><p>In the <a href="/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" title="Oxford English Dictionary">Oxford English Dictionary</a> (1933) "common law" is described as "The unwritten law of England, administered by the King's courts, which purports to be derived from ancient usage, and is embodied in the older commentaries and the reports of abridged cases", as opposed, in that sense, to statute law, and as distinguished from the equity administered by the Chancery and similar courts, and from other systems such as ecclesiastical law, and admiralty law.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For usage in the United States the description is "the body of legal doctrine which is the foundation of the law administered in all states settled from England, and those formed by later settlement or division from them".<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Possible_Islamic_Origins">Possible Islamic Origins</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Possible Islamic Origins"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Professor John Makdisi's article "The Islamic Origins of the Common Law" in the <i><a href="/wiki/North_Carolina_Law_Review" title="North Carolina Law Review">North Carolina Law Review</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-Makdisi_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Makdisi-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> theorised that English common law was influenced by medieval <a href="/wiki/Islamic_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Islamic law">Islamic law</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Devichand_46-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Devichand-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Makdisi drew comparisons between the "royal English <a href="/wiki/Contract" title="Contract">contract</a> protected by the action of <a href="/wiki/Debt" title="Debt">debt</a>" and the "Islamic <i>Aqd</i>", the "English <a href="/wiki/Assize_of_novel_disseisin" title="Assize of novel disseisin">assize of novel disseisin</a>" (a petty assize adopted in the 1166 at the Assizes of Clarendon) and the "Islamic <i>Istihqaq</i>", and the "English <a href="/wiki/Jury" title="Jury">jury</a>" and the "Islamic <i>Lafif</i>" in the classical <a href="/wiki/Maliki" class="mw-redirect" title="Maliki">Maliki</a> school of <a href="/wiki/Fiqh" title="Fiqh">Islamic jurisprudence</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Makdisi_45-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Makdisi-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>He argued that these institutions were transmitted to England by the <a href="/wiki/Normans" title="Normans">Normans</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Makdisi_45-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Makdisi-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> "through the close connection between the Norman kingdoms of <a href="/wiki/Roger_II_of_Sicily" title="Roger II of Sicily">Roger II in Sicily</a> — ruling over a conquered Islamic administration — and <a href="/wiki/Henry_II_of_England" title="Henry II of England">Henry II in England</a>."<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Makdisi argued that the "<a href="/wiki/Law_school" title="Law school">law schools</a> known as <a href="/wiki/Inns_of_Court" title="Inns of Court">Inns of Court</a>" in England, which he asserts are parallel to <a href="/wiki/Madrasah" class="mw-redirect" title="Madrasah">Madrasahs</a>, may have also originated from Islamic law.<sup id="cite_ref-Makdisi_45-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Makdisi-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He states that the methodology of legal <a href="/wiki/Precedent" title="Precedent">precedent</a> and reasoning by <a href="/wiki/Analogy" title="Analogy">analogy</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/Qiyas" title="Qiyas">Qiyas</a></i>) are similar in both the Islamic and common law systems.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Other legal scholars such as Monica Gaudiosi, Gamal Moursi Badr and A. Hudson have argued that the English <a href="/wiki/Trust_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Trust law">trust</a> and <a href="/wiki/Agency_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Agency (law)">agency</a> institutions, which were introduced by <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusaders</a>, may have been adapted from the Islamic <i><a href="/wiki/Waqf" title="Waqf">Waqf</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/Hawala" title="Hawala">Hawala</a></i> institutions they came across in the Middle East.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Paul Brand notes parallels between the <i>Waqf</i> and the trusts used to establish <a href="/wiki/Merton_College,_Oxford" title="Merton College, Oxford">Merton College</a> by <a href="/wiki/Walter_de_Merton" title="Walter de Merton">Walter de Merton</a>, who had connections with the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Knights Templar</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Devichand_46-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Devichand-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Early_development">Early development</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Early development"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1276, the concept of "<a href="/wiki/Time_immemorial" title="Time immemorial">time immemorial</a>" often applied in common law, was defined as being any time before 6 July 1189 (i.e. before <a href="/wiki/Richard_I_of_England" title="Richard I of England">Richard I</a>'s accession to the <a href="/wiki/English_throne" class="mw-redirect" title="English throne">English throne</a>). Since 1189, English law has been a common law, not a <a href="/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)" title="Civil law (legal system)">civil law</a> system. In other words, no comprehensive codification of the law has taken place and <a href="/wiki/Precedent" title="Precedent">judicial precedents</a> are binding as opposed to persuasive. This may be a legacy of the <a href="/wiki/Norman_Conquest" title="Norman Conquest">Norman Conquest</a> of England in 1066, when a number of legal concepts and institutions from <a href="/wiki/Norman_law" title="Norman law">Norman law</a> were introduced to England.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the early centuries of English common law, the justices and <a href="/wiki/Judge" title="Judge">judges</a> were responsible for adapting the system of <a href="/wiki/Writ" title="Writ">writs</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Law_Merchant" class="mw-redirect" title="Law Merchant">Law Merchant</a> derived from the <a href="/wiki/Court_of_piepowders" title="Court of piepowders">"Pie-Powder" Courts</a>, named from a corruption of the <a href="/wiki/Law_French" title="Law French">French</a> <i>pieds-poudrés</i> ("dusty feet") implying <a href="/wiki/Ad_hoc" title="Ad hoc">ad hoc</a> marketplace courts. </p><p>Following <a href="/wiki/Montesquieu" title="Montesquieu">Montesquieu</a>'s theory of the "separation of powers", only Parliament has the power to legislate. If a statute is ambiguous, then the courts have exclusive power to decide its true meaning, using the principles of <a href="/wiki/Statutory_interpretation" title="Statutory interpretation">statutory interpretation</a>. Since the courts have no authority to legislate, the "<a href="/wiki/Legal_fiction" title="Legal fiction">legal fiction</a>" is that they "declare" (rather than "create") the common law. The <a href="/wiki/House_of_Lords" title="House of Lords">House of Lords</a> took this "declaratory power" a stage further in <i>DPP v Shaw</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> where, in creating the new crime of "conspiracy to corrupt public morals", <a href="/wiki/Gavin_Simonds,_1st_Viscount_Simonds" title="Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds">Viscount Simonds</a> claimed the court had a "residual power to protect the moral welfare of the state".<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As Parliament became ever more established and influential, Parliamentary <a href="/wiki/Legislation" title="Legislation">legislation</a> gradually overtook judicial law-making, such that today's judges are able to innovate only in certain, very narrowly defined areas. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Overseas_influences">Overseas influences</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Overseas influences"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:The-queens-dominions.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/The-queens-dominions.jpg/320px-The-queens-dominions.jpg" decoding="async" width="320" height="251" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/The-queens-dominions.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="447" data-file-height="351" /></a><figcaption>A map of the British Empire under <a href="/wiki/Queen_Victoria" title="Queen Victoria">Queen Victoria</a> at the end of the nineteenth century. "Dominions" refers to all territories belonging to <a href="/wiki/The_Crown" title="The Crown">the Crown</a>.</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Reciprocity">Reciprocity</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Reciprocity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>England exported its common law and statute law to most parts of the <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a>. Many aspects of that system have survived after Independence from British rule, and the influences are often reciprocal. "English law" prior to the American Revolutionary Wars (American War of Independence) is still an influence on <a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States" title="Law of the United States">American law</a>, and provides the basis for many American legal traditions and principles. </p><p>After independence, English common law still exerted influence over American common law – for example, <i><a href="/wiki/Byrne_v_Boadle" title="Byrne v Boadle">Byrne v Boadle</a></i> (1863), which first applied the <i><a href="/wiki/Res_ipsa_loquitur" title="Res ipsa loquitur">res ipsa loquitur</a></i> doctrine. Jurisdictions that have kept to the common law may incorporate modern legal developments from England, and English decisions are usually persuasive in such jurisdictions. </p><p>In the United States, each state has its own supreme court with final appellate jurisdiction, resulting in the development of state common law. The US Supreme Court has the final say over federal matters. By contrast, in Australia, one national common law exists.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Courts_of_final_appeal">Courts of final appeal</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Courts of final appeal"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>After Britain's colonial period, jurisdictions that had inherited and adopted England's common law<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>p<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> developed their courts of final appeal in differing ways: jurisdictions still under the British crown are subject to the <a href="/wiki/Judicial_Committee_of_the_Privy_Council" title="Judicial Committee of the Privy Council">Judicial Committee of the Privy Council</a> in London.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>q<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For a long period, the British <a href="/wiki/Dominion" title="Dominion">Dominions</a> used London's Privy Council as their final appeal court, although one by one they eventually established their local <a href="/wiki/Supreme_court" title="Supreme court">supreme court</a>. New Zealand was the last Dominion to abandon the Privy Council, setting up its own <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_New_Zealand" title="Supreme Court of New Zealand">Supreme Court</a> in 2004.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>r<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Even after independence, many former British colonies in the <a href="/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth</a> continued to use the Privy Council, as it offered a readily available high-grade service. In particular, several Caribbean Island nations found the Privy Council advantageous. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="International_law_and_commerce">International law and commerce</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: International law and commerce"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Britain is a <a href="/wiki/Dualism_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Dualism (law)">dualist</a> in its relationship with international law, so international treaties must be formally ratified by Parliament and incorporated into statute before such <a href="/wiki/Supranationalism" class="mw-redirect" title="Supranationalism">supranational</a> laws become binding in the UK.<sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>s<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>t<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>u<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>v<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Britain has long been a major trading nation, exerting a strong influence on the law of <a href="/wiki/Maritime_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Maritime law">shipping</a> and <a href="/wiki/International_trade_law" title="International trade law">maritime trade</a>. The English law of <a href="/wiki/Marine_salvage" title="Marine salvage">salvage</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Collisions" class="mw-redirect" title="Collisions">collisions</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> ship arrest,<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Law_of_Carriage_of_Goods_by_Sea" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Carriage of Goods by Sea">carriage of goods by sea</a><sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> are subject to international conventions which Britain played a leading role in drafting. Many of these conventions incorporate principles derived from English common law<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-68"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>w<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and documentary procedures.<sup id="cite_ref-69" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-69"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>x<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="British_jurisdictions">British jurisdictions</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: British jurisdictions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_Kingdom#Legal_jurisdictions" title="Law of the United Kingdom">Law of the United Kingdom § Legal jurisdictions</a></div><figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Middlesex_Guildhall_(cropped).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg/330px-Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg/440px-Middlesex_Guildhall_%28cropped%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="964" data-file-height="723" /></a><figcaption>The former <a href="/wiki/Middlesex_Guildhall" title="Middlesex Guildhall">Middlesex Guildhall</a> in <a href="/wiki/Parliament_Square" title="Parliament Square">Parliament Square</a> is now the location of the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Supreme Court of the United Kingdom">Supreme Court of the United Kingdom</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland comprises three legal jurisdictions: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Although Scotland and Northern Ireland form part of the United Kingdom and share the Parliament at Westminster as the primary legislature, they have separate legal systems. Scotland became part of the UK over 300 years ago, but <a href="/wiki/Scots_law" title="Scots law">Scots law</a> has remained remarkably distinct from English law. </p><p>The UK's highest civil <a href="/wiki/Appeal_court" class="mw-redirect" title="Appeal court">appeal court</a> is the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Supreme Court of the United Kingdom">Supreme Court of the United Kingdom</a>, whose decisions, and those of its predecessor the House of Lords, are binding on all three UK jurisdictions. Unless obviously limited to a principle of distinct English and Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish law, as in <i><a href="/wiki/Donoghue_v_Stevenson" title="Donoghue v Stevenson">Donoghue v Stevenson</a></i>, a Scots case that forms the basis of the UK's law of <a href="/wiki/Negligence" title="Negligence">negligence</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-70"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Application_of_English_law_to_Wales">Application of English law to Wales</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Application of English law to Wales"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Proposed_Wales_criminal_justice_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Proposed Wales criminal justice system">Proposed Wales criminal justice system</a></div> <p>Unlike <a href="/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a> and <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a> is not a separate <a href="/wiki/Jurisdiction_(area)" title="Jurisdiction (area)">jurisdiction</a> within the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>. The customary laws of <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a> within the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_England" title="Kingdom of England">Kingdom of England</a> were abolished by <a href="/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England" class="mw-redirect" title="Henry VIII of England">King Henry VIII</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Laws_in_Wales_Acts" class="mw-redirect" title="Laws in Wales Acts">Laws in Wales Acts</a>, which brought Wales into legal conformity with England. While <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a> now has a devolved <a href="/wiki/Senedd" title="Senedd">parliament (the Senedd)</a>, any legislation it passes <a href="/wiki/Intra_vires" class="mw-redirect" title="Intra vires">must adhere to circumscribed subjects</a> under the <a href="/wiki/Government_of_Wales_Act_2006" title="Government of Wales Act 2006">Government of Wales Act 2006</a>, to other legislation of the <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">British Parliament</a>, or to any <a href="/wiki/Order_in_Council" title="Order in Council">Order in Council</a> given under the authority of the 2006 Act. </p><p>Any reference to England in legislation between 1746 and 1967 is deemed to include Wales. As to later legislation, any application to Wales must be expressed under the <a href="/wiki/Welsh_Language_Act_1967" title="Welsh Language Act 1967">Welsh Language Act 1967</a> and the jurisdiction is, since, correctly and widely referred to as <a href="/wiki/England_and_Wales" title="England and Wales">England and Wales</a>. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Devolution" title="Devolution">Devolution</a> has granted some political autonomy to <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a> via the <a href="/wiki/National_Assembly_for_Wales" class="mw-redirect" title="National Assembly for Wales">National Assembly for Wales</a>, which gained its power to pass primary legislation under the <a href="/wiki/Government_of_Wales_Act_2006" title="Government of Wales Act 2006">Government of Wales Act 2006</a>, in force since the <a href="/wiki/2007_Welsh_general_election" class="mw-redirect" title="2007 Welsh general election">2007 Welsh general election</a>. The legal system administered through civil and criminal courts is unified throughout <a href="/wiki/England_and_Wales" title="England and Wales">England and Wales</a>. </p><p>This is different from <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>, for example, which did not cease to be a distinct <a href="/wiki/Jurisdiction_(area)" title="Jurisdiction (area)">jurisdiction</a> when its legislature was suspended (see <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland_(Temporary_Provisions)_Act_1972" title="Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972">Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972</a>). A major difference is use of the <a href="/wiki/Welsh_language" title="Welsh language">Welsh language</a>, as laws concerning it apply in Wales and not in the rest of the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>. The <a href="/wiki/Welsh_Language_Act_1993" title="Welsh Language Act 1993">Welsh Language Act 1993</a> 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. Welsh may also be spoken in Welsh courts. </p><p>There have been calls from both Welsh academics and politicians for a separate <a href="/wiki/Proposed_Welsh_justice_system" title="Proposed Welsh justice system">Welsh justice system</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-71"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-72"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:1_73-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-73"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Classes_of_English_law">Classes of English law</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Classes of English law"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 22em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_administrative_law" title="United Kingdom administrative law">Administrative law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arbitration" title="Arbitration">Arbitration law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charitable_organization#England_and_Wales" title="Charitable organization">Charities</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Civil_procedure_in_England_and_Wales" title="Civil procedure in England and Wales">Civil procedure in England and Wales</a> and <a href="/wiki/Legal_professions_in_England_and_Wales" title="Legal professions in England and Wales">Legal Services and Institutions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Commercial_law" title="Commercial law">Commercial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">Company law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_constitutional_law" title="United Kingdom constitutional law">Constitutional law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_contract_law" title="English contract law">Contract law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_criminal_law" title="English criminal law">Criminal law</a><sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-74"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>y<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Criminal_procedure" title="Criminal procedure">Criminal (law) procedure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_labour_law" title="United Kingdom labour law">Employment</a> and <a href="/wiki/Agency_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Agency (law)">Agency</a><sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-75"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>z<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Equity_(law)" title="Equity (law)">Equity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_banking_law" title="United Kingdom banking law">Financial services and institutions</a><sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-76"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>aa<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hearsay_in_English_law" title="Hearsay in English law">Evidence</a> and <a href="/wiki/Locus_standi" class="mw-redirect" title="Locus standi">Actionability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_family_law" title="English family law">Family law (private and public regarding local authorities)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_England" class="mw-redirect" title="Bankruptcy in England">Bankruptcy</a> and <a href="/wiki/Insolvency_(law)" class="mw-redirect" title="Insolvency (law)">Insolvency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Probate#England_and_Wales" title="Probate">Probate (and intestacy) law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_property_law" title="English property law">Property law (with tort, contract and criminal overlap) (includes land, landlord and tenant, occupancy, housing conditions and intellectual property law, sales, auctions and repossessions)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maritime_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Maritime law">Maritime law and law of the sea</a> (mainly private and public international law)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/UK_tax_system" class="mw-redirect" title="UK tax system">Taxation, tax credits and benefits law</a><sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-77"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>ab<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_tort_law" title="English tort law">Tort law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_trust_law" title="English trust law">Trust law</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239009302">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa)}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-entry{display:table-row;font-size:85%;line-height:110%;height:1.9em;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-image{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output 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class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">English regulations are not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Regulation_(European_Union)" title="Regulation (European Union)">EU Regulations</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The old estates in land were replaced by new provisions in the <a href="/wiki/Law_of_Property_Act_1925" title="Law of Property Act 1925">1925 property legislation</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Two areas of commercial law, sale of goods and marine insurance, were codified into (respectively) the <a href="/wiki/Sale_of_Goods_Act_1979" title="Sale of Goods Act 1979">Sale of Goods Act 1893</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Marine_Insurance_Act_1906" title="Marine Insurance Act 1906">Marine Insurance Act 1906</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In contentious cases, such as the battered wife's revenge, or family <a href="/wiki/Mercy_killing" class="mw-redirect" title="Mercy killing">mercy killings</a>, English juries have been glad of the ability to treat a clear murder as though it were manslaughter.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Now renamed as <a href="/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Functioning_of_the_European_Union" title="Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union">Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">... or "claimant", "plaintiff", "petitioner" etc.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">An example of civil law is the <a href="/wiki/Napoleonic_Code" title="Napoleonic Code">Napoleonic Code</a> in France</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Equitable maxims include: "<a href="/wiki/Maxims_of_equity#Equity_will_not_suffer_a_wrong_to_be_without_a_remedy" title="Maxims of equity">Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy</a>", "<a href="/wiki/Maxims_of_equity#Equity_acts_in_personam_(i.e._on_persons_rather_than_on_objects)" title="Maxims of equity">Equity acts on the person</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Maxims_of_equity#He_who_comes_into_equity_must_come_with_clean_hands" title="Maxims of equity">He who comes into equity must come with clean hands</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">This distinction is borrowed from civil law systems, and is neither as useful nor as appropriate in England as in Europe.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Using <a href="/wiki/Anticipatory_repudiation" title="Anticipatory repudiation">repudiation</a> or <a href="/wiki/Rescission_(contract_law)" title="Rescission (contract law)">rescission</a>, (as the case may be)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">If the other party feels that the first was wrong to cancel, he may ask a court to "<a href="/wiki/Declaratory_judgment" title="Declaratory judgment">declare</a> the contract subsisting".<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Parliamentary conventions should not be confused with international conventions, which are treaties adopted and ratified by Parliament.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Such as <a href="/wiki/Edward_Coke" title="Edward Coke">Coke</a> and <a href="/wiki/William_Blackstone" title="William Blackstone">Blackstone</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Before 1963 Acts were cited with a comma between the Short Title and the year, e.g. "Acts of Parliament Numbering and Citation Act, 1962".<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1962/34/pdfs/ukpga_19620034_en.pdf">[1]</a> The comma has since been dropped, e.g. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/24/pdfs/ukpga_19630024_en.pdf">British Museum Act 1963</a>"</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Although in the past this was all spelled out, together with the long title.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-57">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">In this context, "common law" has been described as a body of judge-made law enforced and developed by the courts which <i>includes</i> equity and admiralty law, and which has always been "unintelligible without reference to the statute".<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The US, Britain's first colony to be "lost", has a central federal Supreme Court as well as a "supreme court" in each state.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Any decisions of the Privy Council made before the change of jurisdiction remain binding legal precedent.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mere agreement to the final text of a treaty is only the first stage, hence "dualist". For instance, Britain has yet to ratify the terms of the <a href="/wiki/Arrest_Convention_1999" title="Arrest Convention 1999">Arrest Convention 1999</a>, so the earlier 1952 treaty is still in place.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ratification after agreement of a final text often takes decades. In the case of the <a href="/wiki/Maritime_Labour_Convention" title="Maritime Labour Convention">Maritime Labour Convention</a> of 2006, even though the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">EU</a> instructed member states to adopt the MLC, this "fast-tracked" treaty still did not come into force until 2013.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For example, the <a href="/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights" title="European Convention on Human Rights">European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms</a> was signed in 1950 and Britain allowed individuals to directly petition the <a href="/wiki/European_Commission_on_Human_Rights" class="mw-redirect" title="European Commission on Human Rights">European Commission on Human Rights</a> from 1966. Now s6(1) <a href="/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998" title="Human Rights Act 1998">Human Rights Act 1998</a> (HRA) makes it unlawful "... for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a convention right", where a "public authority" is any person or body which exercises a public function, expressly including the courts but expressly excluding Parliament.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Although the European Convention has begun to be applied to the acts of non-state agents, the Human Rights Act (HRA) does not make the convention specifically applicable between private parties. Courts have taken the convention into account in interpreting the common law. They also must take the convention into account in interpreting Acts of Parliament, but must ultimately follow the terms of the Act even if inconsistent with the convention (s3 HRA).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-68"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-68">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Such as the rule on <a href="/wiki/Deviation_(law)" title="Deviation (law)">deviation</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-69"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-69">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Such as the <a href="/wiki/Lloyd%27s_Open_Form" title="Lloyd's Open Form">Lloyd's Open Form</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-74"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-74">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">English criminal law derives its main principles from the common law. The main elements of a crime are the <i><a href="/wiki/Actus_reus" title="Actus reus">actus reus</a></i> (doing something which is criminally prohibited) and a <i><a href="/wiki/Mens_rea" title="Mens rea">mens rea</a></i> (having the requisite criminal state of mind, usually <a href="/wiki/Intention_in_English_law" title="Intention in English law">intention</a> or <a href="/wiki/Recklessness_(law)" title="Recklessness (law)">recklessness</a>). A prosecutor must show that a person has <a href="/wiki/Causation_in_English_law" title="Causation in English law">caused</a> the offensive conduct, or that the culprit had some pre-existing duty to take steps to avoid a criminal consequence. The types of different crimes ranging from those well-known ones like <a href="/wiki/Manslaughter_in_English_law" title="Manslaughter in English law">manslaughter</a>, <a href="/wiki/Murder_in_English_law" title="Murder in English law">murder</a>, <a href="/wiki/Theft_in_English_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Theft in English law">theft</a> and <a href="/wiki/Robbery_in_English_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Robbery in English law">robbery</a> to many regulatory and statutory offenses. It is estimated that in the UK, there are 3,500 classes of a criminal offence. Certain defences may exist to crimes, which include <a href="/wiki/Self-defence_in_English_law" title="Self-defence in English law">self-defence</a>, <a href="/wiki/Intention_in_English_law" title="Intention in English law">intention</a>, <a href="/wiki/Necessity_in_English_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Necessity in English law">necessity</a>, <a href="/wiki/Duress_in_English_law" title="Duress in English law">duress</a>, and in the case of a murder charge, diplomatic immunity and under the Homicide Act 1957, <a href="/wiki/Diminished_responsibility_in_English_law" title="Diminished responsibility in English law">diminished responsibility</a>, <a href="/wiki/Provocation_in_English_law" title="Provocation in English law">provocation</a> and, in very rare cases, the survival of a <a href="/wiki/Suicide_pact" title="Suicide pact">suicide pact</a>. It has often been suggested that England and Wales should codify its criminal law in an <a href="/wiki/English_Criminal_Code" title="English Criminal Code">English Criminal Code</a>, but there has been no overwhelming support for this in the past.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-75"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-75">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Subject to general laws from incorporated European Regulations and Directives and mainly regulated in the same way across the United Kingdom</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-76"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-76">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Almost uniform throughout the UK</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-77"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-77">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Harmonised, not uniform, across the UK</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For Civil procedure, see <a href="/wiki/Civil_procedure_in_England_and_Wales" title="Civil procedure in England and Wales">Civil procedure in England and Wales</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For Criminal procedure, see the <a href="/wiki/Criminal_Procedure_and_Investigations_Act_1996" title="Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996">Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Note: "English law" is more accurately, termed the law of <a href="/wiki/England_and_Wales" title="England and Wales">England and Wales</a> and is applied in agreements that parties will adopt the <b>jurisdiction of England and Wales</b> as well as for matters within the physical jurisdiction.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/unwritten-law">Collins English Dictionary</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">It is characteristic of the common law to adopt an approach based "on precedent, and on the development of the law incrementally and by analogy with established authorities", <i>Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police</i>, Supreme Court, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2018/4.html">[2018] UKSC 4, para. 21</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For example, section 4 of the <a href="/wiki/Carriage_of_Goods_by_Sea_Act_1992" class="mw-redirect" title="Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992">Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992</a> repealed the rule in <i><a href="/wiki/Grant_v_Norway" title="Grant v Norway">Grant v Norway</a></i> (1851) 10 CB 665.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-law-codification-of-the-criminal-law-a-report-of-the-law-commission">Law Commission Report on the Codification of the Criminal Law</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Fisher_v_Bell" title="Fisher v Bell">Fisher v Bell</a></i> [1961] 1 QB 394</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Law Commission Consultation Paper no. 177 - "A New Homicide Act for England and Wales?"</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/woman-walks-free-after-mercy-killing-case-9143264.html">"Woman walks free after mercy killing case"</a>. <i>The Independent</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2018-08-03</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Independent&rft.atitle=Woman+walks+free+after+mercy+killing+case&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk%2Fthis-britain%2Fwoman-walks-free-after-mercy-killing-case-9143264.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Carriage_of_Goods_by_Sea_Act_1971" title="Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971">Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971</a>: s.1(1)In this Act, "the Rules" means the International Convention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to bills of lading (...). s.1(2)The provisions of the Rules, as set out in the Schedule to this Act, shall have the force of law.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/arrest1952.html">Arrest Convention 1952 Art. 17</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Other remedies include <a href="/wiki/Equitable_remedy" title="Equitable remedy">equitable relief</a> such as an <a href="/wiki/Injunction" title="Injunction">injunction</a> and <a href="/wiki/Account_of_profits" title="Account of profits">account of profits</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Penny Darbyshire writes: "... in England ... at no time was it felt necessary to look outside the principles of common law or equity for assistance. Inevitably, through the ecclesiastical courts in particular, some Roman law influence can be traced, but in general terms, this is very limited". - <i>Darbyshire on the English Legal System</i> (2017)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The <a href="/wiki/Judicature_Acts" title="Judicature Acts">Judicature Acts</a> of 1873-75 abolished the Court of Chancery and "fused" law and equity. Today, equity cases are mostly dealt with in the Chancery Division of the <a href="/wiki/High_Court_of_Justice" title="High Court of Justice">High Court</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Snell, Edmund Henry Turner; Megarry, R.E.; Baker, P.V. (1960). <i>Snell's Principles of Equity</i> (25 ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. p. 24</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Snell, Edmund Henry Turner; Megarry, R.E.; Baker, P.V. (1960). <i>Snell's Principles of Equity</i> (25 ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. p. 10</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Law Dictionary (10th ed) - E.R.Hardy Ivamay - Butterworths</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See <i><a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Fir_Shipping_Co_Ltd_v_Kawasaki_Kisen_Kaisha_Ltd" title="Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd">Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd</a> 1961] EWCA Civ 7</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Misrepresentation_Act_1967" title="Misrepresentation Act 1967">Misrepresentation Act 1967</a> s.2</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1979/1716/made">Rules of the Supreme Court (Writ and Appearance) 1979 (Statutory Instrument 1979, No. 1716)</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1980/feb/07/rules-of-the-supreme-court-writ-and">discussed in House of Lords in 1980</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">...as prescribed by Rules 7 <i>How to start proceedings</i> and 8 <i>Alternative procedure for claims</i> of the <a href="/wiki/Civil_Procedure_Rules" title="Civil Procedure Rules">Civil Procedure Rules</a>)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/3132/contents/made">The Civil Procedure Rules 1998</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSlapperKelly2016" class="citation book cs1">Slapper; Kelly (2016). <i>English Legal System</i>. Routledge.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=English+Legal+System&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2016&rft.au=Slapper&rft.au=Kelly&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/brexit/retained-eu-law">"Retained EU Law"</a>. <i>www.lawsociety.org.uk</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-01-03</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.lawsociety.org.uk&rft.atitle=Retained+EU+Law&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lawsociety.org.uk%2Ftopics%2Fbrexit%2Fretained-eu-law&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See also: acts listed in First Schedule to <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1896/14/pdfs/ukpga_18960014_en.pdf">Short Titles Act, 1896</a>) where the title is the "<a href="/wiki/Short_title" class="mw-redirect" title="Short title">short title</a>", and ends in "Act", as in "Interpretation Act 1978".</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFProfessor_S._F._C._Milsom1968" class="citation book cs1 cs1-prop-long-vol">Professor <a href="/wiki/S._F._C._Milsom" title="S. F. C. Milsom">S. F. C. Milsom</a> (1968). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/pollock-the-history-of-english-law-before-the-time-of-edward-i-2-vols"><i>The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I</i></a>. Vol. 1 and 2. Cambridge University Press. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201027103457/http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/pollock-the-history-of-english-law-before-the-time-of-edward-i-2-vols">Archived</a> from the original on Oct 27, 2020 – via Online Library of Liberty.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+History+of+English+Law+before+the+Time+of+Edward+I&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1968&rft.au=Professor+S.+F.+C.+Milsom&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Foll.libertyfund.org%2Ftitles%2Fpollock-the-history-of-english-law-before-the-time-of-edward-i-2-vols&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">OED, 1933 edition: citations supporting that description, before Blackstone, are from the 14th and 16th centuries.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">OED, 1933 edition: citations supporting that description are two from 19th century sources.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Makdisi-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Makdisi_45-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Makdisi_45-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Makdisi_45-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Makdisi_45-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMakdisi1999" class="citation journal cs1">Makdisi, John A. (June 1999). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3823&context=nclr">"The Islamic Origins of the Common Law"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/North_Carolina_Law_Review" title="North Carolina Law Review">North Carolina Law Review</a></i>. <b>77</b> (5). <a href="/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_School_of_Law" title="University of North Carolina School of Law">University of North Carolina School of Law</a>: 1635–1739.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=North+Carolina+Law+Review&rft.atitle=The+Islamic+Origins+of+the+Common+Law&rft.volume=77&rft.issue=5&rft.pages=1635-1739&rft.date=1999-06&rft.aulast=Makdisi&rft.aufirst=John+A.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.unc.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D3823%26context%3Dnclr&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Devichand-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Devichand_46-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Devichand_46-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMukul_Devichand2008" class="citation news cs1">Mukul Devichand (24 September 2008). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7631388.stm">"Is English law related to Muslim law?"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/BBC_News" title="BBC News">BBC News</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2008-10-05</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=BBC+News&rft.atitle=Is+English+law+related+to+Muslim+law%3F&rft.date=2008-09-24&rft.au=Mukul+Devichand&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F1%2Fhi%2Fmagazine%2F7631388.stm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHussain2001" class="citation journal cs1">Hussain, Jamila (2001). "Book Review: <i>The Justice of Islam</i> by Lawrence Rosen". <i><a href="/wiki/Melbourne_University_Law_Review" title="Melbourne University Law Review">Melbourne University Law Review</a></i>. <b>30</b>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Melbourne+University+Law+Review&rft.atitle=Book+Review%3A+The+Justice+of+Islam+by+Lawrence+Rosen&rft.volume=30&rft.date=2001&rft.aulast=Hussain&rft.aufirst=Jamila&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFEl-Gamal2006" class="citation book cs1">El-Gamal, Mahmoud A. (2006). <i>Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice</i>. <a href="/wiki/Cambridge_University_Press" title="Cambridge University Press">Cambridge University Press</a>. p. 16. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-86414-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-86414-5"><bdi>978-0-521-86414-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Islamic+Finance%3A+Law%2C+Economics%2C+and+Practice&rft.pages=16&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-0-521-86414-5&rft.aulast=El-Gamal&rft.aufirst=Mahmoud+A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGaudiosi1988" class="citation journal cs1">Gaudiosi, Monica M. (April 1988). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/penn_law_review/vol136/iss4/6">"The Influence of the Islamic Law of Waqf on the Development of the Trust in England: The Case of Merton College"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/University_of_Pennsylvania_Law_Review" title="University of Pennsylvania Law Review">University of Pennsylvania Law Review</a></i>. <b>136</b> (4): 1231–1261. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3312162">10.2307/3312162</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3312162">3312162</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:153149243">153149243</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=University+of+Pennsylvania+Law+Review&rft.atitle=The+Influence+of+the+Islamic+Law+of+Waqf+on+the+Development+of+the+Trust+in+England%3A+The+Case+of+Merton+College&rft.volume=136&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=1231-1261&rft.date=1988-04&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A153149243%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F3312162%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F3312162&rft.aulast=Gaudiosi&rft.aufirst=Monica+M.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fscholarship.law.upenn.edu%2Fpenn_law_review%2Fvol136%2Fiss4%2F6&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBadr1978" class="citation journal cs1">Badr, Gamal Moursi (Spring 1978). 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-01-03</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=ICLR&rft.atitle=The+English+legal+system&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iclr.co.uk%2Fknowledge%2Ftopics%2Fthe-english-legal-system%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-52">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Shaw v DPP</i> 1962 AC 220 HL [n]</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Shaw-v-DPP.php"><i>Shaw v DPP</i> case summary</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Viscount Simonds: "There remains in the Courts of Law a residual power to enforce the supreme and fundamental purpose of the law, to conserve not only the safety and order but also the moral welfare of the State, and that it is their duty to guard it against attacks which may be the more insidious because they are novel and unprepared for."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Liam Boyle, <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1473&context=blr">An Australian August Corpus: Why There is Only One Common Law in Australia</a></i>, Bond Law Review, Volume 27, 2015</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Liam Boyle: <i>An Australian August Corpus: Why There is Only One Common Law in Australia</i>, Bond Law Review, Volume 27, 2015. p.29 II <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1473&context=blr">Some Preliminary Propositions</a></i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-64">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/International_Convention_on_Salvage" title="International Convention on Salvage">1989 Salvage Convention</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-65">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/International_Regulations_for_Preventing_Collisions_at_Sea" title="International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea">COLREGS</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-66">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/1952_Arrest_Convention" title="1952 Arrest Convention">1952 Arrest Convention</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-67"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-67">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The <a href="/wiki/Hague-Visby_Rules" class="mw-redirect" title="Hague-Visby Rules">Hague-Visby Rules</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-70"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-70">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Donoghue v Stevenson</i> [1932] UKHL [1932] UKHL</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-71"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-71">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://gov.wales/written-statement-update-development-justice-system-and-legal-sector-wales">"Written Statement: Update on the development of the justice system and the legal sector in Wales (30 September 2021)"</a>. <i>GOV.WALES</i>. 30 September 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2022-11-29</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=GOV.WALES&rft.atitle=Written+Statement%3A+Update+on+the+development+of+the+justice+system+and+the+legal+sector+in+Wales+%2830+September+2021%29&rft.date=2021-09-30&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.wales%2Fwritten-statement-update-development-justice-system-and-legal-sector-wales&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-72"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-72">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-devolution-justice/">"Plaid Cymru call for devolution of justice to Wales - 'we can't be treated as an appendage to England'<span class="cs1-kern-right"></span>"</a>. <i>Nation.Cymru</i>. 2022-11-29<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2022-11-29</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Nation.Cymru&rft.atitle=Plaid+Cymru+call+for+devolution+of+justice+to+Wales+-+%27we+can%27t+be+treated+as+an+appendage+to+England%27&rft.date=2022-11-29&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fnation.cymru%2Fnews%2Fplaid-cymru-devolution-justice%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-73"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:1_73-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2678710-devolution-a-necessary-step-towards-a-better-welsh-criminal-justice-system,-academics-argue">"Devolution a 'necessary step' towards a better Welsh criminal justice system, academics argue"</a>. <i>Cardiff University</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2023-02-22</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Cardiff+University&rft.atitle=Devolution+a+%27necessary+step%27+towards+a+better+Welsh+criminal+justice+system%2C+academics+argue&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cardiff.ac.uk%2Fnews%2Fview%2F2678710-devolution-a-necessary-step-towards-a-better-welsh-criminal-justice-system%2C-academics-argue&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Bibliography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Beale, Joseph H. (1935). <i>A Treatise on the Conflict of Laws</i>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-58477-425-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-58477-425-9">978-1-58477-425-9</a></li> <li>Darbyshire, Penny (2017). <i>Darbyshire on the English Legal System </i> - 12th ed - Sweet & Maxwell - <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-414-05785-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-414-05785-2">978-0-414-05785-2</a></li> <li>Dicey, A. V.; Morris, J. H. C. & Collins, Lawrence (1993). <i>Dicey and Morris on the Conflict of Laws</i> 12th ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-420-48280-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-420-48280-8">978-0-420-48280-8</a></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSlapperKelly2016" class="citation book cs1">Slapper, Gary & Kelly, David (2016). <i>The English Legal System</i>. London: Routledge. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-138-94445-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-138-94445-9"><bdi>978-1-138-94445-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+English+Legal+System&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2016&rft.isbn=978-1-138-94445-9&rft.aulast=Slapper&rft.aufirst=Gary&rft.au=Kelly%2C+David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBarnett2008" class="citation book cs1">Barnett, Hilaire (2008). <i>Constitutional & Administrative Law</i>. London: Routledge-Cavendish. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-45829-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-415-45829-0"><bdi>978-0-415-45829-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Constitutional+%26+Administrative+Law&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Routledge-Cavendish&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=978-0-415-45829-0&rft.aulast=Barnett&rft.aufirst=Hilaire&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <p><b>Further reading</b> </p> <ul><li>Fleming, Justin (1994) <i>Barbarism to Verdict: A History of the Common Law</i>. Sydney, NSW: Angus & Robertson Publishers. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-207-17929-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-207-17929-7">978-0-207-17929-7</a></li> <li>Greenberg, Daniel & Banaszak, Klara eds. (2012) <i>Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law</i>, 5th ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell.</li> <li>Milsom, S. F. C. (2003) <i>A Natural History of the Common Law</i>. New York: Columbia University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-231-12994-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-231-12994-7">978-0-231-12994-7</a></li> <li>Milsom, S. F. C. (1981) <i>Historical Foundations of the Common Law</i>, 2nd ed. London: Butterworths; Oxford: Oxford University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-406-62503-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-406-62503-8">978-0-406-62503-8</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=English_law&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/pollock-the-history-of-english-law-before-the-time-of-edward-i-2-vols"><i>The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, 2 vols.</i></a>, via Online Library of Liberty, with notes, by <a href="/wiki/S._F._C._Milsom" title="S. F. C. Milsom">S. F. C. Milsom</a>, originally published in Cambridge University Press's 1968 reissue.</li> <li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190605091401/https://lsslib.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/first-edition-of-halsburys-laws-of-england-digitized/">First Edition of Halsbury’s Laws of England Digitized</a>", Legal Sourcery, 21 March 2017, Alan Kilpatrick.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLeeming" class="citation web cs1">Leeming, Mark. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024906/http://www7.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLawJl/2013/40.pdf">"Theories and principles underlying the development of the common law"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www7.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLawJl/2013/40.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 2023-03-26<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2019-02-18</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Theories+and+principles+underlying+the+development+of+the+common+law&rft.aulast=Leeming&rft.aufirst=Mark&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww7.austlii.edu.au%2Fau%2Fjournals%2FUNSWLawJl%2F2013%2F40.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AEnglish+law" class="Z3988"></span> (2013) 36(3) <a href="/wiki/University_of_New_South_Wales_Law_Journal" class="mw-redirect" title="University of New South Wales Law Journal">University of New South Wales Law Journal</a> 1002.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox 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.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="English_law" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="3"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:English_law" title="Template:English law"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:English_law" title="Template talk:English law"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:English_law" title="Special:EditPage/Template:English law"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="English_law" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">English law</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Core subjects</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Constitution of the United Kingdom">UK Constitution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_administrative_law" title="United Kingdom administrative law">Administrative law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_criminal_law" title="English criminal law">Criminal law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_contract_law" title="English contract law">Contract law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_tort_law" title="English tort law">Tort law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privacy_in_English_law" title="Privacy in English law">Privacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_property_law" title="English property law">Property law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_trust_law" title="English trust law">Trust law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Retained_EU_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Retained EU law">Retained EU law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_case_law" title="Category:English case law">Case law</a></li></ul> </div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="3" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Scale_of_justice_2.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Scale_of_justice_2.svg/50px-Scale_of_justice_2.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="51" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Scale_of_justice_2.svg/75px-Scale_of_justice_2.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Scale_of_justice_2.svg/100px-Scale_of_justice_2.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="204" data-file-height="208" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Further subjects</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">Company law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_competition_law" title="United Kingdom competition law">Competition law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_labour_law" title="United Kingdom labour law">Labour law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_commercial_law" title="United Kingdom commercial law">Commercial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Civil_procedure_in_England_and_Wales" title="Civil procedure in England and Wales">Civil procedure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_family_law" title="English family law">Family law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Courts_of_England_and_Wales" title="Courts of England and Wales">Courts of England and Wales</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Law of the United Kingdom">UK-wide</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Northern_Ireland" title="Law of Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_law" title="Scots law">Scotland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Welsh_law" title="Welsh law">Wales</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Australia" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Australia">Australia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_British_Virgin_Islands" title="Law of the British Virgin Islands">British Virgin Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Canada" title="Law of Canada">Canada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Hong_Kong" title="Law of Hong Kong">Hong Kong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_India" title="Law of India">India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_New_Zealand" title="Law of New Zealand">New Zealand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Singapore" title="Law of Singapore">Singapore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States" title="Law of the United States">United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_law" title="Anglo-Saxon law">Anglo-Saxon law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">Common law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Equity_(law)" title="Equity (law)">Equity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bloody_Code" title="Bloody Code">Bloody Code</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hue_and_cry" title="Hue and cry">Hue and cry</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow hlist" colspan="3"><div> <ul><li><b><a href="/wiki/Category:English_law" title="Category:English law">Category</a></b></li> <li><b> <a href="/wiki/Portal:Law" title="Portal:Law">Portal</a></b></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:UK_law" title="Template:UK law"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:UK_law" title="Template talk:UK law"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:UK_law" title="Special:EditPage/Template:UK law"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Law of the United Kingdom">Law of the United Kingdom</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Common fields</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Parliamentary_sovereignty_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom">Parliamentary sovereignty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Constitution of the United Kingdom">Constitutional law</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">English law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Northern_Ireland" title="Law of Northern Ireland">Law of Northern Ireland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_law" title="Scots law">Scots law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Welsh_law" title="Welsh law">Welsh law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Civil_liberties_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Civil liberties in the United Kingdom">Civil liberties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_company_law" title="United Kingdom company law">Company</a> and <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_insolvency_law" title="United Kingdom insolvency law">insolvency law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_competition_law" title="United Kingdom competition law">Competition law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_labour_law" title="United Kingdom labour law">Labour law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_commercial_law" title="United Kingdom commercial law">Commercial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Retained_EU_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Retained EU law">Retained EU law</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Parallel fields</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Delict_(Scots_law)" title="Delict (Scots law)">Scots delict</a> and <a href="/wiki/English_tort_law" title="English tort law">English tort law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_contract_law" title="Scots contract law">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/English_contract_law" title="English contract law">English contract law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_property_law" title="Scots property law">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/English_land_law" title="English land law">English land law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_trust_law" title="English trust law">Trusts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_administrative_law" title="Scots administrative law">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_administrative_law" title="United Kingdom administrative law">English administrative law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scottish_criminal_law" title="Scottish criminal law">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/English_criminal_law" title="English criminal law">English criminal law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_family_law" title="Scots family law">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/English_family_law" title="English family law">English family law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scots_civil_procedure" title="Scots civil procedure">Scots</a> and <a href="/wiki/Civil_Procedure_Rules" title="Civil Procedure Rules">English civil procedure</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_British_Virgin_Islands" title="Law of the British Virgin Islands">British Virgin Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Australian_legal_system" title="Australian legal system">Australia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Canada" title="Law of Canada">Canada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/European_Union_law" class="mw-redirect" title="European Union law">European Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Hong_Kong" title="Law of Hong Kong">Hong Kong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_India" title="Law of India">India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland" title="Law of the Republic of Ireland">Ireland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_New_Zealand" title="Law of New Zealand">New Zealand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_States" title="Law of the United States">United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_law" title="Anglo-Saxon law">Anglo-Saxon law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_law" title="Common law">Common law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Equity_(law)" title="Equity (law)">Equity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_case_law" title="Category:English case law">English case law</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Legal_services_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Legal services in the United Kingdom">Legal services in the United Kingdom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Penal_law_(British)" title="Penal law (British)">British penal law</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Category:Law of the United Kingdom">United Kingdom law category</a></b></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Law_in_Europe" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Law_in_Europe" title="Template:Law in Europe"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Law_in_Europe" title="Template talk:Law in Europe"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Law_in_Europe" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Law in Europe"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Law_in_Europe" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Law_in_Europe" title="Law in Europe">Law in Europe</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Sovereign states</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Albania" title="Law of Albania">Albania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Andorra" title="Law of Andorra">Andorra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Armenia" title="Law of Armenia">Armenia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Austria" title="Law of Austria">Austria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Azerbaijan" title="Law of Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Belarus&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Belarus (page does not exist)">Belarus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Belgium" title="Law of Belgium">Belgium</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina (page does not exist)">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Bulgaria" title="Law of Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Croatia" title="Law of Croatia">Croatia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Cyprus" title="Law of Cyprus">Cyprus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Czech_Republic" title="Law of the Czech Republic">Czech Republic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Denmark" title="Law of Denmark">Denmark</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Estonia" title="Law of Estonia">Estonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Finland" title="Law of Finland">Finland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_France" title="Law of France">France</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Georgia_(country)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Georgia (country) (page does not exist)">Georgia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Germany" title="Law of Germany">Germany</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Greece" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Greece">Greece</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Hungary" title="Law of Hungary">Hungary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Iceland" title="Law of Iceland">Iceland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland" title="Law of the Republic of Ireland">Ireland</a></li> <li class="mw-empty-elt"></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Italy" title="Law of Italy">Italy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Kazakhstan" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Latvia" title="Law of Latvia">Latvia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Liechtenstein&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Liechtenstein (page does not exist)">Liechtenstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Lithuania" title="Law of Lithuania">Lithuania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Luxembourg" title="Law of Luxembourg">Luxembourg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Malta" title="Law of Malta">Malta</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Moldova&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Moldova (page does not exist)">Moldova</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Monaco&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Monaco (page does not exist)">Monaco</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Montenegro&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Montenegro (page does not exist)">Montenegro</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Netherlands" title="Law of the Netherlands">Netherlands</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_North_Macedonia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of North Macedonia (page does not exist)">North Macedonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Norway" title="Law of Norway">Norway</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Poland" title="Law of Poland">Poland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Portugal" title="Law of Portugal">Portugal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Romania" title="Law of Romania">Romania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Russia" title="Law of Russia">Russia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_San_Marino&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of San Marino (page does not exist)">San Marino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Serbia" title="Law of Serbia">Serbia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Slovakia" title="Law of Slovakia">Slovakia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Slovenia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Slovenia (page does not exist)">Slovenia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Spain" title="Law of Spain">Spain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Sweden" title="Law of Sweden">Sweden</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Switzerland" title="Law of Switzerland">Switzerland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Turkey" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Turkey">Turkey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Ukraine" title="Law of Ukraine">Ukraine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Law of the United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_England" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of England">England</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Northern_Ireland" title="Law of Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Scotland" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Scotland">Scotland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Wales" class="mw-redirect" title="Law of Wales">Wales</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Vatican_City" title="Law of Vatican City">Vatican City</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">States with limited<br />recognition</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Abkhazia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Abkhazia (page does not exist)">Abkhazia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_Kosovo" title="Law of Kosovo">Kosovo</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_Northern_Cyprus&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of Northern Cyprus (page does not exist)">Northern Cyprus</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Law_of_South_Ossetia&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Law of South Ossetia (page does not 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