The Law of England and Wales Portal
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (as opposed to civil law or pluralist systems in use in other countries). It was exported to Commonwealth countries while the British Empire was established and maintained, and it forms the basis of the legal systems of most of those countries. England and Wales are constituent countries of the United Kingdom; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems, although in some areas of law there are no differences between the jurisdictions. Whilst Wales has a devolved Assembly, its power to legislate is limited by the Government of Wales Act 2006.
English law is a mixture of common law, legislation passed by the UK Parliament (or subordinate legislation made under delegated authority) and European law. The essence of common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent (stare decisis) to the facts before them. A decision of the highest appeal court in England and Wales, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, is binding on every other court in the hierarchy. Common law can be altered by Parliament. The oldest statute currently in force is the Distress Act 1267, part of the Statute of Marlborough. Three sections of Magna Carta, originally signed in 1215 and a landmark in the development of English law, are still in force, but they date to the reissuing of the law in 1297. European law applies in England and Wales because the UK is a member of the European Union, and so the European Court of Justice can direct English and Welsh courts on the meaning of areas of law in which the EU has passed legislation. (more about English law...)
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The Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers occupiers' liability. The result of the Third Report of the Law Reform Committee, the Act was introduced to Parliament as the Occupiers' Liability Bill and granted the Royal Assent on 6 June 1957, coming into force on 1 January 1958. The Act unified several classes of visitors to property and the duty of care owed to them by the occupier, as well as codifying elements of the common law relating to this duty of care. It also covered the duty owed to parties to a contract entering the property and ways of excluding the liability for visitors. The Act introduced an element of liability for landlords who failed to maintain their properties and were as a result responsible for the injury of a non-tenant, something counter to the previous common law rule in English law. The Act is still valid law, and forms much of the law relating to occupiers' liability in English law along with the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984. (more...)
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:
- ... that in Miller v. Jackson the Court of Appeal of England and Wales found that a cricket club was liable in negligence and nuisance when sixes were hit over the boundary onto neighbouring property, and that it is best known for the lyrical dissenting judgment of Lord Denning, MR?
- ... that British barrister Sir Tony Hetherington was the first head of the Crown Prosecution Service after it was founded in 1986?
- ... that in English trusts law, constructive trusts are used for things as varied as land transfers, bribery and murder?
- ... that the legal reforms that came about as a result of the Glanville Davies affair were far weaker than those initially proposed?
- ... that England's regulations on bread sales, as originated from the Assize of Bread and Ale (1266), were enforced for six centuries?
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As England and Wales are part of the United Kingdom, many of the categories in Category:Law in the United Kingdom are also relevant.
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- Legislative and constitutional system
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Barrister • Bar Standards Board • Inns of Court (Gray's Inn, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple) • General Council of the Bar • Queen's Counsel • Solicitor • Law Society of England and Wales • Solicitors Regulation Authority • Legal executive • Institute of Legal Executives
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- Help out with the WikiProject Law's list of tasks, some of which need input from an English law perspective
- Expand a stub article about English law
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