Types of Law in the UK

Law is a system of binding rules that are enforceable on all people equally, usually through formal organisations such as courts and the police. The laws of a country are of vital importance since they shape politics, the economy and society in numerous ways. In Britain there are various types of laws but the three main varieties are Statute Laws, European Laws and Common Law.

Statute Laws

Statute Laws are those laws that are made by Parliament. Statute Laws can be made either directly, through the passing of Acts of Parliament, or indirectly, through the creation of Statutory Instruments that contain rules and regulations. Yearly, Parliament creates around one hundred laws through Acts of Parliament and creates around two thousand Statutory Instruments.

Sometimes Parliament will pass a very general law and leave the relevant minister to fill in the details since that minister is often in the best position to do this. Delegating such lawmaking powers to ministers ensures expediency and efficiently in the lawmaking process since the Minister does not have to return to Parliament each time a change in circumstances result in the need for a change in law. Really, the delegation of these powers results in the ministers becoming lawmakers themselves.

European Laws

Britain joined the European Union in 1973 and, in doing so, agreed to be subject to European Community Laws. European Laws have direct effect within the legal systems of the countries that make up the European Union and actually override national laws in many cases, especially in terms of economic and social policy.

If Britain ever decided to withdraw from the European Union then European Community Laws would cease to be binding.

Common Law

England also has a body of law known as the Common Law which has developed over centuries from judgements given in courts. The Common Law has been hugely important in the development of the English legal system. For example, until 1861 there was no Statute Law criminalising murder. Murder had, however, always been considered a crime since courts had from the earliest times considered it to be grossly wrong and therefore obviously criminal.

Common Law works through the system of Precedent. If a judge makes a decision in a case then other judges will usually follow the example that has been set and give a similar verdict in cases involving similar facts. If the decision of the first judge should happen to be overruled by a higher court, then subsequent judges would follow the decision of the higher court instead. The judge who makes the first decision effectively makes a law since his or her ruling will be followed in the future.

Even in the case of Statute Laws the judges have a vital role to play since it is their task to interpret the laws made by Parliament. Since a judge can only look at what the law actually says, not what Parliament meant it to say, Parliament has to be incredibly careful when drafting new laws.

References:

McLean, I. and McMillan, A. (2003) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (2nd Rev Ed.) (Oxford University Press)

Jones, B. et al (2006) Politics UK (6th Ed.) (Longman)

Kingdom, J. (2003) Government and Politics in Britain: An Introduction (3rd Ed.) (Polity Press)

Houses of Parliament

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