Sources Of The English Legal System

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What are the sources of Law?
United Kingdom is a country with a distinctive set of legal system. It is fairly different from other countries having civil law based legal systems. The legal system in the United Kingdom consists of various sources of law, where other civil law based countries rely only on a written set of law. European influences on the English Legal System came much later in near decades. This essay will aim to examine the development of the English Legal System by reviewing applications of various sources of law in the English Legal System furthermore to discuss the recent European influences on the law of England.

Introduction: English Legal System
The English Legal System is used in the United Kingdom and it plays a significant role in keeping orders within the country; it has the influential ability towards the United States and other commonwealth countries. Many decisions from England are in many jurisdictions are considered as persuasive.
The meaning of English Legal System is stated out by Cownie and Bradley in the English Legal System book . There are many sources that build up the English Law as it is today. The main sources of English Law consist of Common Law, parliamentary legislation and delegated legislation. As stated in Gary Slapper & David Kelly’s English Legal System book , there are many different interpretations of the phrase ‘source of law’ where in this book the law is made up of three main sources; where in Martin Hunt’s “A” Level Law , though there are different sources that make up the English law, these sources are differentiated in two main categories with various minor sources.

History of Common Law
Before 1066, all laws were local and enforced in manorial, shire, hundred court...

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... Supreme Court of Justice (formerly known as the House of Lords). Courts that are considered as higher courts in the hierarchy of courts would be the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
Based on Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875 , the High Court is divided into few specialist divisions which are the King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer and Admiralty Division.
Where the Magistrates Court, Crown Court and the County Court are considered as inferior courts; both civil and criminal divisions of courts have little difference. The court hearing first instance of a criminal case is the Magistrates Court. However, when there is a case concerning on a more serious criminal offence, the case would be first heard in the Crown Court instead. First instance of civil cases are usually tried in the Magistrates Court and rarely in the County Court.

Court Hierarchy: Disadvantages

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