About English Law

"Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered."

These words by Aristotle, the famous ancient Greek philosopher, could have been written to describe English law and its sources. Where else would you find constitutional laws without any constitution? (N.B. The British Constitution is unwritten) Most people have heard of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is the charter of liberty and political rights obtained from King John of England ("Lackland")* by his rebellious barons at Runnymede in 1215, which came to be seen as the seminal* document of English constitutional practice. It is often described as the corner stone of liberty and the chief defence against arbitrary and unjust rule in England by establishing for the first time a very significant constitutional principle, namely that the power of the King could be limited.

Through the ages this principle has continued to be upheld in spite of various monarchs, civil war and riots resulting in Parliament making itself sovereign and representing the will of the people.

As a result, all (1) ……… power is vested in Parliament, which consists of two parts, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The buildings where the British parliament does its work are also called the Houses of Parliament. There is no legal limit to the power of Parliament and the courts are bound by all legislation that is enacted by Parliament. So, what is the role of the (2) ………..?

The courts interpret the law, which means that although Parliament (3) ……….. the law, the courts decide how they are to be applied. These decisions are treated as precedents and (4) ……….. courts will follow these decisions if they have similar issues to determine.

This (5) ………..of precedent developed from common law which itself is based on custom and dates from ‘time immemorial’* (or at least 1189). Often before government wrote new laws, judges applied local and ancient customs, and in order ensure that (6) ……….. were consistent relied on decisions made in previous cases. This has also led to the principle that a judge is (7) ………..by the decision of a superior court when reaching a decision in a similar case.

Judges do not exercise their discretion* in an (8) ………..* way. They rest their judgements upon the general (9) ………..of case law and can have influence upon the development of enacted law. Accordingly, the courts can exercise a considerable degree over the practical application of statutes although governments make new laws or statutes which (10) ………..or clarify the common law.

by Nigel Haines

Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2007