Portal:Law of England and Wales

Portal:Law of England and Wales
Shortcut:
P:ENGLAW
  • Wikipedia portals:
  • Culture
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Mathematics
  • Natural sciences
  • People
  • Philosophy
  • Religion
  • Society
  • Technology

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...)

Selected article

Tracing in English law is a procedure to identify property (such as money) that has been taken from the claimant involuntarily. It is not in itself a way to recover the property, but rather to identify it so that the courts can decide what remedy to apply. The procedure is used in several situations, broadly demarcated by whether the property has been transferred because of theft, breach of trust, or mistake. Tracing is divided into two forms, common law tracing and equitable tracing. Common law tracing relies on the claimant having legal ownership of the property, and will fail if the property has been mixed with other property, the legal title has been transferred to the defendant, or the legal title has been transferred by the defendant to any further recipient of the property. Equitable tracing, on the other hand, relies on the claimant having an equitable interest in the property, and can succeed where the property has been mixed with other property. Defences to tracing are possible, particularly if returning the property would harm an innocent defendant, where the claimant has made false representations that the defendant relied on to his detriment, or where the property has been transferred to an innocent third party without anything given to the defendant in return that the claimant could recover in lieu. (more...)

Suggest • More articles...

Selected biography

Henry Petre in a biplane
Henry Petre (1884–1962) was an English solicitor who became Australia's first military aviator, and a founding member of the Australian Flying Corps, predecessor of the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in Essex, he forsook his early legal career to pursue an interest in aviation, answering the Australian Defence Department's call for pilots in 1911. He chose the site of the country's first air base at Point Cook, Victoria in 1913, and established its inaugural air training facility, the Central Flying School, with Eric Harrison. Following the outbreak of World War I, Petre was appointed commander of the Mesopotamian Half Flight, the first unit of the newly formed AFC to see active service. His actions in the Middle East earned him the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross, and four Mentions in Despatches. Transferring to the Royal Air Force as a Major in 1918, he retired from the military the next year and resumed his civilian practice in law. He continued to fly recreationally before his death in 1962, aged seventy-seven. (more...)
Suggest • More biographies...

Selected case

Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart (decided in 1992) is a landmark decision of the House of Lords on the use of legislative history in statutory interpretation. It established the principle that when primary legislation is ambiguous, the court may sometimes refer to statements made in the House of Commons or House of Lords in an attempt to interpret it. Lord Mackay, dissenting, argued that Hansard should not be considered admissible evidence due to the time and expense involved in a lawyer having to look up every debate and discussion on a particular statute when giving legal advice or preparing a case. The decision met a mixed reception. While the judiciary were cautiously accepting, legal academics argued that it violated rules of evidence, damaged the separation of powers between the executive and Parliament and caused additional expense in cases. There have been several subsequent judicial decisions that limit the precedent, preventing the use of Hansard as a source of law, in criminal law cases or to overrule precedent set prior to Pepper except in exceptional circumstances. (more...)

Suggest • More cases...

Selected picture

Sir William Blackstone (1723–1780), lawyer and author of Commentaries on the Laws of England
Credit: Unknown artist
Sir William Blackstone (1723–1780), lawyer and author of Commentaries on the Laws of England
Suggest • More pictures...

Selected legislation

The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territorial Force; and disbanding the Militia to form a new Special Reserve of the Regular Army. This reorganisation formed a major part of the Haldane Reforms, named after the creator of the Act, Richard Haldane. The Act followed the South African War of 1899-1902, which had reinforced the idea that the regular Army was not capable of fighting a prolonged full-scale war without significant assistance. There had been no thought before the war to using auxiliary forces overseas; in the event, volunteers had been used on an ad-hoc basis, and a new auxiliary arm (the Imperial Yeomanry) was formed to provide specialist troops, but it was clear that a more effective system was required in future. A number of attempts at reform under the Conservative government of 1901-1905 had failed to make any lasting changes to the system, and left the auxiliary forces disorganised and demoralised. In December 1905, Haldane was appointed as Secretary of State for War, and immediately set about reforming the Army to best prepare it for an intervention in a European war. The Act was repealed in 1966. (more...)

Suggest • More legislation...

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

  • ... that part of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, a piece of United Kingdom legislation on tort law, is intended to permit educational and recreational use of land?
  • ... that the landmark 1924 case Tournier v National Provincial and Union Bank of England clarified English law on the obligations that a bank has to protect the confidentiality of its customers?
  • ... that other than "incapable" beneficiaries, the Variation of Trusts Act 1958 only allows the courts to alter trust documents for potential beneficiaries, not confirmed ones?
  • ... that in England and Wales, legal aid, a court of criminal appeal, county courts and limits on the use of the death penalty were proposed as early as 1652 by the Hale Commission?
  • ... that by the time Lyon's Inn was dissolved it was being run by only two of the standard twelve governors, neither of whom had any idea what their duties were?
    Suggest • More facts...

In the news

Wikinews-logo.svg

Crime and law stories on Wikinews

From England
From Wales
Other news
  • July 7: The European Court of Human Rights rules that the European Convention on Human Rights applied to some actions of British troops in Iraq.
  • June 29: In a ruling causing considerable concern for the police and government, the High Court states that police do not have power to release suspects on bail for more than 96 hours and can only re-arrest them with fresh evidence.
  • June 26: Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, a Supreme Court judge, dies aged 66.
  • June 16: In the first such case, a juror who contacted a defendant during a trial using Facebook, causing the trial to collapse, is imprisoned for eight months for contempt of court.
More news stories...

Selected quotation

The first and fundamental point is that the Treaty concerns only those matters which have a European element, that is to say, matters which affect people or property in the nine countries of the Common Market besides ourselves. The Treaty does not touch any of the matters which concern solely the mainland of England and the people in it. These are still governed by English law. They are not affected by the Treaty. But when we come to matters with a European element, the Treaty is like an incoming tide. It flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back.
Lord Denning, discussing the Treaty of Rome in his judgment in H.P. Bulmer Ltd v J. Bollinger SA (1974)
Suggest • More quotations...

Quality content

Featured articles
  • Featured article Pendle witches
  • Featured article Privy Council of the United Kingdom
  • Featured article Samlesbury witches
  • Featured article Hubert Walter
  • Featured article Wife selling
Featured lists
Good articles

Categories

To display further subcategories, click on the "+" symbols
English law(36 C, 213 P)
English administrative law(1 C, 5 P)
[×] English admiralty law(3 P)
Anglo-Saxon law(1 C, 32 P)
Bar of England and Wales(1 C, 16 P)
English case law(13 C, 113 P)
English contract law(1 C, 40 P)
Courts in England(5 C, 8 P)
Crime in England(14 C, 15 P)
English criminal law(3 C, 137 P)
England and Wales(3 C, 5 P)
[×] English family law(13 P)
[×] English legal terms(77 P)
English property law(1 C, 35 P)
English tort law(2 C, 26 P)
English trusts law(1 C, 23 P)
High Shrievalties in England(48 C, 64 P)
English laws(7 C, 118 P)
English lawyers(5 C, 229 P)
Legal buildings in London(3 C, 13 P)
Legal history of England(5 C, 123 P)
English legal professionals(3 C, 46 P)
Parliament of England(5 C, 25 P)
Penal system in England(4 C, 7 P)
[×] English privacy law(11 P)
Privy Council of England(1 C, 1 P)
[×] Law schools in England(13 P)
[×] Trials in England(1 P)

Welsh law(9 C, 12 P)
Bar of England and Wales(1 C, 16 P)
Courts in Wales(3 C, 5 P)
Crime in Wales(6 C, 5 P)
High Shrievalties in Wales(15 C, 21 P)
Welsh laws(4 C, 19 P)
[×] Legal history of Wales(11 P)
National Assembly for Wales(9 C, 22 P)
[×] Treaties of Wales(4 P)

As England and Wales are part of the United Kingdom, many of the categories in Category:Law in the United Kingdom are also relevant.

Click the "+" below to see all subcategories:

Topics

Open bible 01 01.svg
Legislative and constitutional system

Constitution • Parliament • House of Commons • House of Lords • Legislation • Law enforcement • Royal Prerogative

Courts and tribunals

Courts of England and Wales • Supreme Court • Court of Appeal • High Court • Crown Court • County Courts • Magistrates' Court • Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority • Employment Appeal Tribunal • Employment Tribunal • Information Tribunal • Mental Health Review Tribunal

Judges

Lord Chancellor • President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom • Lord Chief Justice • Master of the Rolls • Chancellor of the High Court • President of the Family Division • President of the Queen's Bench Division • Lord Justice of Appeal • High Court judge • Judiciary of England and Wales • Magistrates of England and Wales

Government and state bodies

Ministry of Justice • Secretary of State for Justice • Attorney General • Director of Public Prosecutions • Crown Prosecution Service • Her Majesty's Courts Service • HM Land Registry • National Offender Management Service (HM Prison Service • National Probation Service) • Law Commission • Office of the Public Guardian • Tribunals Service • Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council · Boundary Commissions • Civil Justice Council • Information Commissioner's Office • Judicial Appointments Commission • Legal Services Commission • Sentencing Council • Youth Justice Board

Lawyers and institutions

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

Legal areas

Administrative law • Causation • Civil liberties • Commercial law • Company law • Competition law • Contract law • Criminal law • Estoppel • Family law • Frustration • Insanity • Insolvency • Intoxication • Inquests • Juries • Labour law • Loss of a chance • Manslaughter • Marriage • Misrepresentation • Mistake • Murder • Nuisance • Police powers • Privacy law • Property law • Provocation • Right to silence • Tort law • Trespass • Trusts law

Related portals

WikiProjects

Related WikiProjects
WikiProject Law  • WikiProject International law  • WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography  • WikiProject Law Enforcement  • WikiProject Human rights  • WikiProject England  • WikiProject Wales
What are WikiProjects?

Things to do

Clipboard.svg
  • 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
  • Write a new article about a topic or person relating to the law of England and Wales – see the list of requested law articles
What are portals· List of portals · Featured portals

Purge server cache




Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Magistrates of England and Wales — This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Courts of England and Wales — This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Barristers in England and Wales — English Bar redirects here. For the places in California, see English Bar, California. This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Judiciary of England and Wales — This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales — The Judiciary of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Magistrates' Court (England and Wales) — For other uses, see Magistrates Court (disambiguation) and Magistrates of England and Wales. This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Court of Appeal of England and Wales — Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand Established 1875 Jurisdiction …   Wikipedia

  • Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) — This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales Law of England and Wales …   Wikipedia

  • Building regulations in England and Wales — Building regulations are statutory instruments that seek to ensure that the policies set out in the relevant liegislation are carried out and Building regulations approval is required for most building work in the UK. Building regulations that… …   Wikipedia

  • Right to silence in England and Wales — The right to silence in England and Wales is the term used to describe the protection given to a person during criminal proceedings from adverse consequences of remaining silent. It is sometimes referred to as the privilege against self… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”