1. Sources and Varieties of English Law

2. The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Great Britain means England, Scotland and Wales
A constitutional monarchy
The United Kingdom is a unitary state, but it does not have a single body of law
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems and courts

3. The separation of powers
The great political philosopher Montesquieu coined the phrase the ‘separation of powers’ in the 18th century
“Government should be set so that no man need be afraid of another”
Three individual elements of the state:
The executive, the legislature and the judiciary

4. Branches of government
The executive: Government
The legislative: Parliament as the highest legislative body in the UK
The judiciary: hierarchy of courts

5. The Rule of Law No person is above the law
‘The supremacy of law’ – decisions should be made by the application of known principle or laws without the intervention of discretion in their application
The right to a fair hearing

6. Classification of law Law can be classified by:
The type (the matters that the law is regulating)
The source from which it comes

7. English law
English law means the legal system of England and Wales

8. Classification by source

9. Common law – opće pravo
Statute law – kodificirano pravo
Equity – pravičnost
EU law – pravo Europske unije

10. Who makes the law? Parliament (statute law)
Courts (common law, equity)
The European Union (EU law)
The Council of Europe

11. Hierarchy EU Law – law that emanates from the Institutions of the EU
Statute law – made by Parliament
Common Law (customary law, judge-made law, case law) – made by the decisions of the judges
Equity – created by the Chancery court under the Lord Chancellor to ‘fill in the gaps’ in the common law

12. EU Law
The EU was established in 1951 by the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ESCS)
The UK joined the EU on January 1, 1973
EU legislation has primary legislation (treaties) and secondary legislation (regulations, directives, decisions and recommendations)
EU Law can overrule national law

13. Statute Law
A statute is drawn up in a definite form of words, and these words have been approved by Parliament and have received the Royal Assent (written law)
When a law (Act of Parliament) is passed, it is added to the statute book

14. Written and unwritten law
Two main categories of law:
Written (formally enacted) and unwritten (unenacted)
There is no authoritative text of the Common Law (unwritten law) – law reports

15. Common Law
Traceable to Anglo-Saxon times and forms the basis of English law
It was formed from the customs of the people
Unwritten law is predominant
More precedents than legislative enactment
Common law (the general law contained in decided cases; unwritten or judge-made law) means ancient customs, precedents and books of authority (writings of jurists)

16. What is meant by common law
Unwritten law is predominant
More precedents than legislative enactment
Common law (the general law contained in decided cases; unwritten or judge-made law) means ancient customs, precedents and books of authority (writings of jurists)

17. Why it is called ‘common’
The first legal system that became common to the whole country (England and Wales) after the Norman Conquest in 1066
Prior to the Norman Conquest there were many different rules of law found all over the country – customary law
William the Conqueror decided to set up a central system of government that would include the justice system
A strong centralised Government headed by the King and advised by his Council (Curia Regis)

18. Rules of equity Equity means fairness
In English law equity means that body of rules originally enforced by the Court of Chancery
Rules of equity grew up through the practice of medieval Lord Chancellors as “keepers of the king’s conscience”

19. Rise of equity
Initially claimants (dissatisfied parties) petitioned the King as ‘fountain of justice’
Eventually the King handed the responsibility to the Lord High Chancellor who (in the 15th century) created a specialist court to deal with such matters (the Court of Chancery)
The petitions were usually in the form of allegations that the common law was defective, that common law remedies (usually damages) were unsatisfactory or that the courts lacked jurisdiction to decide certain cases
Rules of equity were alternative legal remedies – more flexible
Equity gradually became more rigid and was fused with common law by the Judicature Act of 1873

20. Principal sources of English Law
Statute Law: Legislation (enacted law; statutes or Acts passed by Parliament); the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty
Common Law: Precedent (courts are interpreters of law); previous decisions by superior courts on similar facts

21. Subsidiary sources of English Law
Common law means judicial precedents, but also ancient customs and writing of jurists - books of authority
The subsidiary sources are customs and books of authority

22. Customs Customs are social habits or patterns of behaviour
“Conventional”rules
Many of early rules of the common law were general customs which the courts adopted
The customs must be reasonable, certain and “ancient” – must go back to 1189

23. Books of authority The writings of legal authors Cited in courts
Some books by prominent authors are as authoritative as precedents e.g. Blackstone’s Commentaries (1765)

24. Common law v. Roman law Common law is a native product of Britain
It absorbed only a few rules of Roman law
A unique legal system

25. Common law remedies Legal and equitable remedies
Legal remedies: damages awarded by courts
Equitable remedies: equitable remedies are appropriate when an award of damages will not lead to a fair result; a court can issue an injunction to order a party to stop doing something (a prohibitory injunction) or to do something (a mandatory injunction).

26. Common Law and Statute Law
Common Law has grown rather then being made
Statutes began with the reissue of Magna Carta in 1225 in the reign of Henry III
A large volume is added every year
Much of the fundamental part of English law is still Common law

27. Sovereignty of Parliament
Where Statute Law and Common Law come into competition, Statute Law prevails
The sovereignty of Parliament is the dominant characteristics of English political institutions
No court or judge can refuse to enforce an Act of Parliament
No development of Common Law can repeal an Act of Parliament

28. Advantages of case law
Certainty: the fact that decided cases are binding makes it certain that every future case which is essentially similar will be decided in the same way
The possibility of growth: new rules meet new circumstances
A great wealth of detailed rules: English law is richer than any code of law
Practical character: rules laid down by the cases are in close touch with the needs of everyday life

29. Disadvantages of case law
Rigidity: once a rule has been decided, it is difficult to depart from it
Lack of logical distinctions: Rules which are logically inconsistent with each other are sometimes developed along distinct lines of cases – conflict
Bulk and complexity – more than 2,000 volumes of law reports make the case law difficult to apply

30. The British Constitution
It has evolved over many centuries
It is not set out in any single document
It is made up of statute law, common law and conventions
Conventions are rules and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as indispensable to the working of government
The constitution can be altered by Act of Parliament, or by general agreement to alter a convention

31. Varieties of English Law: Classification by types of law
Law can be classified by the type of law
Classification by types of law includes distinctions between international or national and public or private

32. National and international law
National (domestic, internal) law – the law of a state regulating its domestic affairs
International law – A body of rules that regulates relations between states and rights and duties of individuals in their relations to foreign states and with each other

33. Public and private law
National law can be divided into public law and private law
Public law involves the State in some way; it is the area of law in which the state has a direct interest (administrative law, constitutional law, revenue law, criminal law)
Private law controls the relationships between individuals

34. Branches of public law
Administrative law – the body of law which deals with the powers of the executive organs of the state
Constitutional law – the area of law that deals with the interpretation and construction of constitutions
Revenue law – the area of law concerned with income and taxes

35. Criminal and civil law
Criminal law – a branch of law concerned with behaviour that is considered to be harmful to society as a whole: the state (prosecutor) takes legal action against the wrong-doer in the name of society
Civil law – a branch of law that deals with disputes between individuals
The injured party (plaintiff or claimant) takes legal action

36. Vocabulary Unitary state – jedinstvena država
Principal sources – glavni izvori
Subsidiary sources – sporedni izvori
Common law – opće pravo
Injunction – sudski nalog, sudska zabrana
Statute law – kodificirano (pisano) pravo

37. Rules of equity – pravila pravičnosti
Administrative law – upravno pravo
Constitutional law – ustavno pravo
Criminal law – kazneno pravo
Revenue law – financijsko pravo
Prosecutor – tužitelj
Claimant (plaintiff) – tužitelj u građanskoj parnici

38. The video exercise

39. Answer the following questions:
What are precedents?
What was equity based on?
Which are common law remedies?
What is the ultimate domestic source of law?

40. Thank you for your attention!