Unit 1. Legal systems
A)The structure of the law
The Legal system in the United Kingdom (UK)
The study of law distinguishes between public law and private law, but in legal practice in the UK the distinction between civil law and criminal law is more important to practising lawyers. Public law relates to the state. It is concerned with laws which govern processes in local and national government and conflicts between the individual and the state in areas such as immigration and social security. Private law is concerned with the relationships between legal persons, that is, individuals and corporations, and includes family law, contract law and property law. Criminal law deals with certain forms of conduct for which the state reserves punishment, for example murder and theft. The state prosecutes the offender. Civil law concerns relationships between private persons, their rights, and their duties. It is also concerned with conduct which may give rise to a claim by a legal person for compensation or an injunction – an order made by the court. However, each field of law tends to overlap with others. For example, a road accident case may lead to a criminal prosecution as well as a civil action for compensation.
Substantive law creates, defines or regulates rights, liabilities, and duties in all areas of law and is contrasted with procedural law, which defines the procedure by which a law is to be enforced.
B)The constitution
The head of state is the monarch, currently the Queen in the UK, but the government carries the authority of the Crown ( the monarch ). The Westminster Parliament has two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which sit separately and are constituted on different principles. The Commons is an elected body of members. Substantial reform is being carried out in the upper house, the House of Lords, where it is proposed that the majority elected, replacing the hereditary peers. There is no written constitution, but constitution law consists of statute law ( see Unite 2), common law ( see Unite 3), and constitutional conventions.
C)Jurisdiction
There are four countries and there distinct jurisdictions in the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. All share a legislature in the Westminster Parliament for the making of new laws and gave a common law tradition, but each has its own hierarchy of courts, legal rules and legal profession. Wales and Northern Ireland each have sat in their own Assembly and since 1999 Scottish Members of Parliament (SMPs) have sat in their own Parliament. Under an Act of the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament has power to legislate on and subject not specifically reserved to the Westminster Parliament such as defence or foreign policy. The UK’s accession to the European Communities Act 1972, has meant the addition of a further legislative authority in the legal system. The UK is also a signatory of the European Convention of Human Rights and this has been incorporated into UK law.
