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Law of the United Kingdom

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Law of the United Kingdom

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The United Kingdom has three distinctly different legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English law (in the joint jurisdiction of England and Wales), Scots law and Northern Ireland law. As a result, there is no single unified legal system of the United Kingdom as a result of the continuation of the separate legal systems of England (and Wales), Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In fulfilment of its former EU treaty obligations, European Union directives had been transposed into the UK legal system on an ongoing basis by the UK parliament. Upon Brexit, non-transposed EU law (such as regulations) was transplanted into domestic law as "retained EU law", with an additional period of alignment with EU law during the transition period from 31 January to 31 December 2020.

Since 2007, there have been calls for a fourth type, that of purely Welsh law as a result of Welsh devolution, with further calls for a Welsh justice system.

Retained EU law

Retained EU law (REUL) is a category of law in the United Kingdom created at the end of the transition period following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. REUL includes EU legislation which was "cut and pasted" into domestic law, along with certain domestic laws whose role was to implement EU regulations and directives. The objective of REUL is to maintain "legislative continuity".

Courts and tribunals

Main article: Judiciaries of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court in the UK for all criminal and civil cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law. The Supreme Court is the final court, in the normal sense of the term, for interpreting United Kingdom law. Unlike in some other systems, for example, the United States, the Supreme Court cannot strike down statutes. Its precedents can be expressly overridden by Parliament, by virtue of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The Supreme Court came into being in October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.

In England and Wales, the court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Courts of Northern Ireland follow the same pattern.

In Scotland, the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases. Sheriff courts, as they deal with both criminal and civil caseloads, have no equivalent outside Scotland.

Certain tribunals for administrative law cases have UK-wide jurisdiction, notably those dealing with immigration—the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Special Immigration Appeals Commission—military and national security, competition and intellectual property, and a few others. Similarly, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has jurisdiction throughout Great Britain but not in Northern Ireland.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the British Overseas Territories, and the British Crown Dependencies.

United Kingdom legislatures

Main article: Legislatures of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom Parliament

Main article: Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom is bicameral, with an upper house – the House of Lords, and a lower house – the House of Commons. In addition to the two houses, the King is also a component of Parliament.

The House of Lords includes two different types of members: The Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage). Its members are not elected by the population at large.

The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster, commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament", in the City of Westminster in London. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister, are members of the House of Commons or House of Lords.

Parliament evolved from the early medieval councils that advised the sovereigns of England and Scotland. The King, Lords, and Commons acting together to legislate may be described as the King-in-Parliament. The King-in-Parliament is, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, completely sovereign with the power to make and unmake any law other than to bind itself.

Real power is vested in the House of Commons. The Sovereign acts only as a figurehead and the powers of the House of Lords are greatly limited. The parliament retains some law-making powers for some jurisdictions outside of the United Kingdom proper.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Northern Ireland

Main article: Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly (, Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann Semmlie) is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.

The latest incarnation of the Assembly was established under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, an accord aimed at bringing an end to Northern Ireland's violent 30-year Troubles. It is based on the principle of power-sharing under the D'Hondt method to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest political communities, the unionist and nationalist communities both participate in governing the region.

The Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 90 members who are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation.

Scottish Parliament

Main article: Scottish Parliament

The public entrance of the distinctive Scottish Parliament building, opened in October 2004

The Scottish Parliament (; ) is located in the Holyrood area of the capital Edinburgh. The Parliament, which is informally referred to as "Holyrood" (cf. "Westminster"), is a democratically elected body of 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament or MSPs. Members are elected for four-year terms under the Additional Member System of proportional representation.

73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality voting system ("first past the post"). A further 56 are returned from eight additional member regions, each electing seven MSPs. The Scottish Parliament, as it was created by devolution and an act of parliament, does not get its legislative powers by virtue of sovereignty or by virtue of 'being the Scottish Parliament'. It legally exists as a subset of Westminster and derives its powers as such.

The original Parliament of Scotland (or "Estates of Scotland") was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early thirteenth century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland merged with the Parliament of England, to form the Parliament of Great Britain, which sat at Westminster in London.

Senedd

Main article: Senedd

Since 2007, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ), previously known as the 'National Assembly for Wales', has been invested with legislative powers. It is situated in Cardiff. The Senedd, first elected in 1999, is a democratically elected body of 60 members who are known as Members of the Senedd or MSs. Members are elected for five-year terms under the Additional Member System of proportional representation. 40 MSs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality voting system ("first past the post"). 20 are returned from five additional member regions. Each region elects four MSs.

References

References

  1. (9 June 2014). "Two jurisdictions: a shared inheritance". UK Government.
  2. "The UK has three legal systems, operating in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland"], [[direct.gov.uk]], accessed 12 March 2007
  3. "The Court and legal System - UK Supreme Court".
  4. (30 September 2021). "Written Statement: Update on the development of the justice system and the legal sector in Wales (30 September 2021)".
  5. (2022-11-29). "Plaid Cymru call for devolution of justice to Wales - 'we can't be treated as an appendage to England'".
  6. "Devolution a 'necessary step' towards a better Welsh criminal justice system, academics argue".
  7. "Conflict of Laws}} {{small".
  8. "The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706". Scottish History Online.
  9. ''Donoghue v Stevenson'' [1932] UKHL [1932] UKHL
  10. (1987) 1 WLR 1597
  11. (1989) 1 WLR 823
  12. (1931) 47 TLR 219
  13. (2017). "The English Legal System". Routledge.
  14. "The Commission on Justice in Wales (Thomas Commission) {{!}} Centre on Constitutional Change l Researching the issues. Informing the debate.".
  15. (23 December 2020). "MSPs pass Brexit bill to 'keep pace' with EU laws". BBC News.
  16. "Court of Session – Introduction". Scottish Courts.
  17. "High Court of Justiciary – Introduction". Scottish Courts.
  18. "House of Lords – Practice Directions on Permission to Appeal". UK Parliament.
  19. "Introduction". Scottish Courts.
  20. (20 March 2005). "The case for keeping 'not proven' verdict". Times Online.
  21. "Scottish Cabinet and Ministers". [[Scottish Executive]].
  22. Cabinet Office, [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/retained-eu-law-dashboard Retained EU law dashboard], published 22 June 2022, accessed 16 September 2022
  23. "''Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom''".
  24. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8283939.stm UK Supreme Court judges sworn in] BBC News, 1 October 2009
  25. "Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom".
  26. "Queen in Parliament". [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom.
  27. "Comhaontú idir Rialtas na hÉireann agus Rialtas Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann ag Bunú Comhlachtaí Forfheidhmithe". [[Oireachtas]].
  28. "Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch – Tha Boord". [[Ulster-Scots Agency]].
  29. "Scottish Parliament Word Bank". Scottish Parliament.
  30. "Scottish Parliament MSPs". Scottish Parliament.
  31. "The First Scottish Parliament: the Middle Ages – 1707". Scottish Parliament.
  32. "Marshall Decision Nova Scotia Legal System".
  33. "Virtual Law Office: Royal Proclamation of 1763".
  34. [https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/contact-or-visit-us/law-society-library/research-guides/how-to-find-isle-of-man-and-channel-islands-law How to find Isle of Man and Channel Islands law]
  35. "Isle of Man Constitutional Crisis". Offshore Radio Museum.
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