Origin and Concepts of Laws in England and Wales - Essay Example

Origin and Concepts of Laws in England and Wales; How External Sources Have Affected Its Development By       Professor’s Name University Name City Date Introduction The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland is made up of four nations. (Goodchild, Embly & Slorach, 2013, P.7). These nations include England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Wales passed an act in 2006 which gave the Assembly the powers to pass its own laws and led to the division of the assembly from the Welsh government. The government of the United Kingdom and parliament are the ones that govern England. Some laws are used in all the member nations while others are only used in particular countries. In the UK, laws are classified as either public laws or private laws. The public laws are used to enforce order among citizens and the state while private laws are used to enforce order between citizens and organization that fall in the private domain. These two laws are further broken down into civil law and criminal law (Goodchild, Embly & Slorach2013 P.34). As a sub branch of Public law , criminal law entails laws which define what is acceptable as appropriate conduct and a contravention of such laws is deemed an offence to not only the individuals affected but to the society as a whole. Civil laws fall within private laws and are used to solve disputes which arise in family matters in cases such as inheritance or domestic violence. They are also used in cases of probate and law as well as contracts, negligence and employment. Sources of Laws in England and Wales Common law Common law can be defined as legal precedent that is made by judges sitting in a court. Common law is constantly changing because the interpretation and knowledge of legal precedent and application of common sense as pertains to individual’s cases and available facts is bound to change (Antoine 2008, P.4) Common law can be traced back to three English crown courts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Wingfield 2009, P7). These courts were the Common pleas, the King’s Bench and the Exchequer. It was assumed in those times that the custom of the people was the law as stipulated by the Kings’ courts. Even though the decisions were based on prior judicial pronouncements, in cases where there were statutes stipulated to govern particular disputes, judicial interpretation of those statutes were sought in order to evaluate how the law would apply in such case scenarios. Judges in the courts are tasked with creating the common laws by delivering written judgments about the cases before them. The Magistrate courts or other lesser courts are however not allowed to make their own precedent as this would lead to confusion in different regions of England and Wales (Antoine 2008, P.3-5). It can be categorized as an internal source of law in England and Wales since it was invented in the English courts (Goodchild, Embly &Slorach 2013, P.23).The objective of establishing this law was to create laws that exceeded the lesser courts. Since it is the House of the Lords and the Court of Appeal that create the legal precedent in England and Wales, it is only the decision made by the higher courts that overrule the lower courts. This ensures that the law is ‘common’ throughout the countries. Statute law Statute laws are also known as statutory laws and are written laws that are codified into law through a legislature. Statutes are first presented as bills; this can either be public or private bills. The bills are first analysed by experts who determine their legibility after which they undergo the first reading followed by a second reading (Goodchild, Embly & Slorach 2013, P.21). The legislature can be adjusted in any of the two houses at the committee stage. In a scenario where there is reason for the legislature to be adjusted at a future date then this can be done at the report stage (Antoine 2008, P.64).It is read for the final time in parliament. It is then passed to the next stage. Finally after the above procedures, it receives A Royal Assent and becomes a law. Even though rules might be codified by statute laws, interpretation of statute laws is primarily based upon fluidity of case laws. A case can change given the fact that the judges are not limited by previous rulings. (Goodchild, Embly & Slorach, 2013, P.5). European Union Law According to the European Union laws, European law is binding to UK law .This means that Wales and England must adhere to the European laws if the present laws are inconsistent or are not well defined. European Union law can be categorized as one of the external influences on the Legal systems of Wales and England. European Union is composed of legislations and treaties which contain regulations and directives that impact the laws of European Union member states (Cheng & Davies 2011, P.5) The European generates its laws from agreements such as The Treaties such as those agreed in Rome; these had a significant impact in the union. The Europeans act. This was formulated in 1986 and The Treaties on European Union of the 1990s .The 1997 Draft Treaty of Amsterdam is also a very important source. The second level laws, these include; rules which did not have to be implemented by the legislation. In cases of a dispute involving a national law and a regulation, then the treaty dictates that the regulation would have the upper hand. The directives were issued as requirements for the member states to modify and or remove certain national laws within a period of time that was stipulated. According to the European Community Act 1972(Antoine 2008, P.64), the directives were to be implemented by statute or delegated legislation. Decisions made by the court of justice were also binding to either the member states or the individual to whom they were addressed. The European Union has institutions which are concerned with the law making process. These institutions are primarily categorized as executive, legislature and judicial institutions. The executive institution houses the European council. (Antoine 2008, P. 26) The European council is a meeting that occurs twice a year which heads of state of member countries and foreign ministers meet to discuss the laws. The daily activities of the European Union are handled by European commission. The European Parliament is composed of elected MEPs from the member states. The parliament has the legislative right to demand for an amendment in legislation. The council can however overrule the amendments if it deems it unnecessary. The European Union consists also of a Committee of Regions which was instituted by ‘Maastrick’ Treaty. The role of this committee is to ensure fairness during the formulation of laws since it must be consulted on social and economic matters before laws are incorporated into European laws (Cheng & Davies 2011, P.37) The European Convention on Human Rights This was an international treaty formed by European states to protect human rights and freedoms in Europe. It was formed in 1950 by the Council of Europe but began operation in 1953.With the enforcement of the Human Rights Act the ECHR has been made more enforceable in the UK. Previously, the convention was not a part of the English law and this made it difficult to implement. The ECHR can be categorized as one of the external influences on the legal systems of Wales and England (Cheng & Davies 2011, P.25). Link between common law and statute law The English legal system is founded on common law but the statutes are a fundamental part of the legal system. The statutes in essence codify certain rules while the common law provides an easier understanding and lay man view when cases are referenced to the laws that have been codified (Cheng & Davies 2011, P.87). From the correlation, the common law updates the statutes of the modern concerns and solutions and also creates precedent in the absence of statutory codification Effects of External Sources of Law The external sources of law in Wales and England are the European Union Law and the European Convention on Human rights. The European Union law overrules the laws that are in Wales and England.The growth of the European Union into an almost state like nature has led to Wales and England losing an element of their independence because the situation is such that the two nations are under another ‘state’. The decrees that were issued to the effect of amendment of laws also led to the loss of laws that held a fundamental cultural significance to the people of Wales and England (Cheng & Davies 2011, P.43). The European Convention on Human rights has however been vital in the protection of basic human rights. Bibliography Antoine, R .2008. Commonwealth Caribbean Law and Legal System. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press Cheng, T and Davies, B.2011.Intellectual Property Law in the United Kingdom. Oxford University Press Goodchild, P and Embly J and Slorach, S. 2013 .Legal Systems and Skills. New York, Free Press Kelly, D and Slapper, G. 2011. The English Legal System. Oxford University Press Wingfield, J. 2009. 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