Sources of Law in England and Wales - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages On the external sources of law, the discussion will also assess whether they have externally influenced the development of English Law.
Statute laws are the main source of English Law and comprise of the legislation passed by the UK Parliament based in London. The UK Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which comprises of 650 members of Parliament with each member representing a defined geographic constituency (Slorach 32). Conversely, the House of Lords consists of close to 800 peers, out of which 600 of the peers are formally appointed by the Queen as endorsed by Prime Minister. Additional members in the House of Lords consisted of senior bishops and people with inherent aristocratic titles such as “Lord” or “Lady” (Elis 47).
Statute Law is divided into two forms of legislation namely, Primary Legislation and Secondary Legislation. In primary legislation, legislation is introduced in the form of Bills, usually Private or Public bills. Public Bills changes the law as per its application to the general public while Private Bills alters the law as it applies to individuals or organizations. A Bill is then required to pass through an enactment process that involves a debate followed by approval in the House of Commons, before being moved to the House of Lords for subsequent approval. Eventually, the Bill has to receive Royal Assent before it becomes an Act of Parliament (Elis 47). Secondary Law, on the other hand, the law is made outside the Parliament by bodies such as Local Authorities, Government Ministers or specific organizations. Parliament delegates the power to make the legislation to an external body through an authority contained within the Parent Act, which is also referred to as the Enabling Act. Most Secondary legislation takes the form of Statutory Instruments although there are other existing forms such as Court Rule committees, by-laws, Orders in Council and professional regulations (Elis 49).  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More