Sources Of English Law

Sources of English Law Case law and precedent…..Explain what is meant by case law and precedent within the context of the hierarchy of the courts Legislation……Explain legislation and evaluate delegated legislation.

Statutory interpretation………Illustrate the rules and presumptions used by the courts in interpreting statutes.

Exam guide: Describe the operation of case law and precedent or how legislation is passed by government and interpreted by the courts. Pilot paper….evaluate delegated legislation. Sources of law and how law is interpreted by the courts. The main law making bodies are the Courts (who developed the ‘common law’ and Parliament which produces statutes and delegated legislation. EC Law is another source of law for the UK…..(this is outside the scope of this syllabus) The rules on statutory interpretation are used by judges when deciding cases that involves which are open to several different meanings.

1 Case law and precedent The first legal source of law, consisting of decisions made in the courts, is case law, which is judge-made law based on the underlying principle of consistency. Once a legal or equitable principle is decided buy an appropriate court it is a judicial precedent