Legal System

English Law

Common Law Family

English law is the common-law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law. Time immemorial was legally fixed as any time before 6 July 1189, and since that date English law has been a common-law, not a civil-law, system. Magna Carta is cited as an important source documenting the right to trial by jury and the evolution of English law, and the Judicature Acts of the 1880s amalgamated the courts into one Supreme Court of Judicature directed to administer both law and equity.

Facts

Origin Year

1189 1

1189 is the legally fixed start of living memory in English law and the date sources give for English law becoming a common-law rather than civil-law system.

Example Jurisdictions

England and Wales 1

Primary Source of Law

Statutory legislation, Acts of Parliament, as the paramount source, with judicial precedent as the residual source where statute is silent 1

Classification

Legal Family

Common Law 1

English Law

59 entries

Role

Nationality or Jurisdiction

Field of Law

Gender

Court Served On

FAQs

Is English law a common law or civil law system?

A common law system, and has been since 1189.

English law is a common law system, not a civil law one. As its source puts it, since 1189 English law has been a common law, not a civil law system.

What is the most authoritative source of English law?

Acts of Parliament, with precedent filling gaps where statute is silent.

The most authoritative law is statutory legislation, which comprises Acts of Parliament, regulations and by-laws. Judicial precedent is the residual source where statute is silent.

Connections

Associated With

Law of the United States

U.S. law descends directly from English common law, though it has diverged substantially since.

Source Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is cited as an important source of English law.

Source English Law (Wikipedia)

Petition of Right (1628)

The Petition of Right is a foundational document of English constitutional law.

Source English Law (Wikipedia)

In Legal Family

Common Law

In Legal System

Common Law

Legal-system family: Common Law Family, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.

Includes

99-year lease

Source 99-year lease (Wikipedia)

Acts of Union 1707

Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning

Source Tom Denning, Baron Denning (Wikipedia)

Antony Nicholas Allott

Source Antony Nicholas Allott (Wikipedia)

Armory v Delamirie

Arnold McNair

Source Wikidata: Arnold McNair

Assize of Clarendon

Betty Moys

Source Betty Moys, Wikipedia

Bill of Rights 1689

British Nationality Act 1948

Capite

Source Capite (Wikipedia)

Caput lupinum

Source Caput lupinum (Wikipedia)

Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company

Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)

Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

Source Wikidata: Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

Charter of the Forest

Christopher St. Germain

Source Christopher St. Germain (Wikipedia)

Civil Procedure Rules

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

Competition Act 1998 (UK)

United Kingdom statute, within the English common law tradition.

Source Major Legal Systems in the World TodayRene David and John E.C. Brierley

Constitutions of Clarendon

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

Source Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Wikipedia)

Court of King's Bench (England)

Source Court of King's Bench (England) (Wikipedia)

Crown Court

Crown Prosecution Service

Culprit

Source Culprit (Wikipedia)

Data Protection Act 2018 (UK)

United Kingdom statute, within the English common law tradition.

Source Major Legal Systems in the World TodayRene David and John E.C. Brierley

Duke of Norfolk's Case

Edmund Plowden

Source Edmund Plowden (Wikipedia)

Edward Jenks

Source Edward Jenks (Wikipedia)

Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough

Source Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough (Wikipedia)

Edwin Chadwick

Source Edwin Chadwick (Wikipedia)

Elizabeth Lane

Source Elizabeth Lane (Wikipedia)

Entick v Carrington

Source Entick v Carrington (Wikipedia)

Factory Act 1833

Fee simple

Source Fee simple (Wikipedia)

Fitzroy v Gwillim

Form of action

Source Form of action (Wikipedia)

Frederic William Maitland

Source Wikidata: Frederic William Maitland

Geoffrey le Scrope

Source Geoffrey le Scrope (Wikipedia)

Gerald Fitzmaurice

Source Gerald Fitzmaurice (Wikipedia)

Glanville Williams

Source Wikidata: Glanville Williams

Additional Source Glanville Williams (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: Welsh legal writers

H. L. A. Hart

Source Wikidata: H. L. A. Hart

Habeas Corpus Act 1679

Hadley v Baxendale

Hedley Byrne v Heller

Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham

Source Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (Wikipedia)

Henry de Bracton

Source Wikidata: Henry de Bracton

Henry of Bath

Source Henry of Bath (Wikipedia)

Henry Sumner Maine

Source Wikidata: Henry Sumner Maine

Showing 1 to 50 of 150 in Includes, page 1 of 3.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

United Kingdom

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source English Law (Wikipedia)tier 2

Sources

1. English Law (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia

Early Development section
since 1189, English law has been a common law, not a civil law system.
Principal Elements section
the most authoritative law is statutory legislation, which comprises Acts of Parliament, regulations and by-laws.
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales
Associated With: Magna Carta, Sources section
Associated With: Petition of Right (1628)

Law of the United States (Wikipedia)

WikipediaAssociated With: Law of the United States, article body

Quote, Associated With: Law of the United States, article body

the law of the United States is largely derived from the common law system of English law, which was in force in British America at the time of the American Revolutionary War.

Entick v Carrington (Wikipedia)

Includes: Entick v Carrington

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Includes: William Murray, 1st Earl of MansfieldView the Source

Major Legal Systems in the World Today

Rene David and John E.C. Brierley, Stevens and Sons, 1985

Includes: Competition Act 1998 (UK)
Includes: Data Protection Act 2018 (UK)

John Austin (Legal Philosopher) (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: John Austin (Legal Philosopher), John Austin was an English legal theorist who posthumously influenced British and American law with an analytical approach to jurisprudence and a theory of legal positivism. He opposed tradiView the Source

Wikidata: Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

Includes: Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician who was first to hold the title of Earl Camden. As a lawyer and judge he was a leading proponent of civil libeView the Source

Wikidata: Frederic William Maitland

Includes: Frederic William Maitland, Frederic William Maitland lived from 1850 to 1906 and was an English historian of medieval England and jurist regarded as the modern father of English legal history. He was Reader in EnglishView the Source

Wikidata: Henry de Bracton

Includes: Henry de Bracton, Henry of Bracton, also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton or Henry Bretton, lived from about 1210 to about 1268 and was an English cleric and jurist. He is known forView the Source

Wikidata: John Selden

Includes: John Selden, John Selden lived from 1584 to 1654 and was an English jurist, a scholar of Englands ancient laws and constitution, and a scholar of Jewish law. Known as a polymath, he was hailed by John MiView the Source

Wikidata: Richard Zouch

Includes: Richard Zouch, Richard Zouch lived from around 1590 to 1 March 1661 and was an English judge and a member of Parliament from 1621 to 1624, elected for Hythe in 1621 before becoming principal of St. Alban HView the Source

Wikidata: John Westlake

Includes: John Westlake, John Westlake lived from February 4, 1828 to April 14, 1913 and was an English law scholar, Liberal member of Parliament and social reformer. He co-founded the first journal devoted to interView the Source

Wikidata: Travers Twiss

Includes: Travers Twiss, Travers Twiss lived from March 19, 1809 to January 14, 1897 and was an English jurist with a distinguished academic and legal career that culminated in his appointment as Queen's Advocate-GeView the Source

Wikidata: Joseph Chitty

Includes: Joseph Chitty, Joseph Chitty was an English lawyer and legal writer who lived from 12 March 1776 to 17 February 1841 and became one of the most prolific and widely used legal authors of his era. He practicView the Source

Wikidata: H. L. A. Hart

Includes: H. L. A. Hart, Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart was a British legal philosopher, one of the most influential legal theorists of the 20th century, instrumental in the development of the theory of legal positiviView the Source

Wikidata: Arnold McNair

Includes: Arnold McNair, Arnold Duncan McNair, later Baron McNair, was a British legal scholar who lived from 4 March 1885 to 22 May 1975, born in Highbury Fields, London and educated at Gonville and Caius College,View the Source

Wikidata: Malcolm Shaw

Includes: Malcolm Shaw, Malcolm Nathan Shaw, born in 1947, is a British legal academic, author, editor and lawyer.View the Source

Wikidata: Henry Sumner Maine

Includes: Henry Sumner Maine, Sir Henry James Sumner Maine, who lived from 1822 to 1888, was a British jurist and legal historian educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, recognized as a founder of the fields of legal anView the Source

Percy Henry Winfield (Wikipedia)

WikipediaIncludes: Percy Winfield, Lead

Quote, Includes: Percy Winfield, Lead

Sir Percy Henry Winfield (16 September 1878-7 July 1953) was Rouse Ball Professor of English Law between 1928 and 1943.

Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning

Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

Christopher St. Germain

Edmund Plowden

Edward Jenks

Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough

Elizabeth Lane

Frederic William Maitland

Geoffrey le Scrope

Glanville Williams

Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham

Henry de Bracton

Henry of Bath

Hervey de Stanton

Igor Judge, Baron Judge

Ivy Williams

James Atkin, Baron Atkin

James Fitzjames Stephen

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge

John Fineux

John FitzJames

John Fortescue

John James Park

John Juyn

John Knyvet

John Markham

John Selden

Joseph Chitty

Leonard Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann

Percy Winfield

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke

Ralph de Hengham

Ranulf de Glanvill

Rayner Goddard, Baron Goddard

Richard de Willoughby

Richard Lyster

Robert de Malberthorp

Robert Goff, Baron Goff of Chieveley

Robert Parning

Robert Tresilian

Roger Brabazon

Roger Cholmeley

Sir Christopher Wray

Sir John Holt

Sir John Popham

Sir Matthew Hale

Sir Thomas de Littleton

Sue Carr, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill

Thomas Billing

Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman

Walter Clopton

William Cheyne

William de Shareshull

William de Thorpe

William Gascoigne (justice)

William Hankford

William Holdsworth

William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield

Wulfstan (died 1023)