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

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

Henry of Bath

Source Henry of Bath (Wikipedia)

Henry Sumner Maine

Source Wikidata: Henry Sumner Maine

Hervey de Stanton

Source Hervey de Stanton (Wikipedia)

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Source HM Courts and Tribunals Service (Wikipedia)

HM Courts Service

Source HM Courts Service (Wikipedia)

Human Rights Act 1998

Ian Brownlie

Source Ian Brownlie (Wikipedia)

Igor Judge, Baron Judge

Source Igor Judge, Baron Judge (Wikipedia)

Importation Act 1846

Inherent jurisdiction

Source Inherent jurisdiction (Wikipedia)

Injunction

Source Injunction (Wikipedia)

Instrument of Government

Ivy Williams

Source Ivy Williams (Wikipedia)

James Atkin, Baron Atkin

Source Wikidata: James Atkin, Baron Atkin

Additional Source James Atkin, Baron Atkin (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: 20th-century English judges

James Fitzjames Stephen

Source James Fitzjames Stephen (Wikipedia)

James Leslie Brierly

Source James Leslie Brierly (Wikipedia)

Jeremy Bentham

Source Jeremy Bentham (Wikipedia)

John Austin (Legal Philosopher)

Source John Austin (Legal Philosopher) (Wikipedia)

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge

Source John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge (Wikipedia)

John Fineux

Source John Fineux (Wikipedia)

John FitzJames

Source Wikidata: John FitzJames

Additional Source John FitzJames (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: 16th-century English judges

John Fortescue

Source Wikidata: John Fortescue

John Hody

Source John Hody (Wikipedia)

John James Park

Source John James Park (Wikipedia)

John Juyn

Source John Juyn (Wikipedia)

John Knyvet

Source John Knyvet (Wikipedia)

John Markham

Source John Markham (judge) (Wikipedia)

John Selden

Source Wikidata: John Selden

John Westlake

Source Wikidata: John Westlake

Joseph Chitty

Source Wikidata: Joseph Chitty

King's Bench Division

Source King's Bench Division (Wikipedia)

Latitat

Source Latitat (Wikipedia)

Law of the land

Source Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Wex): law of the land

Leonard Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann

Source Wikidata: Leonard Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann

Additional Source Lennie Hoffmann, Baron Hoffmann (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: English barristers

Lord Sales

Source Philip Sales, Lord Sales (Wikipedia)

Malcolm Shaw

Source Wikidata: Malcolm Shaw

Mark Ellis

Source Wikidata: Mark Ellis

Additional Source Mark Ellis (lawyer) (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: 21st-century English lawyers

Michael Mustill, Baron Mustill

Source Michael Mustill, Baron Mustill, Wikipedia

National Health Service Act 1946

Nervous shock

Source Nervous shock (Wikipedia)

Official Secrets Act 1911

Ordinance of Labourers 1349

Oyer and terminer

Source Oyer and terminer (Wikipedia)

Percy Winfield

Source Percy Henry Winfield (Wikipedia)

Personal injury trust

Source Personal injury trust (Wikipedia)

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke

Source Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (Wikipedia)

Philippe Sands

Source Wikidata: Philippe Sands

Additional Source Philippe Sands (Wikipedia)Wikipedia category: 21st-century English lawyers

Pleading (England and Wales)

Source Pleading (England and Wales) (Wikipedia)

Provisions of Oxford

Quadripartitus

Source Quadripartitus (Wikipedia)

Showing 51 to 100 of 159 in Includes, page 2 of 4.

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.