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English Legal System | Law Trove

English Legal System (6th edn)  

Helen RutherfordAssociate Professor in Law and Solicitor, Northumbria UniversityClose
,
Birju KotechaAssistant Professor in Law, Northumbria UniversityClose
, and
Angela MacfarlaneAssistant Professor in Law and Solicitor, Northumbria UniversityClose
Published in Print: 16 May 2024 Published Online:August 2024
https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198898504.001.0001
ISBN: 9780198898504
Publisher:Oxford University Press

Abstract

English Legal System provides understanding of the operation of the legal system which is essential to the laying of a solid foundation on which to build further legal study. After offering practical advice on how to study the English legal system, there is an overview of the nature of law; the sources of law and how the English legal system operates; the courts of England and Wales, and some of the important institutions and personnel of the law. How legislation is made and how it is interpreted is discussed. How judges make law and how this process is governed by the doctrine of judicial precedent are explored. The legal precedent set by a case, the ratio decidendi, and other statements of law, obiter dicta, are explained. The book considers the impact of membership of the European Union (EU), being a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and Brexit. The institutions and personnel of the law: juries, judges, and lawyers are covered. The criminal process, from arrest to trial, to sentencing, is explained and analysed. Resolution of disputes through the civil courts and tribunals is explained, as is the civil process. Alternative methods of dispute resolution are considered.

Keywords:

sources of law, courts, criminal process, civil process, judges, lawyers, judicial precedent, ELS, English legal system, sentencing

Subjects:

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