Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. This chapter examines domestic legislation. Domestic legislation is created by Parliament, which consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. It is divided into primary legislation and secondary legislation. Primary legislation takes the form of ‘Acts of Parliament’, commonly referred to as ‘statutes’. Statutes can cover a vast variety of laws including criminal law, land law, contract law, and many others. Meanwhile, secondary legislation—also known as delegated legislation or subordinate legislation—is the most common instrument for implementing change within the UK. Parliament has neither the time, the resources, nor the expertise to deal with certain matters. It is for these reasons that the majority of legislation is made outside of Parliament. Accordingly, Parliament may delegate such powers, through an Act of Parliament to other bodies and institutions to implement. Such bodies often include the Privy Council, government ministers, local authorities, and other regulatory agencies.
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This chapter examines the various domestic sources of law in the UK, namely legislation, case law, and custom. Legislation comes in three forms: Acts of Parliament, subordinate legislation, and legal acts deriving from the European Union. This chapter describes the legislative process and discusses the tools of statutory interpretation through which legislation is interpreted by the courts. The chapter then moves on to look at case law, including a discussion of the doctrine of precedent and the distinction between the ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. Finally, the chapter concludes by looking at custom as source of law, noting the requirements in order for a custom to be given legal effect by the courts.
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This chapter identifies Parliament's primary functions of making law and scrutinising government action. Parliament's scrutiny of government has been defined as ‘the process of examining expenditure, administration, and policy in detail, on the public record, requiring the government of the day to explain itself to parliamentarians as representatives of the citizen and the taxpayer, and to justify its actions’. In the absence of a codified constitution and entrenched limits on executive power, the requirement for the government to answer to Parliament for its actions acts as a check and control. The chapter also considers the legislative process, particularly legislative scrutiny. Secondary legislation made by the government can often be subject to much less scrutiny and debate than primary legislation, and sometimes none at all. These scrutiny gaps increase the risk of arbitrary law-making and ‘governing from the shadows’, again raising rule of law concerns.
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This chapter discusses the functions, structure, and procedures of Parliament. Parliament’s main functions are to be the forum for debate on the main issues of the day; to represent citizens; to enact legislation; and to hold the government to account. Parliament has three elements: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarch. The chapter focuses on the two Houses, often referred to as ‘chambers’. The main output of Parliament is legislation. There are two forms of legislation. Primary legislation, referred to as Acts of Parliament, which are the exercise of Parliament’s legal supremacy to change the law, either by making new law or amending or abolishing existing law. Parliament also has the power to delegate its law-making power to others, usually to the government, allowing them to make delegated legislation according to the terms set out by Parliament.
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Mark Elliott and Jason Varuhas
This chapter deals with delegated legislation and the extent of its constitutional propriety. It begins with an overview of the enabling provisions in primary legislation in order to understand the permitted content and nature of the resultant delegated legislation. It then considers enabling provisions known as ‘Henry VIII clauses’, which authorize delegated legislation that amends or repeals primary legislation, as well as the extent of delegated powers. It also discusses the making of delegated legislation, from publication to consultation, legislative and administrative measures of delegated legislation, and the role of Parliament in making delegated legislation. Finally, it reviews parliamentary scrutiny of delegated legislation as well as judicial scrutiny and the general principles of judicial review.
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This chapter identifies Parliament’s primary functions of making law and scrutinising government action. Parliament’s scrutiny of government has been defined as ‘the process of examining expenditure, administration, and policy in detail, on the public record, requiring the government of the day to explain itself to parliamentarians as representatives of the citizen and the taxpayer, and to justify its actions’. In the absence of a codified constitution and entrenched limits on executive power, the requirement for the government to answer to Parliament for its actions acts as a check and control. The chapter also considers the legislative process, particularly legislative scrutiny. Secondary legislation made by the government can often be subject to much less scrutiny and debate than primary legislation, and sometimes none at all. These scrutiny gaps increase the risk of arbitrary law-making and ‘governing from the shadows’, again raising rule of law concerns.
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The UK Parliament makes legislation in the form of primary legislation called Acts of Parliament and grants powers to other bodies to make legislation on Parliament’s behalf, in the form of secondary legislation or delegated legislation. Parliament is composed of three bodies, the Queen in Parliament, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. A draft piece of legislation, a bill, to become an Act of Parliament must be passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords and then receive the royal assent. If the House of Commons and House of Lords cannot agree on legislation this is dealt with under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. Secondary or delegated legislation is necessary for a number of reasons but is subject to controls both parliamentary and in the courts.
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This chapter discusses law-making. First, it considers the different types of legislative measures, including the special arrangements introduced for law-making in preparation for Brexit. It then examines the methods of control and influence used before and during the consideration of legislation by Parliament, including analysis of the recently abandoned experiment with ‘English Votes for English Laws’. It concludes by analysing the process of judicial review of delegated legislation.
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This chapter discusses the techniques and problems of analysing the structure of statutes. It describes how statutes are set out, what particular catch phrases mean, and how to make sense of the opaque language often used. It covers drafting styles and practices; the problems of drafting statutes in English law, comprehensibility, and awareness of how the courts are likely to interpret them; examples of drafting practices and how to approach them; techniques for amending earlier statutes, either wholesale or in section; other points on drafting; European legislative drafting; and the style adopted for EU legislation and the problems of ensuring compatibility.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Ellen Street Estates, Limited v Minister of Health [1934] 1 KB 590, Court of Appeal. This case concerned whether provisions enacted by an earlier Westminster parliament could bind the legislative choices of a future Westminster parliaments. The arguments of Wade and Jennings over Diceyan and ‘manner and form’ approaches to this issue are discussed. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Thomas Webb.
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Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provide an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter provides an overview of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and how it operates. It discusses the extent to which the Act fulfils the role of a ‘Bill of Rights’, as that concept is understood in other jurisdictions. A particular issue relevant to that discussion is that of ‘entrenchment’ and the extent to which the HRA 1998 can be said to have any special status different from other legislation. The supervision of the HRA 1998 is also considered.
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D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter introduces the reader to commercial law. It first considers the nature of commercial law by focusing on the definitions offered by previous scholars of note. It then examines its function and historical development, and discusses various sources of commercial law such as contracts and national legislation. In addition it refers importantly to the role of equity and trusts in commercial law, to public law in the commercial arena, and to the philosophy and concepts of commercial law. Possible codification of commercial law is discussed. Finally, the chapter assesses the challenges for commercial law in the twenty-first century and briefly discusses the impact of Brexit on English commercial law.
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Stuart Bell, Donald McGillivray, Ole W. Pedersen, Emma Lees, and Elen Stokes
This chapter considers the set of laws introduced to address the patchy nature of pre-existing regimes. Although its focus is relatively narrow—that is, on the regulation of the clean-up of historically contaminated land—it is always important to bear in mind that the basic building blocks of statutory liability for cleaning up pollution can often be found in subject-specific legislation. The focus on the clean-up of contamination caused by historical sources presents a number of significant challenges, such as when should clean-up be required, to what level, and for what purposes. The most significant of all of these issues, however, is the identification of the party, or parties, responsible for paying the consequences of historic pollution.
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Brian Sloan
Borkowski’s Law of Succession gives full attention to this area’s rich and evolving case law, illustrating the relevance of the law to modern life; the central issues and academic debates surrounding inheritance are discussed fully. This revised edition covers new case law including Ilott v The Blue Cross and subsequent decisions, Payne v Payne, Legg v Burton, and Hand v George, and new legislation including the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019. The text also looks at relevant Law Commission projects (in particular the recent consultation paper on Making A Will). Finally, there is discussion of the latest succession law scholarship.
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This chapter examines ‘primary legislation’, in the form of UK Acts of Parliament, and how they are made. The discussions cover who or what is the ‘legislature’ in the British constitution; the roles of different institutions in policymaking; drafting bills by Parliamentary Counsel; pre-legislative scrutiny of some ‘draft bills’ before the start the formal legislative process in Parliament ; the parliamentary year; parliamentary stages of a bill—first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third reading; bills of constitutional importance; the constitutional framework for bringing legislation into force; how government and Parliament carries out post-legislative scrutiny of some Acts of Parliament to review how they are operating in practice; and legislative functions in the British system of devolution.
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William Wade and Christopher Forsyth
Wade & Forsyth's Administrative Law provides a perceptive account, and an unparalleled level of coverage, of the principles of judicial review and a sketch of the administrative arrangements of the UK. First published in 1961, Administrative Law a classic text. In the eleventh edition, the text brings its account of administrative law up to date in light of recent case law and legislation. The volume covers the following areas of administrative law: authorities and their functions; the influence of Europe; powers and jurisdiction; discretionary power; natural justice; remedies and liability; and administrative legislation and adjudication.
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Alisdair A. Gillespie and Siobhan Weare
This chapter examines the sources of domestic law. There are two sources of law (primary sources and secondary sources). Primary sources are considered to be those ‘authoritative’ sources that are produced by the legal process itself. Secondary sources are sources that are produced by others and are, in essence, a commentary on the law. Primary sources of law include statutory material and this itself is divided into two types of material: primary legislation (Acts of Parliament) and secondary legislation (Statutory Instruments, Orders in Council, etc). Statutes are Acts of Parliament and are either Public Acts (Acts that are of general application) or Private Acts (which are limited to a certain body). An Act will normally have to pass both the House of Commons and House of Lords and then receive Royal Assent before it becomes an Act of Parliament.
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Alisdair A. Gillespie and Siobhan Weare
This chapter examines the sources of domestic law. There are two sources of law (primary sources and secondary sources). Primary sources are considered to be those ‘authoritative’ sources that are produced by the legal process itself. Secondary sources are sources that are produced by others and are, in essence, a commentary on the law. Primary sources of law include statutory material and this itself is divided into two types of material: primary legislation (Acts of Parliament) and secondary legislation (Statutory Instruments, Orders in Council, etc). Statutes are Acts of Parliament and are either Public Acts (Acts that are of general application) or Private Acts (which are limited to a certain body). An Act will normally have to pass both the House of Commons and House of Lords and then receive Royal Assent before it becomes an Act of Parliament.
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This chapter is about delegated legislation, also called ‘subordinate’ and ‘secondary’ legislation. It considers why the constitution allows ministers (part of the executive) to make such legislation and the process by which it is made. It examines a case study on a controversial attempt by the government to abolish numerous institutions through powers conferred by the Public Bodies Act 2011.
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This chapter discusses the EU system’s sources of law covering: primary legislation, secondary Union legislation and other sources of law, including ‘soft law’. It also discusses the legislative procedures, decision-making procedure of the Commission and legislative powers and implied powers. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the application of the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality.
