Sources of Law
Sources of Law
Developed in
medieval England somewhere in mid-12th century, it has become a huge influence in many parts of
the world. With the emergence of Parliament as the supreme law-making body, statutes of
Parliament prevailed over common law principles if at all they came into conflict. What are the main
sources of law today? (25 marks)
Law is made by the state or government and is backed up by consequences for those who do
not follow these rules. In English Law, source of a rule is relevant in determining both its significance
and whether it might take precedence over a rule from another source. This question requires an
Starting off with one of the four principal sources of law, law made by Parliament is referred
to as ‘legislation’, ‘statute law’ or Acts of Parliament. It is primarily codified law and has to go
through the legislative process. The first stage is called the first reading. It will be read out by the
member of the Lords in charge of the Bill and no debate will take place. After being formally
introduced, the bill will be printed. The next stage is second reading. The members will start to
debate in this stage about the amendments that are needed or raise their concerns regarding the
bill. After this stage, it will be committee stage. This is basically a more detailed version of second
reading. The members of the House will examine line by line of the bill until the end of the Bill.
During this process, every clause of the bill has to be agreed before moving to the next detail.
Report stage will take place after this. The examination will continue and then move to the third
reading. Members will be concentrating on making sure there will be no loopholes in the eventual
effective law. If the bill started in the Lords, it goes to the House of Commons for its first reading.
The Commons reprints the bill with the Lords amendments. If the bill began in the Commons, it is
sent back after third reading in the Lords for consideration of Lords amendments, or, if there have
been no amendments in the Lords, is sent to the monarch for Royal Assent. The Bill became law
departments but with the authority of Parliament. That authority is usually laid down in a parent
Act. It lays down main framework of the law and delegates the power to other to make more
detailed law. The three types of delegated legislation are orders in council, statutory instruments
and by-laws. Orders in Council is approved by the Privy council and signed by the Queen. It is
instruments are used to provide the necessary detail that would be considered too complex to
include in the body of an Act. By-laws are made by local authorities, public and nationalized bodies
to cover matters within their own area or jurisdiction. They have to be approved by central
government.
The second main source of law that will be discussed is law decided in courts. It is normally
referred to as ‘common law’ or ‘case law’. Due to the non-specific nature of statutes, as it has to
accommodate a wide range of circumstances, judges have to interpret the will of Parliament. Courts
exercise their judicial function of statutory interpretation and when interpreting legal reasoning of
previous cases. This action is called judicial interpretation. These legal principles are derived from
actual legal disputes in court. The primacy of these principles depends on the source. Decisions of
courts in the higher hierarchy will be binding on the lower courts. Between case laws and legislation,
The third main source of law is EU laws as a result of UK being a member of the EU.
However, due to the recent updates of the Brexit, EU legislation is applied to the UK on 31
December 2020 is now a part of UK domestic legislation, under the control of the UK's Parliaments
and Assemblies. EU law still prevails in any conflicts with domestic law.
The fourth main source of law is European Convention of Human Rights. These are Articles
of human rights or Convention rights to protect fundamental human rights. The purpose of this law
is to protect the human rights of people in countries that belong to the Council of Europe. Examples
of these laws are Art 2 right to life, Art 3 freedom from torture, degrading treatment, Art 6 right to a
fair trial. The vertical direct effect of ECHR concerns the relationship between individuals and
member states. Meanwhile, the horizontal effect concerns the relationship between individuals and
individuals, for example private corporations. This source of law is incorporated into UK law from the
passing of the Human Rights Act 1998. Section 2 of the ECHR requirement for UK courts to take into
account the precedents of the ECtHR. Section 3 of the ECHR stated that UK court must interpret
national laws as far as it is possible, to be compatible with Convention rights by virtue of Ghaidan v
Mendoza. Section 4 of ECHR applies when Section 3 fails to find a compatible interpretation, court
may make a Declaration of Incompatibility (DOI). DOI does not affect the validity of the legislation.
In studying the operation of the legal system – we need to recognize which rules are regarded as
‘law’ and how important one rule is over the other. This is why it is important to understand sources
of laws.