UNIT 3 Statute Law in Britain

The Doctrine of Separation of Powers

a model for the governance of democratic states closely linked to the RULE OF LAW John Locke (1690) if the same person has the power to make laws

and execute them, they may exempt themselves from the laws they make and use the law to their own private advantage a separate legislature and executive
Montesquieu (1689-1755) "the independence of the judiciary has to be

real, and not apparent merely judicial power from the others

warned of failing to separate

Separation of powers
the state power is divided into branches each branch of the state has separate and independent powers and areas of

responsibility

STATE POWER

LEGISLATIVE PARLIAMENT
(enacts laws)

EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT
(implements laws)

JUDICIAL COURTS OF LAW

(interprets+applies laws)

The English legal system

STATUTE LAW

COMMON LAW

PARLIAMENT

ANCIENT CUSTOMS
JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS EQUITY LAW

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

Statute law and Common law

STATUTE LAW = primary legislation = set out in statutes voted by Parliament = approved by the Monarch COMMON LAW = created by courts = developed through creation of precedents

Statute law
formal, written law of a country or state

= enacted law = codified law written and enacted by its legislative authority (Parliament) originally enacted by the monarch Parliaments powers grew, monarchs powers diminished taken over by Parliament statutes are organized in topical arrangements called CODES (e.g. Commercial Code, Criminal Code etc.) or STATUTE BOOKS

Legislative powers
UK PARLIAMENT
- supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and

British overseas territories - parliamentary sovereignty (ultimate power over all other Political bodies; dates back to 16th century) - at its head - the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II - passes legislation specific to

a) England and Wales Acts of Parliament

b) the whole of the UK

The Houses of Parliament

Statute law in Britain-exercises

Reading comprehension Part I
Compare 1st the 2nd paragraph of the text with the following sentences. Mark them true (T) or false (F) and find the line(s) in the text which confirm(s) your choice.

1. In Britain parliament means the same as legislation. 2. Law-making is Parliaments main function. 3. The difference between legislation and judiciary is in the fact that legislation affects the rights of unnamed individuals in general, while judiciary operates in concrete individual cases. 4. Constitutions usually do not assign the law making to legislative bodies.

Statute law in Britain

Part II
I Study the 3rd paragraph and fill in the gaps of the following sentences with appropriate characteristics of the two parts of the law in England.
TYPE OF LAW Common law Statute law DEFINITIONS

II The nature of English laws and the relation between COMMON LAW and STATUTE LAW is well illustrated in the text. What is compared to what? Common law Statutes = = =

bricks constantly added

Statute law in Britain

Part III
Use the information in the third part of the text to complete the following statements.

1. The quality of .. has increased at an enormous rate throughout this century.

2. Even a statute of .. content can be added to the book, provided that it has passed through the procedure.

3. Once a statute has been and added to the statute book, .. are obliged to follow it in dealing with any cases to which the statute is .
4. If a new statute .. the effect of some older statute already in the book, the new statute must clearly include . of whatever in the old one is . with the intentions of the new.

Vocabulary practice
II Replace the underlined parts of the sentences by one of the given verbs. alter, assign to, approve, affect 1. In constitutions law-making is usually said to be a responsibility of law-making bodies. 2. The law of the state influences the rights of all members of this particular state.

3. All Acts passed by the British Parliament have to be accepted by the Queen.
4. A new statute might change the effect of some older statute already in the book.