The Legal System of England

and Wales

dr Giuseppina Scotto di Carlo

UNISOB mod. 3
The UK is made up of.???
 1801
Birth of the United Kingdom of
England and Ireland

1922
Irish Free State
UNITED KINGDOM
 The Union Jack

Cross of Saint George, England 1194 AD

+Wales - 1536 Henry VIII (Act of Union)
 The Union Jack

Cross of Saint Andrew, Scotland

The accession of James VI of Scotland to
the throne of England
1606
 The Union Jack

Cross of Saint Patrick,

Northern Ireland
Act of Union
1801
UNITED KINGDOM
And Wales????????????????
Edward I of England in 1282
How to make Brits
really upset!
 WHITE- ST ANDREW SCOTLAND
RED. SAINT PATRICK (Ireland)
ST ANDREW WAS ADDED BEFORE!

To deliberately fly the flag upside down is a

signal of distress
Lese Majeste- insulting the crown
Crime in the UK and in the commonwealth
UK Sources of Law:
1. Unwritten Laws
2. Legislation
Unwritten Laws
A. Common Law
B. Equity
 A. - Common law
(aka case law, jurisprudence)
1. based on precedents

- Ratio decidendi (reason for deciding- must be followed)

- Obiter dicta ( opinion of the judge- not binding)

2. Based on Stare decisis et non quieta movere

(Stand by and dont move what is quite)

3. Collected in Law reports by the Council of Law reporting

 B. EQUITY
Created to make common law less strict

Created by the Lord Chancellor to

overrule the judges if their decisions were
not equitable.

In case of conflict between Common Law

and Equity, Equity is supreme
 Example:
BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION of Topeka,
347 U.S. 483 (1954)

-Elimination of the separation of white and black

students within public schools.

-It overturned the Plessy v Ferguson decision of

1896- separate but equal.: "separate" facilities
were constitutional as long as they were "equal."
(restaurants, theatres, restrooms, and public
schools).
 BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION of Topeka,
347 U.S. 483 (1954)

History:
A class action suit was filed against the Board of
Education of the city of Topeka, Kansas in 1951.

-Plaintiffs: thirteen parents of twenty children who

attended the Topeka School District. Oliver L. Brown
was the named plaintiff in the case. They decided to
use his name as part of a legal tactic to have a mans
name on the front of the suit.
 BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION of Topeka,
347 U.S. 483 (1954)

Significance:
-Brown v Board set the foundation for the civil rights
movement .
- It set equal opportunity to a free and public
education no matter where they lived or what their
race was.
 Example:
BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION of
Topeka,
347 U.S. 483 (1954)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Q-
zd8PgeA
 2. Legislation

A. Primary legislation
B. Secondary legislation or
delegated legislation
 A. Primary legislation

Parliament acts aka statute law

- It is sovereign over all the other
forms of law in England and
Wales
B. Secondary legislation or delegated legislation

-Statutory instruments (administrative

regulations, adding details to Parliament Acts)
-By laws (made by local Governments)
-Orders in Council (For emergencies)
 Eu laws

- Treaties, regulations, directives,

general principles
- Precedence over UK laws
-European Court of Justice