The United Kingdom has not one legal system but three: that of England and Wales, that of Scotland and that of Northern Ireland. The English system, shared with Wales, is the cradle of the common law, the legal model later adopted across much of the English-speaking world, from the United States to Australia, India and Canada.
What the common law is
Unlike the systems of continental Europe, based on written codes derived from Roman law, the common law developed from the Middle Ages through the decisions of the judges of the king's courts, who applied customs "common" to the whole realm. Its fundamental principle is binding precedent (stare decisis): the rulings of higher courts oblige lower judges to decide similar cases in the same way. Alongside the common law grew equity, a body of principles developed by the Lord Chancellor's court to correct the rigidities of the common law, from which, for example, the trust derives.
Today the main sources of law are Acts of Parliament (statute law), which prevail over judge-made law, and case law, which interprets them and covers areas not regulated by statute. There is no single civil or criminal code: the law of contract and tort is still largely judge-made. After Brexit, the EU law that applied in the country was retained as "assimilated law" and is being progressively amended by Parliament.
The courts
- Magistrates' Courts: they try the great majority of minor offences, about nine criminal cases in ten, with unpaid lay magistrates or district judges.
- Crown Court: it tries serious offences with a jury of twelve citizens chosen at random, who decide guilt while the judge sets the sentence; a majority verdict of at least ten to two is allowed.
- County Court and Family Court: ordinary civil and family cases.
- High Court: the most important civil cases, divided into three divisions, King's Bench, Chancery and Family.
- Court of Appeal: the appeal court, with civil and criminal divisions.
- Supreme Court: since 2009 the final court of appeal for the whole UK in civil cases and for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in criminal cases, with twelve justices. It sits in the former Middlesex Guildhall, opposite Parliament.
The UK has no constitutional court able to strike down laws: under the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, Parliament can pass any law. Since 1998 the Human Rights Act has incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights, and judges can declare a law incompatible with it, leaving Parliament to decide whether to change it.
Lawyers, judges and wigs
The legal profession is split in two: solicitors, who advise clients, draft contracts and prepare cases, and barristers, specialists in advocacy before the higher courts, organised in London's four ancient Inns of Court. Judges are selected from experienced lawyers by an independent commission. The famous horsehair wigs are still worn by judges and barristers in criminal trials, while since 2008 they have been dropped in most civil cases.
Police and criminal justice
England and Wales have no national police force: there are 43 territorial forces, the largest being London's Metropolitan Police, headquartered at New Scotland Yard; most officers do not carry firearms. Prosecutions are brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, created in 1986. The age of criminal responsibility is ten, one of the lowest in Europe. The death penalty, suspended in 1965, was abolished for all crimes in 1998. Prisons have been overcrowded for years, and the government has had to release thousands of prisoners early to free up places.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland also has a common law system very similar to England's, but with its own courts, lawyers and laws, and its own Court of Appeal in Belfast. For Scotland see the Scottish legal system. See also Parliament and government.