English and Welsh law
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English law is the law of England and Wales, rather than Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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Common Law
The core of English law is formed by the common law. The essence of common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent to the fact before them.
Precedent
Because common law consisted of using what had gone before as a guide, common law places great emphasis on precedents. Thus a decision of the highest court in England and Wales, the House of Lords (the judicial members of which are referred to as Law Lords) is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions. Precedent continues to be applied to this day allowing for decisions made in one Court regarding a set of facts and their interpretation in law to be applied to like circumstances in the future. It is also for this reason that there is no Act of Parliament making murder illegal. It is still a common law crime. It is illegal by virtue of the constitutional authority of the courts and their previous decisions. Common law can be amended or repealed by British Parliament, for example, murder carries a mandatory life sentence today, but previously was punished by the death penalty.
Influences overseas
This practice of the common law (as opposed to civil law) was exported to Commonwealth countries while the British Empire was established and maintained, and persisted after the British withdrew or were expelled, to form the basis of the jurisprudence of many of those countries. English law prior to the Wars of Independence is still an influence on United States law, and provides the basis for many American legal traditions and policies.
Many jurisdictions which were formerly subject to English law (such as Hong Kong) continue to recognize the common law of England as their own - subject, of course, to statutory modification and judicial revision - and decisions from the English Reports continue to be cited from time to time as persuasive authority in present day judicial opinions.
Exceptions
Admiralty and Ecclesiastical law are considered to be based on the civil law (i.e. Continental European code-based law).
Statute
The oldest law currently in force is the Distress Act, 1267, part of the Statute of Marlborough, (52 Hen. 3). Three sections of Magna Carta, originally signed in 1215 and a landmark in the development of English law, are still extant, but they date to the reissuing of the law in 1297.
European Union
The UK is part of the European Union and European Union Law is effective in the UK. The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil law and so the civil law system is also in England in this form, and the European Court of Justice, a predominantly civil law court, can direct UK courts on the meaning of EU law.
