What Exactly Is the English Legal System, and How Is It Structured?

Chapter 1 begins by breaking the phrase into three words:
English,
Legal, and
System.
It first asks what is meant by England and by the United Kingdom, then considers the different types of law, and finally examines what is meant by a legal system. The chapter describes the English Legal System as a
common-law-based
and
adversarial
system.

What is the United Kingdom?

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of four countries:
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The chapter stresses that these countries do not all have the same legal arrangements.

England and Wales

The terminology is already more complicated than it first appears. The textbook notes that, technically, the subject commonly called the “English Legal System” is really the
Legal System of England and Wales.
Wales does not yet have a completely separate legal system, although its legislative position has developed.

The Laws of Wales Acts of 1535 and 1543 historically brought Welsh law and governance into the English legal framework. The chapter also explains that the Government of Wales Act 2006 gave Wales limited legislative powers, which developed further after the 2011 referendum. Welsh legislation has therefore created areas of divergence, while the courts and procedural rules remain shared with England.

Scotland

Scotland is different. The
Act of Union 1707
preserved the Scottish Legal System. The chapter therefore treats Scotland as having a separate legal system within the United Kingdom. Westminster remains the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but legislation does not automatically extend to Scotland; its territorial extent must be considered.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland also has distinct legal and political arrangements within the United Kingdom. The chapter highlights its separate position and its system of devolved government based on power-sharing.

What does “system” mean?

The chapter explains that a legal system is more than a collection of individual rules. It concerns
how law is administered and applied,
including procedural law and the courts.

What kind of legal system is it?

The English Legal System is described as a
common-law-based system.
Law in England and Wales is not only made by Parliament through statutory law; it can also develop through previous judicial decisions. This makes
precedent
an important feature of the system.

The second major characteristic identified in the chapter is the
adversarial system.
This concerns how cases are adjudicated and distinguishes the English Legal System from the inquisitorial approach associated with continental systems.

The English Legal System is more complex than the name suggests.

1. The UK contains four countries, but it does not have one single legal system.

2. England and Wales share a legal system.

3. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems.

4. Law can be classified in different ways: substantive/procedural, public/private, civil/criminal.

5. A legal system is more than a collection of laws — it is the structure through which law is made, interpreted and applied.

6. The English legal system is based on the common law tradition and the doctrine of precedent.

7. The traditional English system is adversarial: opposing parties present their cases before an independent and neutral court.

The first lesson is therefore that the phrase “English Legal System” hides a more complex structure. The United Kingdom contains four countries with different legal arrangements, and even within the subject called the English Legal System, the textbook explains why
England and Wales
are more accurately treated together.

The English Legal System is the institutional and procedural framework through which law is created, interpreted and applied in England and Wales, within a common-law tradition based significantly on legislation, judicial precedent and an adversarial method of adjudication.