Related Resources at the Library

Research Help

< Back to Research Help Home | Guide to Law Online | How Do I Find... ? | Current Legal Topics | Guides to Our Collections

Back to Foreign and International Law

Legal Research Guide: United Kingdom

Introduction to United Kingdom's Legal System | Official Sources of Law | Print Sources | Web Resources

Introduction to United Kingdom's Legal System

Type of Legal System

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the collective name of four countries, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The four separate countries were united under a single Parliament through a series of Acts of Union. The United Kingdom has recently undergone a period of devolution with the creation of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly that have the authority to legislate in defined areas.

The legal system in the United Kingdom is common law based, with origins from Roman law and considerable Anglo-Saxon influence. The judiciary interprets statutes passed by Parliament, and follows its own precedence. Statutory laws consist of Acts of Parliament (primary legislation) and subordinate legislation, which predominately consists of statutory instruments (also known as regulations, secondary or delegated legislation) made by Parliament. The common law consists of judicial decisions from the higher courts and the “decisions of any of the courts or tribunals of the United Kingdom in construing legislation.”

Levels of the Court System

Outline of court structure in England & Wales

This chart is from the Department of Constitutional Affairs website.

A chart of the court system for Northern Ireland

Outline of the court structure in Northern Ireland

This chart is from the Northern Ireland Court Service Education Online website.

A chart of the court system for Scotland

House of Lord
Court of Session
High Court of Justiciary
Sheriff's Court
District Courts

Official Sources of Law

Legislation

Official Acts of Parliament and secondary legislation are currently published through The Stationary Office.

The Office of Public Sector Information publishes the official version of online legislation for the United Kingdom. The following resources are available from its website:

Acts of Parliament: 1988 – current;
Statutory instruments: 1987 – current;
Scottish Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments: 1999 – current;
Scottish Statutory Instruments: 1999 – current;
Welsh Statutory Instruments: 1999 – current;
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly: 2000 – current;
Northern Ireland Statutory Rules (SRs): 2000 – current

This legislation is printed “as published” on the website and not codified or consolidated to take into account amendments or repeals or the laws entry into force. As such, while this web site is an official source for law, it is often not an accurate representation of the current status of the law.

An “official revised edition of the primary legislation” in the UK is available online through the Ministry of Justice Statute Law Database, although the revised version of the legislation typically is a couple of years behind.

Judicial Decisions

There are a large number of commercial case reporters in the United Kingdom. The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, a charitable organization, publishes the official Law Reports, the most authoritative reports of cases in England and Wales. When a case is reported in the Law Reports, a Practice Direction requires that this source be cited, and that other reporters only be used in the event that the case has not been published in the Law Reports.

The official source for cases from the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary, Scotland’s highest civil and criminal court, respectively are The Session Cases. These reports are published by the Scottish Council of Law Reporting, a charitable body, and have been recognized as the most authoritative reporter for cases as the court revises the judgments published therein. The Session Cases are published in 6 parts throughout the year.

Print Sources

Acts of Parliament:

Statutes of the Realm (1235-1713), KD130 1235 LLRR
The Statutes at Large (1225-1800), KD 130 1215m LLWEST
Public General Acts of Parliament (1866-current) KD135.L3 G74 – official version of Acts of Parliament.
Statutory Instruments (1949-current) KD166 .G74 – official version of Statutory Instruments.
Statutory Rules and Orders (1891-1948) KD166 .G74 – official version of Statutory Rules and Orders.
Chronological table of the Statutes – Northern Ireland KDE 47. S73 ed. 29 2002 LLWEST
Halsbury’s Statutes of England, KD135.H3 G74 – this commercial title provides a consolidated version of legislation.
Halsbury’s Statutes Citator 2006 (Julia Golding et al. eds., 2006) KD 135 H3 G74 – this title is indispensable in ascertaining the current status of legislation.
Halsbury’s Statutory Instruments Citator 2007, LAW Great Britain 2 1995 – Citator 2007 – this title is indispensable in ascertaining the current status of statutory instruments.

General Materials

Blackstone’s Criminal Practice (13th ed., Peter Murphy et al. eds., 2003), KD 7869 B584
Chitty on Contracts (29th ed., H.G. Beale et al. eds., 2004) KD 1554 .C48 2004 v. 1 LLWEST
Clerk and Lindsell on Torts (19th ed. Anthony M. Dugdale ed al. eds., 2006) KD 1949 .C54 2006 LLWEST
Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice,(23rd ed., Sir William Mckay et al. eds., 2004) KD 4354 .M38 2004 LLWEST
Francis Bennion, Statutory Interpretation, 2002, 4th ed. KD 691 B463 2002
Halsbury’s Laws of England, (Lord Hailsham of St. Marylebone ed al. eds) KD310 .H34 LLRR
The Laws of Scotland : Stair memorial encyclopaedia, (Law Society of Scotland) KDC150 .L39 1987

Web Sources

Legislation

The Office of Public Sector Information – the official version of legislation for the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law Database – an official revised version of legislation from the Ministry of Justice.
Swarb.co.uk – various Acts of Parliament back to the thirteenth century – some contain full text and some are extracts.
Index of Bills before Parliament – includes links to debates and relevant accompanying reports.

Judicial Decisions

Her Majesty’s Court Service – selected judicial decisions for England and Wales.
Northern Ireland Court Service – selected judicial decisions for Northern Ireland.
Scottish Court Service – selected judicial decisions for Scotland - cases from the Court of Session (civil) and High Court of Justiciary (criminal) from September 1998.
HeinOnline – a subscription database available onsite at the Library of Congress. Contains the full version of the English Reports Full Reprint of the Nominative Reports covering the period 1220-1865.
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey – judicial decisions of Old Bailey Criminal Court.
Incorporated Council of Law Reporting – summaries of selected judicial decisions from the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting.
British and Irish Legal Information Institute - judicial decisions and statutes for the UK.
Daily Law Notes - summaries of selected recent judicial decisions.
Law Library, Guide to Law Online, United Kingdom.

Government Sites

United Kingdom Government Home Page
Scottish Parliament – includes official report of the proceedings of the Scottish Parliament; Parliamentary procedure; research briefings; standing orders; and bills before Parliament.
National Assembly for Wales – includes legislation; Assembly resolutions; consultation papers; standing orders; and Agendas and minutes.
Northern Ireland Assembly
House of Commons Hansard – House of Commons, daily debates starting from session 1988/89 and Standing Committee debates on Bills from 1997/98.
House of Lords Hansard – debates of the House of Lords back to June 1996.
Parliamentary Publications – An archive of parliamentary publications, includes selected Sessional Papers; House of Commons Library Research Papers; Standing Orders; Select Committee Publications; and Standard Notes

For more information on United Kingdom see:

Last Updated: 02/05/2009