THE UNITED KINGDOM LEGAL SYSTEMS

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland contains three major legal systems which have been developed indigenously. The three systems, each with their own legal rules, courts and legal professions, are based geographically and comprise:



Though many laws apply to just one of these jurisdictions, laws can be applied by Act of Parliament, to all or any combination of them. In this way, the United Kingdom as a whole or Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) or England, Wales and Northern Ireland can also be seen as distinct jurisdictions.




It should also be noted that the United Kingdom has more recently (since 1972) incorporated the legal system of the European Union (formerly, before the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, called the European Communities). Now the Labour Government has plans to enact as British law the European Convention on Human Rights. These European sources are considered elsewhere in the UK Online web pages.