How Laws are Created in the UK.

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  1. An Act of parliament, also known as an act or statute, is a bill that has been passed through the House of Commons and the House of Lords and has received Royal Assent, becoming UK Law. There are many different Acts of Parliament for example the Suicide Act 1961 that changes previous law so that suicide is no longer a crime.

Delegated legislation is when the UK Parliament permits a person or body to make their own legislation usually by way of a ‘Parent’ Act which gives permission and guidance for the new piece of legislation. For example the Criminal Justice Act 2003 gives the Secretary of State the power to devise a Code of Practice for when an offender gets a conditional caution instead of being taken to court.

Devolved Legislatures (the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly) are law making bodies established to devolve certain law making powers from Westminster Parliament, although Westminster Parliament retains the right to discuss business relating to each jurisdiction. In order for these devolved legislatures to make law a number of Acts had to be passed by Westminster Parliament for example the Scotland Act 1998.

A precedent is a decision made in a court, which is binding on any court of equal or lower status where it was decided. A higher court is not bound to follow previous decisions, although may consider it.

Common Law is law that has been made by judges through the decisions they have made in cases they have heard. There are two types of common law, substantive law which is a rule about behaviour, for example that a person cannot commit murder, and procedural rules, which govern how things are done, for example the way evidence should be submitted to court.

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European Union Law is law that is made by the European Union. Since the UK joined the EU the UK is bound by these laws and any Acts made by UK Parliament must not conflict with any EU Laws. An example of an EU Law is the Equal Treatment Directive (76/207/EEC).

  1. Common law is law made by the Judiciary’s decisions in cases they have heard, although it can be amended or repealed by the UK Parliament. It is made up of substantive law, which are rules about how people should behave, and procedural rules, which are rules of how ...

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