Cecily Zamora
Statute law in the UK refers to the written laws enacted by legislative bodies such as the UK Parliament or the National Assembly for Wales. Statutes are Acts of Parliament, and they are created by legislatures. They are identified by their short title and the date of enactment. Statutes are an essential aspect of the legal system as they directly influence various areas of everyday life, from criminal justice to contractual agreements. They are established through specific legislative processes and can be found in various forms, including Acts, Ordinances, and Codes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Nature | Written laws enacted by legislative bodies |
| Jurisdiction | Specific |
| Examples | Criminal Code, Civil Rights Act, Income Tax Act, local ordinances, labour laws, environmental regulations |
| Identification | Short title and date of enactment |
| Official Publication | Statutes in Force |
| Codified | No |
| Precedence | Takes precedence over common law |
| Amendment | Can be amended or repealed by legislative bodies |
| Research | Legislation.gov.uk, LexisNexis, Westlaw, British and Irish Legal Information Institute, Statutory Instruments page |
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What You'll Learn
Statute law vs common law
Statutes are laws passed by a legislature, and statutory law is the body of law resulting from statutes. Statute law, or statutory law, is codified, meaning it is written down and formally passed by a legislative body at the local, state, or federal level. It is also sometimes called "civil law" and is more rigid in its application. Statute law is applied as written, and judges apply the law without relying on past cases to interpret it. Statute law can be amended or repealed by lawmakers.
Common law, on the other hand, is unwritten and based on case decisions and judicial precedent. It is interpretive and evolves through court decisions. Common law can be reinterpreted by judges and is based on the legal principles that have been developed through the rulings of courts rather than created by lawmakers. It is sometimes referred to as "unwritten law" because it is not collected in a single source.
In the United States, the law can be traced back to the common-law system of English law, which was in force in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. The main departure from this system occurred when the US ratified the Constitution in 1789, establishing it as the "supreme Law of the Land".
In summary, the key distinction between statute law and common law is that statute law is written and passed by a legislative body, while common law is unwritten and based on judicial precedent and court decisions.
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Statute law in the UK legal system
Statutes in the UK are identified by their short title and the date of enactment, and they are listed in reverse chronological order by year. Coverage from 1988 to the present is comprehensive, with statutes published in ""revised" form, meaning any amendments have been incorporated into the text. Unrevised statutes are not current and must be updated unless being used for historical research.
There are several resources available for researching UK statute law. The official website for UK legislation is legislation.gov.uk, which is administered by the National Archives. This website provides free access to Acts of the UK Parliament, Local Acts of the UK Parliament, and Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England. Other resources include the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII), which offers a free database of legislation from the United Kingdom, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, and the University of Minnesota Law Library, which holds a collection of statutes from 1225 to 1868 in its Rare Book Center.
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Statute law examples
In the United Kingdom, a statute is an Act of Parliament, or a law. Statute law refers to the written laws created by legislative bodies within a jurisdiction, such as the UK Parliament or the National Assembly for Wales. Statute law covers various social, economic, and political issues. Statute law is created by legislatures and consists of written laws or statutes, while common law is developed through court decisions and judicial precedents. Statute law takes precedence over common law when conflicts arise.
Statute law is written and codified, and it can be amended or repealed by legislative bodies. Examples of statute law in the UK include the Criminal Code, which outlines criminal offenses and penalties, the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination, and the Income Tax Act, which governs taxation procedures. Other examples are local ordinances, labour laws, and environmental regulations enacted by legislatures.
The process of crafting statutes typically involves the proposal of a bill in the legislative body, followed by a debate where amendments may be made. Statutes are identified by their short title and the date of enactment and are usually published in chronological order. The official publication of all statutes currently in force in the UK is called "Statutes in Force", and it is available on microfiche. Another annual publication of UK statutes is "Current Law Statutes Annotated", which includes a loose-leaf "Service File" with the statutes for the current year.
Some examples of statutory instruments in the UK include the Portability of Online Content Services Regulations 2018 and the Public General Acts, which publish the text of the laws in chronological order.
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Statute law research
In the UK, a statute is an Act of Parliament, or a law. Statutes in the UK have never been officially codified, and there is no UK counterpart to the United States Code. Statutes are identified by their short title and the date of enactment, and are amended individually, retaining their original title and date.
There are several resources available for researching statute law in the UK. Many of these are now online, including Legislation.gov.uk, which is the official website of UK legislation. This site provides free access to Acts of the UK Parliament, Local Acts of the UK Parliament, and Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England. Statutes are listed in reverse chronological order by year, with comprehensive coverage from 1988 to the present. The site also has a comprehensive collection of statutory instruments from 1987 to the present, and partial coverage from 1948-1986.
Other online resources include Westlaw, which academic subscribers may use to access statutes and statutory instruments currently in force in the UK, as well as prior versions of UK-wide statutes and statutory instruments dating back to 1992. LexisNexis also contains separate files for UK statutes and statutory instruments, though a subscription is required.
For those in the US, the University of Minnesota Law Library has several resources for researching UK statute law. Statutes from 1225 to 1868 can be found in Statutes at Large (in the Rare Book Center), and from 1866 onwards in Public General Acts. The library also has a copy of Current Law Statutes Annotated, which includes a loose-leaf "Service File" with statutes for the current year. One of the most useful sources for British statutory law is Butterworths' Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales, which brings together all statutes currently in force by subject and includes case annotations, notes, definitions, and references to statutory instruments for each section of a law.
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Statute law history
Statute law, or statutory law, is the most authoritative law in the UK, comprising Acts of Parliament, regulations, and by-laws. Statutes are Acts of Parliament, or laws, passed by the UK Parliament.
Historically, the foundation and prime source of English law was the common law. Common law is made by sitting judges who apply both statutory law and established principles derived from the reasoning from earlier decisions. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament. However, the UK has never officially codified its statutes; there is no equivalent to the United States Code.
The earliest statutes in the UK date back to the 13th century. Statutes from 1225 to 1868 can be found in Statutes at Large, published by the government printer in England, Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). These statutes are cited by regnal year, requiring knowledge of the history of British royalty or a chart of regnal years. An example of this citation style is the Pleading in English Act 1362, referred to as "36 Edw. 3. c. 15", meaning "36th year of the reign of Edward III, chapter 15". From 1840 onwards, statutes began to be cited using their short title and the year, such as the Theft Act 1968.
Today, the official website of UK legislation, Legislation.gov.uk, provides free access to Acts of the UK Parliament, Local Acts of the UK Parliament, and Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England. Statutes are listed in reverse chronological order by year, with comprehensive coverage from 1988 to the present.
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Frequently asked questions
A statute is a written law created by a legislative body, such as the UK Parliament or the National Assembly for Wales. Statute law can be amended or repealed by legislative bodies and takes precedence over common law.
Statutes in the UK are identified by their short title and the date of enactment. They are listed in reverse chronological order by year.
UK statutes can be found on legislation.gov.uk, which is the official website of UK legislation. They can also be found in the Statutes of the Realm, which is the most authoritative source for older UK legislation.
