Legal System of England and Wales
The Legal System paper tests how courts, precedent and legislation fit together: the civil and criminal court hierarchies, the doctrine of binding precedent, statutory interpretation, and the roles of the different legal professions.
It is foundational rather than glamorous, which is exactly why candidates underrate it. Questions are precise about which court binds which, and about the narrow exceptions to precedent.
Every section of Legal System of England and Wales
11 sections and 67 topics, in the order they are taught. Open a section to read the topics inside it.
The Common Law System and Adversarial Process 4 topics
- What a common law system is
- Adversarial and inquisitorial systems compared
- Equity, the common law and their merger
- Public, private, civil and criminal law
Sources of Law in England and Wales 10 topics
- Statute as the primary source
- The structure of an Act of Parliament
- Delegated and secondary legislation
- Case law as a source of law
- International treaties and the prerogative
- Works of authority and conventions
- Assimilated European Union law
- Convention rights through the Human Rights Act 1998
- The royal prerogative as a source
- Custom as a source of law
Statutory Interpretation 9 topics
- Why statutes need interpreting
- The literal rule
- The golden rule
- The mischief rule
- The purposive approach
- Hansard after Pepper v Hart
- Rules of language and interpretive maxims
- Presumptions of interpretation
- Intrinsic and extrinsic aids
Civil Court Structure, Tracks and Alternative Dispute Resolution 8 topics
- County Court and High Court at first instance
- Divisional Courts and the civil appeal ladder
- Tribunals, the Privy Council and magistrates in civil work
- Allocation to the four case-management tracks
- The small claims limit in personal injury claims
- High Court value thresholds for starting a claim
- Methods of alternative dispute resolution
- King’s Bench Division multi-track claims
Criminal Court Structure and Classification of Offences 4 topics
- Offence classification and trial venue
- Magistrates’ Court sentencing limits
- Jury eligibility and function
- Jury size and majority verdicts
Appeals (Civil and Criminal) 12 topics
- Destination of a civil appeal
- Permission to appeal
- Time limits and the second appeals test
- Appeals from the Magistrates’ Court
- Crown Court appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Criminal appeals to the Supreme Court
- The Divisional Court route to the Supreme Court
- The Criminal Cases Review Commission
- Attorney General’s references
- Appeal by way of case stated
- Challenging the Crown Court sitting appellately
- The two routes to leave to appeal
The Doctrine of Precedent (Stare Decisis) 8 topics
- Stare decisis and how precedent works
- Vertical and horizontal binding
- When the Court of Appeal binds itself
- When High Court decisions bind
- The Supreme Court departing from itself
- Distinguishing and other ways of avoiding precedent
- Ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
- Majority and minority opinions
The Judiciary 4 topics
- The Judicial Appointments Commission
- Judicial independence and security of tenure
- Heads of division and senior judicial offices
- Judicial retirement age
Rights of Audience (Court-Structure Aspect) 1 topic
- Solicitors’ rights of audience
The Legislative Process (Bill to Act) 3 topics
- The passage of a Bill through both Houses
- Commencement and sunset provisions
- Primary and delegated legislation compared
Senedd Cymru and Welsh Legislation 4 topics
- Senedd Cymru and its legislative competence
- The structure of an Act of Senedd Cymru
- Interpreting Senedd legislation
- Extent and application in England and Wales
See the format
Written for this page only, in the same single best answer format as the 160+ questions in the Legal System of England and Wales section of the course.
A County Court judge is deciding a claim on which a Court of Appeal decision is directly on point. The judge believes the reasoning is wrong, and notes that the decision conflicts with an earlier House of Lords authority the Court of Appeal did not consider. What should the judge do?
The exceptions that let a court depart from an otherwise binding Court of Appeal decision, including per incuriam, belong to the Court of Appeal when reviewing its own past decisions. They are not available to a court lower in the hierarchy, which stays bound regardless of an unconsidered conflicting authority or its own view of the reasoning. That conflict is a ground of appeal, not a basis for a lower court to depart on its own initiative.
Authority: Young v Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718 (the Court of Appeal’s own exceptions to precedent).
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