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UK Legal System

50 cards · 🇺🇸 English

The UK's three jurisdictions, courts and constitutional institutions.

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How many legal jurisdictions does the UK have?

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  1. 1How many legal jurisdictions does the UK have?
    Three distinct legal jurisdictions: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
  2. 2English law
    Legal system administered by courts in England and Wales, based on principles of common law since 1189
  3. 3Scots law
    Unique legal system with ancient basis in Roman law, featuring elements of both civil law and common law
  4. 4Northern Ireland law
    Common law system closely similar to English law, administered by courts of Northern Ireland
  5. 5Common law
    Legal system where law is developed by judges in court, applying statute, precedent, and case-by-case reasoning
  6. 6Stare decisis
    Legal principle that judgments are binding in future similar cases (precedent)
  7. 7Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
    Highest court in UK for all criminal and civil cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and for civil cases in Scotland
  8. 8Senior Courts of England and Wales
    Courts consisting of the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice (civil), and Crown Court (criminal)
  9. 9Court of Appeal
    Part of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, handles appeals from lower courts
  10. 10High Court of Justice
    Part of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, handles civil cases
  11. 11Crown Court
    Part of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, handles criminal cases
  12. 12Judicial review
    Process where the High Court may quash administrative decisions of the Government and delegated legislation
  13. 13Court of Session
    Chief court in Scotland for civil cases
  14. 14High Court of Justiciary
    Chief court in Scotland for criminal cases
  15. 15Sheriff court
    Scottish court dealing with most civil and criminal cases, including trials with juries (solemn) or without (summary)
  16. 16Not proven
    Third possible verdict in Scottish criminal trials, alongside guilty and not guilty, resulting in acquittal
  17. 17Declaratory power
    Rare power of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland to create new criminal offences without Parliament
  18. 18Senedd
    Welsh Parliament (formerly National Assembly for Wales), generates primary and secondary legislation for Wales since 2007
  19. 19Acts of Union 1707
    Created the Kingdom of Great Britain but guaranteed the continued existence of Scotland's and England's separate legal systems
  20. 20Retained EU law (REUL)
    Category of law created after Brexit by 'cutting and pasting' EU legislation into domestic law to maintain legislative continuity
  21. 21Parliamentary sovereignty
    Doctrine that the King-in-Parliament is completely sovereign with power to make and unmake any law except to bind itself
  22. 22King-in-Parliament
    The King, Lords, and Commons acting together to legislate
  23. 23House of Lords
    Upper house of UK Parliament, includes Lords Spiritual (bishops) and Lords Temporal (peers)
  24. 24House of Commons
    Democratically elected lower house of UK Parliament where real power is vested
  25. 25Lords Spiritual
    Senior bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords
  26. 26Lords Temporal
    Members of the Peerage who sit in the House of Lords
  27. 27Northern Ireland Assembly
    Devolved legislature of Northern Ireland, established under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998
  28. 28MLA
    Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland), elected under single transferable vote
  29. 29Scottish Parliament
    Devolved legislature located in Holyrood, Edinburgh, with 129 Members (MSPs) elected under Additional Member System
  30. 30MSP
    Member of the Scottish Parliament, elected for four-year terms

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