Common Law ReasoningWhat are the source of law? Illustrate your answer by reffering to adequate cases, journal articles and/or other materials.

IntroductionLegal systems are there to determine what will happen when people have disputes. Legal rules are also there so people can order their lives in such a way as to avoid such disputes.[footnoteRef:1] English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and the basis of common law legal systems in the Republic of Ireland, Commonwealth countries and the United States of America. No civilization would ever have been possible without a framework of stability. To provide the wherein for the flux of charge. Foremost among the stabilizing factors, more enduring than customs, manners and traditions are the legal systems that regulate our life in the world and our daily affairs with each other.[footnoteRef:2] [1: Reference to: English Legal System in context (2nd edn. Butterworth, 2000, p6) by F Cownie and A Bradney.] [2: Reference to: Hannah Arendt quote, (German Philosopher and Political scientist. 1906-1975).]

1) Primary Source of Lawi) Common LawBefore the Norman Conquest 1066, there was no system of law uniform to the country as a whole. Customary laws are formed according to the local customs in different area of the country. There was no any central law to govern the people; instead they just practise their own custom. William the conqueror, wanted to standardise the law that applicable throughout the country. There are judges known as the itinerant justices which are the representatives of the King were travelled throughout the country to adjudicate the disputes according to the local customary law.[footnoteRef:3] The justices will return to London once a while to discuss their experience and select the best local customs and this developed a uniform rule which is applied throughout the whole country. This then emerge the concept of common law, which is the law common to all people. There are mainly two types of sources of law, namely primary source and secondary source. [3: Reference to: E Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the Country of Kent: Volume 1 (Institute of Historical Research, 1797) p229-231.]

ii) EquityThe birth of equity is due to the shortcoming and defects of common law as it was formed to fill in the lacuna in the common law.[footnoteRef:4] It is a venerable group of rights and procedures to provide fairness, unhampered by the narrow strictures of the old common law or other technical requirements of the law.[footnoteRef:5] Today, although equity and the common law are implemented by the same courts, the two branches of the law are separated. Whenever a conflict is occurred, equity still prevails. This is because equity developed maxims to ensure that decisions made are morally fair, i.e. equity is equality, equity looks to the intention and not the form, equity acts in personam etc.[footnoteRef:6] Besides that, equity also provides additional remedies such as injunction, specific performance and rescission.[footnoteRef:7] [4: Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.5-6, 1.4.2 Development of equity] [5: Reference to: Gerald and K.Hill, Law.com Legal Terms and Definition URL: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=646 accessed 2 March 2014.] [6: Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.6-7, Maxims of equity. This refer to one of the ways in which equity was able to plug the gaps of the common law was by using guidelines called maxims of equity. One of the better-known maxims is He who comes to equity must come with clean hands, this means that equity will not assist a party who has acted in bad conscience. ] [7: Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.7. Equitable remedies. This states that equity created not only new rights,but also new remediesequity recognised the limits of the usefulness of money as an award and developed,among others]

Common Law and EquityCommon Law and equity are found by judges in cases. It is submitted that the main purpose of equity is to remedy the odd pronouncements of common law and it provides a gloss to the common law system.[footnoteRef:8] Although it doesnt replace common law, there are times where two different jurisdictions conflicted, as seen in the case of Earl of Oxfords Case.[footnoteRef:9] James I settled the situation: where the two jurisdictions conflicted, equity was to prevail. When the Judicature Act 1873-75 was passed, the jurisdiction of common law and equity had been merged and there would no longer be separate courts administering equity and common law. [8: Reference to: Lawyers.com.au, The Difference between Common Law and EquityURL: http://www.lawyers.com.au/legal-articles/difference-between-law-and-equity/accessed on 2 March 2014.] [9: Reference to: Earl of Oxfords Case (1616) 1 Rep Ch 1. The common law judges refused to recognise the interest of a beneficial owner of a trust while the Chancery judges threatened to imprison the trustees unless they recognised that same interest.]

iii) Case Law Case law is a mass of judge-made decisions which lay down rules to be followed in future court cases. It is very important today because for centuries case law have been the main form of law. This is evidenced when cardinal foundation of various core subject being taught in the course, i.e. law of tort; modification of the Reynold Defence for defamation under Defamation Act 2013, company law; codification of directors duty in part 10 of Companies Act 2006, and etc. was found under common law principle. As Smith, Bailey and Gunn in their book had noted common law as a number of "distinct sources of law that exist within such a system"[footnoteRef:10]. [10: Reference to: The Modern English Legal System, S Bailey and Gunn(5th edition, Sweet and Maxwell, 2007), pg. 5.]

Case lawis the set of existing rulings which have made new interpretations of law and, therefore, can be cited as precedent.[footnoteRef:11] In most countries, including most European countries, the term is applied to any set of rulings on law which is guided by previous rulings, for example, previous decisions of a government agency - that is, precedential case law can arise from either a judicial ruling or a ruling of adjudication within an executive branch agency.[footnoteRef:12] Even so, on times of necessity, the courts have the power to do any option like: follow, overrule, distinguish and reverse.[footnoteRef:13] However it is rather strange for the People Republic of China since their judiciary are lack of the system of precedent.[footnoteRef:14] [11: Reference to: Gerald and K Hill, Law.com Legal Terms and Definition URL : http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=148 accessed 1 March 2014.] [12: Ibid.] [13: Reference to: the three exception in Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718 Court of Appeal.] [14: Reference to Guangdong Xu, Tianshu Zhou, Bin Zeng, and Jin Shi, Directors duties in China , (2013), 14(1) E.B.O.R. 57, p73.]

Sometimes foreign legal materials may play a role both in the heuristic phase of the judicial deliberations and in the phase of the legitimising of the decision through the court's reasoning.[footnoteRef:15] When they have a legal obligation to take these sources into account and when they consider that, even in the absence of an obligation to do so, taking account of foreign legal sources could be useful.[footnoteRef:16] [15: Reference to: B Markesinis & J Fedtke, Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law,(Abingdon 2006), pg. 7-46. Normative frameworks for judicial decision-making generally allow judges a considerable amount of discretion regarding the sources which they take into account.] [16: Reference to: Camb. Law J., 70 [2011], pp 420-450 at 421.]

Judicial PrecedentThe doctrine of judicial precedent lies at the heart of the English Legal System and is based on stare decisis, it simply means that the court is bounded by the previous legal principle decided in a higher court or and has to be followed in certain other courts. In the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932], the House of Lords held that a manufacture owed a duty of care to the consumer.[footnoteRef:17] It was then followed in Grant v Australian Knitting Mills[1936] since there are similar cases.[footnoteRef:18] [17: Reference to: Donoghue v Stevenson[1932] AC 562.] [18: Reference to: Grant v Australian Knitting Mills[1936] AC 85.]

When a judge is delivering a judgement, they will set out their reason for reaching a decision; this is known as the ratio decidendi as any rule of law treated by the judges as an essential step in reacting his decision had been regarded to the line of reasoning adopted by himself.[footnoteRef:19] This is the part of judgement that forms binding precedent for future cases. [19: Reference to: e-lawresources.co.uk, Judicial Precedent, URL: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Judicial-precedent.php accessed on 1 March 2014.]

On the other hand, obiter dicta simply means that remarks of a judge which are not necessary to reaching a decision, but are made as comments, illustrations or thoughts, e.g. in case of R v Howe & Bannister [1987], the court held that the defence should not be available to one who attempts murder, the judge then choose whether they want to follow the previous decision made.Binding precedent must be applied in a later case even it is wrongly decided but the course material facts must be similar, such as in the case of Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998).[footnoteRef:20] However, persuasive precedent means precedent which a judge is not obliged to follow, but is of importance in reaching a judgment as in the case of R v R [ 1991][footnoteRef:21], it opposed to a binding precedent. [20: Reference to: Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998) 4 All ER 513 House of Lords. An old established rule of contract law that if the parties to an agreement based upon a mistake as to what the law was they are still bound by the contract: a mistake as to law was of no effect. However, if the parties made a mistake about the facts then in some circumstances the contract would not be binding. Although this distinction had seemed rather illogical, it was not until 1998 that the H of L decided, by a majority of 3-2, to abolish this rule about mistakes in law.] [21: Reference to: R v R [1991]UKHL 12. TheCourt of Appealdecided that a man could be guilty of raping his wife and the House of Lords followed the same legal reasoning and agreed with the Court of Appeal's decision although the House of Lords being higher in the hierarchy than the Court of Appeal were not bound to follow the decision.]

iv) Legislationa) Domestic Legislation or Act of Parliament or StatuteStatute, also known as Act of Parliament, which is some of the founding origin of the English Legal System, are law made by Parliament that consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch.[footnoteRef:22] Although statute came late, in the case of Proclamation, it was held that only the Parliament can prohibit an offence and not the King of United Kingdom.[footnoteRef:23] Not only that, its authority and sovereignty had ensured that the Parliament is always above the common law system. The Act of Settlement[footnoteRef:24] was later passed by the Parliament which recognised the autonomy of the judiciary after the Glorious Revolution in 1688 to 1689[footnoteRef:25]. [22: Reference to: e-lawresources.co.uk, Statutes URL: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Statutes.php accessed on 2 March 2014.] [23: Reference to: The case of PROCLAMATIONS 77 ER 1352, (1611) 12 Co Rep 74. The King cannot issue any proclamation. This proclamation is not part of the law. Only the parliament can prohibit an offence and not the King through a proclamation. And even in the case where the Parliament does not issue a law prohibiting an offence, a proclamation imposing fine or imprisonment is impossible. Separation between the executive and the legislative branch.] [24: Reference to: The British Monarchy (Official Website), The Act of Settlement, URL: http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedkingdom/thestuarts/maryiiwilliamiiiandtheactofsettlement/theactofsettlement.aspxaccessed on 3 March 2014. The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring parliamentary system of government.] [25: Reference to: --, Bill of Rights Act, 1689 - The Glorious Revolution', URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A727265 accessed on 3 March 2014. TheBill of Rights Act, 1689passed through Parliament after the coronation and, on 16 December, 1689, the King and Queen gave it Royal Assent, passing it into English law. Never again would English monarchs claim their power came from God asThe Bill of Rights Act, 1689represented the end of the concept of Divine Right of Kings, which was one of the issues over which theEnglish Civil Warhad been fought. It also made kings and queens subject to laws passed by Parliament; this has been called the 'Glorious Revolution'.]

The significant of the revolution is that it established an elected Parliament as supreme in the fundamentals of taxation and legislation and set clear limits to royal assent.[footnoteRef:26] Due to the supremacy of the law making institution, the product of Parliament - Act of Parliament basically had 'inherited' the sovereign status of the legislature. [26: Reference to: C Easton, The English Legal System (course notes), (1st edn, Hodder Education, 2012), pg.7. Royal assent simply means that No Bill can become an Act without the Royal Assent, this means that the monarch must consent to the Bill becoming law. However, this is merely a formal process; the monarch does not read every Bill and give personal consent. Reference to: --, Typical RevolutionURL: http://students.cis.uab.edu/jcmetcal/CS%20101%20Glorious%20Revolution.html accessed on 3 March 2014.]

b)Delegated Legislation or Subordinate Legislation or Secondary LegislationDelegated Legislation are laws passed otherwise than in an Act of Parliament and it can take a variety of forms, each of which are for different purposes. This legislation is made under an enabling Act or the Parent Act of a statute which allows the Government to make changes to a law such as altering sanctions under a given statute without needing to push through a completely new Act of Parliament, leaving the detailed rule or technicalities to the third parties. Moreover, the legislation created by delegated legislation must be made in accordance with the purposes laid down in the Act.[footnoteRef:27] [27: Reference to: Law Teacher ( The Law Essay Professional), Delegated Legislation,URL: http://www.lawteacher.net/english-legal-system/resources/delegated-legislation.php accessed on 3 March 2014.]

As John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton expressed: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.[footnoteRef:28] Delegated legislation can be criticized on the ground that, the power confers to them to make law is too powerful. They are not democratically elected. Thus, the control of delegated legislation by the Parliament and the courts are very important. As Thomas Hobbes said: It is not wisdom but Authority makes the law.[footnoteRef:29] The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006[footnoteRef:30] gives the executive very wide powers to make delegated legislation. If this power is misused, the consequences could be disastrous. Delegated legislation can take a variety of forms, each of which are for different purposes. [28: Reference to: Power Corrupts URL:www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html accessed on 4 March 2014.] [29: Reference to: Quotes by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury (5 April 1588- 4 December 1679) English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy.] [30: Reference to: Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. It was introduced following a report of the Better Regulation Task Force, Regulation- Less is More (2005). The official aim of the Act is to make it simpler and faster to amend existing legislation. It allows minister to issue statutory instrument to amend legislation to reduce a burden (such as unnecessary cost or administrative inconvenience) caused by legislation in order to promote better regulation.]

Statutory InstrumentsStatutory Instruments are rules and regulations that are being made by the relevant ministry and government department which derived their power from the Parent Act that set out the broad general principles and delegate the technicalities that are to be filled in by them.[footnoteRef:31] Consultations are often take place with interested bodies and parties Around 3,000 Statutory Instruments are issued each year, making up the majority of delegated legislation. In the year 2010, there are about 3866 of Statutory Instruments that became law according to the Parliament Session.[footnoteRef:32] It is normally drafted by the legal office of the relevant government department. Consultations are often take place with interested bodies and parties. [31: Reference to: LAWMENTOR, Parent Act, URL: http://www.lawmentor.co.uk/glossary/P/parent-act/ accessed on 4 March 2014.Such parent or enabling act derives their authority from the Parliament.] [32: Reference to: House of Commons Information Office, House of Commons Brief Guild, Delegated Legislation (August 2011).]

Orders in CouncilOrders in Council are specific forms used in very important or urgent circumstances which are passed by the Privacy Council of the Legislative Committee, it effectively allows the government to introduce legislation without the approval of Parliament.[footnoteRef:33] This form of delegated legislation is also used during war time as was in the case of the Gulf War and subsequent invasion of Iraq[footnoteRef:34], as well as to give the European law direct effect when the legislation is not directly effective. However, after the Statutory Instruments Act (SIA) 1946 under section 1 was passed, every power to make an Orders of Council conferred by an Act of Parliament must be in the form of statutory instrument. [33: Reference to: G Slapper and D Kelly, The English Legal System, (14th edition, Routledge-Oxon, 2013), pg.114.] [34: Reference to: Kenneth Estes, The Second Gulf War, 12 July 2007, ISN, URL: http://www.cfr.org/world/isn-second-gulf-war-1990-1991/p13865 accessed on 4 March 2014.]

By-lawsBy-Law are laws made by the local authorities, public bodies or private institution, using the power granted by an Act of Parliament under the Local Government Act 1972. Moreover, a breach of the bylaw may lead to legal proceeding initiation, such as in the case of Boddington v. British Transport Police [1998].[footnoteRef:35] [35: Reference to: House of Lord, Judgment of Boddington v. British Transport Police URL: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldjudgmt/jd980402/bodd01.htm accessed on 4 March 2014.]

v) The European UnionThe accession of the United Kingdom into the membership of the European Community (now called the European Union) was through the Treaty of Rome in 1 January 1973, which is made up from four main institutions.[footnoteRef:36] It created new and very important sources of law for the UK. Section 2(4) of the European Communities Act 1972 provides that English law should be interpreted and have effect subject to the principles that European law is supreme; this means that European law now takes precedence over all domestic sources of law.[footnoteRef:37] [36: Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (7th edn Hodder Education, London 2013), p.g. 68. The main institutions are The Council of the European Union, The Commission, The European Parliament, The European Court of Justice.] [37: Reference to: European Communities Act 1972, c.68 Section2(4).]

There is a range of different forms of European Legislations, namely Treaties, Regulations, Directives. In considering the impact of this legislation, a distinction has to be drawn between direct applicability and direct effect. Direct applicability refers to the fact that treaty articles, regulations and some decisions immediately become part of the law of each member state without intervention of Parliament. Provisions of treaties, regulations and directives only have direct effect if they are clear, unconditional and their implementation requires no further legislation in member states. Direct effect can be divided into two types; verticle effect gives individual rights against Governments to invoke a European provision in relation to the State.[footnoteRef:38] Horizontal direct effect gives rights against other people and organizations, just as in the case of Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen(1963).[footnoteRef:39] [38: Reference to: Europa (Summaries of EU Legislation), The direct effect of European Law URL: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/decisionmaking_process/l14547_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.] [39: Reference to: NV Algemene Transporten Expeditie Onderneming van Gend en Loos v. Nederlandse Administratis der Belastingen 26/62, [1963 ECR 1; [1963] CMLR 105].]

Treaties, a major source of law, it is a binding agreement between European Union member countries. It sets out European Union objectives, rules for European Union institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the European Union and its member countries.[footnoteRef:40] There are quite some number of treaties which the United Kingdom had signed such as the Treaties of the European Union, the European Convention of Human Rights and etc. The Treaties of the European Union are international treaties agrees between all the member states. They effectively constitute the European constitution, establishing the six key European institutions and the aims of the European Union. The treaty is of direct effect.[footnoteRef:41] An example of directly effective treaty is Macarthys Ltd v Smith (1979), they impose obligation on the member state to adhere the provision.[footnoteRef:42] [40: Reference to: European Union, EU treaties URL: http://europa.eu/eu-law/decision-making/treaties/index_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.] [41: Reference to: Sixth Form Law, EC Law - directly applicable and the doctrine of direct effect URL: http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod2/2_3_2_eu_sources/08_doctrine_of_direct_effect.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.] [42: Reference to: Macarthys Ltd v. Smith [1979] I.C.R. 785, [1981] QB 180. Art. 157 was held to give a woman in the UK the right to claim the same wages as were paid to the male predecessor in her job, even though she had no such right under the UK equal pay legislation passed in 1970 before UK joined Europe.]

Regulations are the most direct form of European Union law; they are directly applied throughout the European Union once they are passed, without the need for each country to make its own legislation, in particular the people of the member state[footnoteRef:43], which is similar to the Act of Parliament. Regulation must be applied even if the member state has already passed legislation which conflicts them, this was happened in the case of Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry (1973).[footnoteRef:44] [43: Reference to: European Commission, Application of EU Law URL: http://ec.europa.eu/eu_law/introduction/what_regulation_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.] [44: Reference to: Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry [1973] ECR 287]

Directives are addressed to national authorities, they aim to set out broad objectives, leaving members state with a margin to create their own detailed rule so that the objective of the directive is achieve without compromising the member state autonomy. Directives are of direct effect as it was essential for the government to implement the directive, as in the case of Van Duyn v Home Office[footnoteRef:45]. [45: Reference to: Van Duyn v Home Office [1975] Ch 258 ECJ.]

Decisions of the European here does not refer to decisions made by the European Court of Justice but to decisions issued under the power of Article 288 (TFEU) which is addressed to a Member State or an individual and are binding in every respect.[footnoteRef:46] [46: Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (7th edn Hodder Education, London 2013), p.g. 80. ]

European Convention on Human RightsThe European Convention on Human Rights is an international treaty to protecthuman rightsand fundamentalfreedomsinEurope under Hitlers rule of Germany; it played an important role in the development and awareness about Human Rights. [footnoteRef:47] This convention was One can appeal their case to the European Courts of Human Rights whenever there is an alleged breach of human rights by the government. Moreover, this convention is the most important instrument of international law to emanate from the Council of Europe. Still, the decision under the European Court of Human Right would be a source of law under the judicial precedent because section 2 of the HRA 1998 requires the domestic court to take into account the foreign decision, which might indirectly mound the jurisprudence of the English court.[footnoteRef:48] [47: Reference to: UK LAW ONLINE, The European Convention on Human Right URL: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/hamlyn/echr.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.] [48: Reference to: A The National Achieves, Human Right Act 1998 URL: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/2 accessed on 6 March 2014.]

Human Rights Act 1998This Act gives legal effect in the UK to certain fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.[footnoteRef:49] The HRA 1998 makes the European Convention binding at national level as well, so that people in the UK can complain in their local courts about a failure to uphold theirConvention Rights.[footnoteRef:50] [49: Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (6th edn Hodder Education, Oxon 2010), p.g. 289.] [50: Ibid.]

Under the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Bill of Rights of 1689, rights such as the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial and the prohibition against torture and slavery, have long been recognised in UK law. The HRA codifies these rights and puts them into an accessible framework.[footnoteRef:51] [51: Reference to: mind, Human Right Act URL: http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/human-rights-act/#TheEuropeanConventiononHumanRights accessed on 6 March 2014.]

When judges are deciding cases of question about a Convention right has arisen, the court must follow decisions of the European Court of Human Rights instead of a conflicting decision by a UK court, as section 2 of the HRA 1998 states that the court must follow any judgement, decision, declaration or advisory opinion of the European Court of Human Rights.[footnoteRef:52] This was seen in the case of Re Medicaments (No.2).[footnoteRef:53] [52: Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (6th edn Hodder Education, Oxon 2010), p.g. 289.] [53: Reference to: Re Medicaments (No.2), Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain (2001). The Court of Appeal refused to follow the decision of the House of Lords in R v Gough (1993) on the test for bias because it was slightly different to decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.]

2) Secondary Source of Lawi) CustomsCustoms are previously a very important source of law which had lost it significance now, they are rules of behaviour which develop in a community without being deliberately invented. In the case of Tanistry (1608), the courts had described customs as ' such usage as has obtained the force of law'.[footnoteRef:54] Even before the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxon community are bound by the norm of society and customs. Customs can be classified into general customs and local customs. It is very unusual for a new custom to be considered or recognised as a valid custom by the courts today but there is some exceptions, such as in the case of Egerton v Harding (1974)[footnoteRef:55]. [54: Reference to: Case of Tanistry (1608) ), Davis 28, 80 E.R. 516.] [55: Reference to: Egerton v Harding (1974), the court held that there was a customary duty to fence land against cattle straying from the common.]

ii) Works of AuthorityWorks of Authority usually comes in the form of article, books, journal and even speech which are considered to be authoritative guides to theUK constitution.[footnoteRef:56] These forms are provided to the courts as guidance when a court is unable to locate a precise or analogous precedent.[footnoteRef:57] However, such books are subdivided, depending on when they were written, but only certain works are actually treated as authoritative source of law. As seen in the case of Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd[footnoteRef:58] , definition of consideration given by Sir Frederick Pollock in his book, The Principle of Contracts (1876), was approved by Lord Dunedin. Sometime works of authority also gave criticism to the law and tender proposed reform to refine the law. [56: Reference to: G Slapper and D Kelly, The English Legal System, (14th edition, Routledge-Oxon, 2013), p.g. 153. ] [57: Ibid.] [58: Reference to: Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd [1915] AC 847.]

ConclusionLaw signifies a rule of action in its most general and comprehensive sense. This term is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action; whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. The relationship of European Union and United Kingdom had originated far in 1972 when United Kingdom joined the European Union, with the aim to redevelop the scattered Europe after the Second World War and to secure a larger single market. Although the English Legal system had recently been encroached by the Europe Union Act, some protection are still given by the national act to acknowledge Parliamentary sovereignty .

BibliographyBookCownie F. and Bradney A. , English Legal System in context (2nd edn. Butterworth, 2000) Easton C., The English Legal System, (1st edn, Hodder Education, 2012).Hasted E. , The History and Topographical Survey of the Country of Kent: Volume 1 (Institute of Historical Research, 1797)Huxley-Binns R. and Martin J. , Unlocking English Legal System, (3rd edn, Routledge, 2010).Markesinis B. and Fedtke J. , Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law , (Abingdon 2006).Slapper G. and Kelly D. , The English Legal System, (14th edn, Routledge, 2013).Smith, Bailey and Gunn, The Modern English Legal System, (5th edition, Sweet and Maxwell, 2007).

ArticlesGuangdong Xu, Tianshu Zhou, Bin Zeng, and Jin Shi, Directors duties in China , (2013), 14(1) E.B.O.R. 57, p73.Camb. Law J., 70 [2011].

Official Published SourcesHouse of Commons Information Office, House of Commons Brief Guild, Delegated Legislation (August 2011).

Electronic SourcesGerald and K.Hill, Law.com Legal Terms and Definition URL: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=646 accessed 2 March 2014.Lawyers.com.au, The Difference between Common Law and EquityURL: http://www.lawyers.com.au/legal-articles/difference-between-law-and-equity/ accessed on 2 March 2014.

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e-lawresources.co.uk, Judicial Precedent, URL: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Judicial-precedent.php accessed on 1 March 2014.e-lawresources.co.uk, Statutes URL: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Statutes.php accessed on 2 March 2014.

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Kenneth Estes, The Second Gulf War, 12 July 2007, ISN, URL: http://www.cfr.org/world/isn-second-gulf-war-1990-1991/p13865 accessed on 4 March 2014.

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Europa (Summaries of EU Legislation), The direct effect of European Law URL: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/decisionmaking_process/l14547_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

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Sixth Form Law, EC Law - directly applicable and the doctrine of direct effectURL: http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod2/2_3_2_eu_sources/08_doctrine_of_direct_effect.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

European Commission, Application of EU Law URL: http://ec.europa.eu/eu_law/introduction/what_regulation_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

UK LAW ONLINE, The European Convention on Human Right URL: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/hamlyn/echr.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

A The National Achieves, Human Right Act 1998 URL: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/2 accessed on 6 March 2014.

mind, Human Right Act URL: http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/human-rights-act/#TheEuropeanConventiononHumanRights accessed on 6 March 2014.

Table of Cases

Boddington v. British Transport Police [1998].Case of Tanistry (1608), Davis 28, 80 E.R.516.Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562.Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd [1915] AC 847.Earl of Oxfords Case (1616) 1 Rep Ch1.Egerton v Harding (1974).Grant v Australian Knitting Mills[1936] AC 85.Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998) 4 All ER 513.Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry [1973] ECR 287.Macarthys Ltd v. Smith [1979] I.C.R. 785, [1981] QB 180.NV Algemene Transporten Expeditie Onderneming van Gend en Loos v. Nederlandse Administratis der Belastingen 26/62, [1963 ECR 1; [1963] CMLR 105].PROCLAMATIONS 77 ER 1352, (1611) 12 Co Rep 74.R v Gough (1993).R v Howe & Bannister [1987].R v R [1991] UKHL 12.Re Medicaments (No.2), Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain (2001).Tanistry (1608).Van Duyn v Home Office [1975] Ch 258 ECJ.Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718.

Table of StatutesAct of Settlement 1701.Bill of Right Act 1689.Companies Act 2006.Defamation Act 2013.European Communities Act 1972, Section2(4).Human Right Act 1998.Judicature Act 1873-1875.Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.Local Government Act 1972.Magna Carta of 1215.Statutory Instruments Act (SIA) 1946.

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