Sources
Characteristics of the constitutional sources
A rule – a statement prescribing the conduct which is required in a given situation & which
imposes an obligation on those who are regulated by the rule
- Rules can be legal & non legal
There have to be rules to enable
- The law to be recognised
o Rule of recognition
- New laws to be created & older ones to be extinguished
o Rule of change & priority
- Adjudication to be undertaken to determine the interpretation & the application of
law
o Rule of adjudication
- Sometimes called the secondary rules
o Primary rules are the actual laws
- Without these rules a legal system couldn’t effectively operate
Legal sources
- Primary legislation
o Statute – a bill that has been approved by the house of commons, house of
lords & received the monarch’s assent
o For a bill to be counted as a statute it must satisfy the enrolled bill rule
The bill must have the appropriate words of enactment
Recite that the appropriate assents have been given by the
commons the queen & usually the lords
There are 2 original copies of the statute both signed by the clerk of
parliaments
One of the originals is deposited in the national archives & another in
the house of lords record office
o The content of a statute is removed or altered by
Express repeal
This comprises a clear statement that an earlier act or
provision within it is no longer effective
Implied repeal
Where there is a conflict between 2 acts the courts usually
apply the later act
The part of the earlier act which conflicts will be regarded to
have been repealed by implication
- International legal sources
o European union law
Treaties, regulations, directives
o Judicial precedent
The part of the judgement of a case which is most important is the
ratio decendi
Reason for deciding
The legal rules established by the ratios can constitute binding judicial
precedent
Characteristics of the constitutional sources
A rule – a statement prescribing the conduct which is required in a given situation & which
imposes an obligation on those who are regulated by the rule
- Rules can be legal & non legal
There have to be rules to enable
- The law to be recognised
o Rule of recognition
- New laws to be created & older ones to be extinguished
o Rule of change & priority
- Adjudication to be undertaken to determine the interpretation & the application of
law
o Rule of adjudication
- Sometimes called the secondary rules
o Primary rules are the actual laws
- Without these rules a legal system couldn’t effectively operate
Legal sources
- Primary legislation
o Statute – a bill that has been approved by the house of commons, house of
lords & received the monarch’s assent
o For a bill to be counted as a statute it must satisfy the enrolled bill rule
The bill must have the appropriate words of enactment
Recite that the appropriate assents have been given by the
commons the queen & usually the lords
There are 2 original copies of the statute both signed by the clerk of
parliaments
One of the originals is deposited in the national archives & another in
the house of lords record office
o The content of a statute is removed or altered by
Express repeal
This comprises a clear statement that an earlier act or
provision within it is no longer effective
Implied repeal
Where there is a conflict between 2 acts the courts usually
apply the later act
The part of the earlier act which conflicts will be regarded to
have been repealed by implication
- International legal sources
o European union law
Treaties, regulations, directives
o Judicial precedent
The part of the judgement of a case which is most important is the
ratio decendi
Reason for deciding
The legal rules established by the ratios can constitute binding judicial
precedent
