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1. This lecture will form an introduction, an overview if you like of the subject that is today known in
many syllabuses as Legal System and Method; some of you may have known it as Common Law
Reasoning and Institutions (as it was once called).
Potentially a very wide-ranging subject, it covers topics such as judicial precedent, statutory
interpretation, and will often include an introduction to the judiciary, the criminal justice system,
and what is called the ‘civil’ justice system, including those processes referred to as Alternative
Dispute Resolution.
As I’ve suggested, its potential scope is very wide, and we will range (across this series of lectures)
from some quite detailed narrow considerations, such as how to correctly cite a case (that is the
means by which legal scholars both locate and refer to authoritative sources of law) and the
sources of substantive law that are recognised under the law of England & Wales; to much wider
considerations of more general legal even philosophical importance, such as what is law, what is
the purpose of law, and what should be the ‘aim’ of our civil, and in particular criminal legal
systems.
In this particular lecture we will begin by briefly considering the question ‘what is law’ before
moving on to consider some of the sources of law that inform both our behaviour and our studies,
and just as importantly how you might access those sources of law. This will inevitably stray into the
vast though very important territory of how you might begin to approach your legal studies,
hopefully getting some good habits established, long before bad ones have a chance to set in.
Finally we will consider just how you might cite those sources of law as you begin to write your first
legal essays and/or try and solve your first legal problem questions.
What is Law
Let us begin by briefly considering a question that has been asked countless times by a whole
range of commentators, and accordingly received an equally wide-range of responses. It is a
question that you will return to many times in your studies, but perhaps most particularly when you
come to study the subject known as Jurisprudence. The question: What Is Law? Though often asked,
it is in fact not an easy question to answer.
We might begin by considering some of the things that it is not; and this has particular relevance
when we begin to establish the boundaries of our studies. Though informed by a whole variety of
other subjects: criminology, ethics, psychology and/or sociology (to name just a few) it is
nonetheless not defined by the subject matter of these other subjects, and indeed will often have a
great deal to say, and as such, come to inform these very subjects in its turn.
Let’s see what we know already.

2. You will all already be familiar with the idea of Rules. Ever since childhood, and throughout your
school years you will have encountered rules. Don’t run in the corridor, don’t talk while you’re
eating, wash your hands after you’ve been to the bathroom. Whether you’ve played chess,
football or Monopoly, you will have encountered rules. And you will have learned that flouting
these rules will have consequences, which will vary from the trivial to the potentially life-changing-ly
serious. But it’s unusual you will have thought of these rules as Law. If you cheat at chess you may
lose the school tournament, but you will not be sent to jail, you may be given a detention but you
are unlikely to have to pay out thousands of pounds in damages. On the other hand, we are all
fairly clear that if we murder someone we will inevitably encounter the Law in one of its
manifestations. and not just (to use the expression) have the rule book thrown at us. Burglary, fraud,
theft - all it would seem represent transgressions of Law and not merely an infraction of rules. And as
such the consequences may be potentially very dire. They may be economic, in that we face a
hefty fine and/or they may even involve the loss of our liberty, in that we face a lengthy jail
sentence.
But this line of distinction is not always so absolute as it may seem at first blush. It can certainly not
be fully understood by referring only to the gravity of the consequences. The transgression of a rule,
for example a student cheating in his or her finals and/or a lawyer flouting the rules of his/her
professional body can have devastating consequences which may well include considerable
financial loss (to say nothing of the damage to reputation) whilst a minor legal transgression (an
isolated incident of shoplifting for example) may be overlooked and/or result in no more than a
formal police warning. Even more serious crimes may only result in a small fine or a community
service order; with possibly a suspended prison sentence for more serious transgressions.
Equally well, we need to be aware that this boundary, between laws and rules is incredibly context
(by that I really mean location) dependent. Dropping rubbish in a London park may well be
considered bad form, and possibly a violation of the Park’s bye-laws; transport the same behaviour
to Singapore and you may well find yourself on the wrong side of the Law. Contentious issues such
as abortion, adultery and euthanasia may well be handled very differently under differing legal
regimes (oftentimes referred to as different jurisdictions) with large differences in both the degree to
which these behaviours are considered morally acceptable (or otherwise) and certainly
considerable differences as to the legal consequences of such actions. These differences may be
observed both between countries (contrast perhaps the United Kingdom with Saudi Arabia) and
within one country in the event that they have federal subdivisions (differing States for example
within the United States of America).
We might also do to notice that time has a large part to play in the degree to which a pattern of
behaviour is considered acceptable (be it ethically and/or legally) or not. As and when you come
to study Criminal Law you will inevitably come across the case of R v R [1991] UKHL 12 (we will deal

3. later as to how to read and make sense of such a citation) it marked a very important historical
turning point in the history of women’s rights in the United Kingdom. Prior to that point, it was
suggested, the contract of marriage, imported an implied irrevocable consent to sexual
intercourse. In the barest of terms a man could not be convicted of raping his wife. In R v R [1991]
both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords (subdivisions of the judiciary we will be dealing
with in later lectures) upheld R’s conviction for rape and went on to declare that a marital rape
‘exemption’ did not exist under English Law.
Recent events, have served only to highlight this reality. Last week (April 17 2020 to be precise) saw
a man in Hull, United Kingdom jailed for six months after coughing in the face of a police officer.
Corona virus, and fears of Covid 19, transforming what might have historically been seen as
unpleasant (i.e. having someone cough in your face) to a potential criminal offence (common law
assault) with sanctions that fall to be determined under Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
If we travel further back in time, we will find even more bizarre instances, EP Evans’s The Criminal
Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals cites 34 recorded instances in which pigs have
been named as defendants in court cases, whilst Nigel Cawthorne’s The Ludicrous Laws of Old
London serves to remind us that the law is constantly changing as it attempts to adapt to the times
in which it finds itself; even if with hindsight some of its consequences seem to our modern eyes
quite surprising.
There are too many instances to make an exhaustive list but some examples might be illustrative.
• Under a statute of Edward II (who reigned from 25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327) all whales
washed up on the shore belong to the monarch.
• Whilst under a Tudor law (a period of history between 22 August 1485 – 24 March 1603)
Welshmen are not allowed into the city of Chester after dark.
• A law passed in 1540 - and still in force today - makes it illegal for barbers in the City of London
to practise surgery - it seems only fair - the Act also forbids surgeons to cut hair.
• And no doubt you’ll be happy to hear that according to The Children and Young Persons
Act of 1933 - it is against the law for children and 'yowling persons' between the age of four
and sixteen to frequent a brothel.
To conclude this section we might try to agree upon a simple definition of the Law (if such a thing
can exist) as a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental
institutions to regulate conduct; conduct regulation seeming to be a common element of all the
crimes however weird and wonderful we have considered to date.
Come exam time you might like to recall Professor Hazel Genn’s definition drawn from her now
famous 2009 Hamlyn Lectures: ‘the rules by which societies agree to live, which are enforceable by

4. the coercive power of the state’. This is an idea that will be developed in far greater detail later
within this range of (Legal, System and Method) lectures, and something that you will see running
through your Public Law seminars. It certainly underpins what we will later see as distinctions
between private and public law, and is captured on a daily basis every time we cite a criminal law
case.
Written R v Defendant, R v Smith for example, the R actually stands for Regina (as it currently stands
where our monarch is a queen) or Rex (as it will stand on Charles’ accession to the throne - when
the reigning monarch is a king). Sometimes this is referred to as Crown v Smith. I hope by now the
underpinning reality is becoming apparent. Cross a certain line, a line defined by the sources of law
we are to consider next, and you may well face the mighty power of the state as embodied by the
Crown Prosecution Service. Someone in the unenviable position of Mr. Smith will soon come to learn
that this is something quite different from running in the corridor at school, or dropping a chocolate
wrapper on a street in Paris.
Sources of Law
So we turn next to what is often referred to as the ‘sources of law’. Just where is this Law (with all its
attendant consequences) to be found. Surely, there must be one book, one website, one definitive
source that we can turn to that will provide us with certain answers to establish just what the Law
has to say on any one given matter.
Well in some jurisdictions the answer to that question would be a qualified ‘yes’. In certain countries
the law has been to a degree codified and amassed under one roof (so to speak) in what is called
a Constitution or under other circumstances (in other jurisdictions) a Civil and/or Criminal Code. The
United States of America would be an example of the former and France an example of the latter.
In these countries, the starting point to establish whether or not a legal infraction has occurred
might well be by examining the relevant section of the relevant Criminal and/or Civil Code. But that
is not true of the United Kingdom.
In comparison (largely for historical reasons) our sources of law are scattered far and wide.
Operating as we do under a ‘common law’ regime - and just what that means will be discussed
later - which to a large degree has resisted codification, our principle sources of Law may be
thought of as:
• Statute - that is law made by Parliament
• Case Law - sometimes called ‘common’ law; this referring to the decisions of the courts - often
stretching back over considerable periods of time.

5. • European Union Law - and though hugely modified by Brexit, this will continue to be the case
for many years yet to come (for reasons also to be discussed later) and the…
• European Convention on Human Rights - what is often referred to as Human Rights Law
Let us briefly consider these in turn:
i. Acts of Parliament:
Often referred to as primary legislation this will be your starting point for many legal enquiries. It
refers essentially to law that has been established by the ‘legislature’ - the supreme law-making
body - Parliament. Taking the form of Acts (often called statutes hence the term ‘statutory law’)
you will encounter these as soon as you start on any of the substantive law modules - The Offences
against the Person Act 1861, The Law of Property Act 1925, The Sexual Offences Act 2003 and
many, many others. In the simplest of terms (though the process is in and of itself quite complex)
they arise from Acts of Parliament, culminating after a series of procedures (which allow for
Parliamentary consideration and modification) in what is known as Royal Assent - quite literally a
signing off by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Why they are your (and oftentimes the Court’s) starting point is that they take precedence
(meaning they are afforded more weight) than any other source of law, this includes (post-Brexit)
not only case law, but also EU law. This was not true prior to Brexit where they took precedence
over everything except EU law.
In the simplest of terms - they represent a lawyers’s trump card. If you can establish that what you
are saying is enshrined (as it is sometimes called) in statute it is unlikely, indeed highly unlikely that
the Court will hold against you. But as you might imagine, any statute (however well written) is open
to a variety of interpretations; indeed the Courts of England and Wales (indeed worldwide) spend
a lot of time disputing just what is meant by a particular turn of phrase.
Primary legislation refers to Acts of Parliament or statutes. Because it often takes a long time for
primary legislation to get through all of the various stages in the Parliamentary process, the drafting
of Acts may contain only broad provisions or rules and then the detailed rules are produced later
under the authority of the Act. These detailed rules are known as secondary legislation or ‘statutory
instruments’ and take the form of ‘regulations’, ‘rules’ or ‘orders’. They have the force of law, but
can be implemented with less scrutiny than primary legislation.
ii. Case Law:
A second, and very important source of law in our jurisdiction (which we correctly refer to as the
Law of England and Wales NOT the Law of the United Kingdom) is what is oftentimes called case

6. law and/or judge made law. As a concept, it is not difficult to understand. It simply refers to the
case by case judgments that have been handed down by the Courts over the many centuries (at
least since the Magna Carta - the charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at
Runnymede (near Windsor) on 15 June 1215) that our common law system has been up and
running.
Understandably these judgments often precede the related Acts of Parliament (which we will
come to understand are a relatively new phenomenon) and therefore it is perhaps no great
surprise that they are afforded considerable importance. Indeed in some areas of law - it is the
common law alone that determines the Court’s framework of analysis - there simply being no
directly relevant statute.
Criminal Law (which as you might imagine stretches back into the centuries) is just one such area.
Murder someone tomorrow (God forbid) in the United Kingdom, and whether you are held guilty or
not will fall to be determined partly by a definition of murder that stretches back to the Elizabethan
jurist Sir Edward Coke. Called to the Bar in 20 April 1578 he defined murder in terms that we can
barely comprehend: “the unlawful killing of a reasonable person in being under the King or Queen's
peace with malice aforethought express or implied.”
Could such a definition be simplified and incorporated in an Act of Parliament; undoubtedly yes,
but as you will come to see there has been (in many areas of law) a great resistance to this process
- a process known as ‘codification’ - you might start (at this stage) to ask yourself just why that
might be.
One further thing to note at this stage, is that not all judgments are equal. In the simplest of terms,
those judgments emanating from the higher courts - the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court (as
it’s now called) and to a degree those of the Privy Council - carry a greater deal of weight than
judgments from the lower courts. This is explored in much greater detail when you come on to study
the topic of ‘precedence’.
iii. European Union Law and Human Rights Law:
Often confused by students, I don’t propose at this stage to consider either in any great depth,
other than to stress that they are not one and the same. Both are considerable, in that there is a
great deal of associated case law, and both flow (at least in large part) from Europe, but there all
similarities end.
European Law concerns the law (in all its varieties) that flows from the European Parliament and the
case law that flows from what is now called the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Court (originally established in 1952 and based in Luxembourg) is tasked with

7. interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all 27 EU member states under Article
263 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Intimately linked with the establishment of the European Union (which came into existence
November 1 1993) itself owing its inception to the European Economic Community (created by the
Treaty of Rome 25 March 1957) which in turn was born out of the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC) - established respectively by
the 1951 Treaty of Paris and 1957 Treaty of Rome - this is an area of law that you will study should
you choose to study the EU Law module.
As you might imagine its direct relevance to the Law of England and Wales has been enormously
altered by our recent departure (what has been called Brexit) from the EU.
On the other hand the European Convention on Human Rights is an international treaty which was
drafted in 1950 (coming into effect in 1953) having been signed by European nations who were
members of the Council of Europe (a body set up in Strasbourg in France after the Second World
War). At this stage it does simply to note that the Council of Europe is in no way the same as the
European Economic Community or what is now known as the European Union.
It is one of the sources of human rights law and most significantly was (in large part though not its
entirety) incorporated into English Law by the Human Rights Act 1998. At this stage we need to note
just two things:
i. The European Court of Human Rights is based in Strasbourg - this is not to be confused with the
Court of Justice of the European Union which is based in Luxembourg.
ii. Brexit even though its impact is very far reaching does not directly impact the Human Rights Act
1998 - it remains good law and as such the European Convention on Human Rights remain
incorporated into English Law.
As your studies proceed you will find Human Rights considerations in almost every area of
substantive law that you study - from whether a defendant is offered a fair trial in your Criminal Law
module; to the freedom of expression as part of your Tort Law defamation studies; to the potential
for implied terms in the contract of employment to protect employees’ human rights in your
Employment Law studies.
Accessing Primary Sources of Law
At this stage (and it ties in closely with what will be my closing words as regards ‘good study habits’
at the end of this presentation) it is vital that you learn how to access the primary sources of law (be

8. they Acts of Parliament and/or case law) in their original formats. Let us once more (in turn)
consider the four principle sources of Law:
i. Parliamentary Acts:
As regards Parliamentary Acts (statutes as they are often called) one’s life couldn’t be much easier,
gathered together as they are under one roof on the legislation.gov.uk website.
Navigate yourself to the website, type in the name of the Act and away you go.
We’ve already mentioned a few very important Acts see if you can locate them:
• Offences against the Person Act 1861
• Law of Property Act 1925
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
As and when you take your exams, at most Universities you are allowed to take in a copy of the
relevant statute book so these are not things that you need to memorise; but you do need to
become very familiar with them.
One important thing to realise is that statutes do change over time. An act passed in 1861 is not
likely to be applied in exactly the same format as it was over 150 years ago; this is expressed on the
website in the form of Textual Amendments. So do be sure you are working from an up-to-date
version of the Act.
ii. Case Law:
Here I can hear my law tutors saying what should be every law student’s mantra: read the case law
- in its original - just as it is passed down and published in the relevant law journals - format!!!
Not a summary of the case - not the case as it is told on Wikipedia - or e-law resources - or all the
other Mickey Mouse legal resources that I am SURE many of you will be familiar with. But just as I’ve
said: the original format.
Will it be tough in the beginning - well I’ll go so far as suggesting it will be super-tough - the
language is often quite technical - difficult to follow and (certainly for the older cases) quite
antiquated. Remember if you will Sir Edward Coke’s definition of murder: “the unlawful killing of a
reasonable person in being under the King or Queen's peace with malice aforethought express or

9. implied.” It doesn’t exactly make for light reading BUT there is a method in our madness and we’ll
say more of that shortly.
First things first; where do I find these case reports I hear you ask?
Well they are available on a wide variety of legal databases, many of which will be made
available to you through your Department of Law studies. There are some freely available sources -
perhaps the most well known being the British and Irish Legal Information Institute available at
https://www.bailii.org/ but if you are half way serious about your legal studies I suggest you
become familiar with what we might think of as the big three:
• Hein Online
• Lexis®Library
• Westlaw UK
With very few exceptions; the vast majority of the key cases (and indeed the academic articles
when you come onto these) you are required to study can be found on one of these three sites.
Spend time on them; work out how they work and they will be your friend for many years to come.
I would go so far as suggesting that one of THE great privileges of being a law undergraduate is the
access you are granted to these truly magnificent data bases; don’t waste that opportunity!!!
iii. European Union Law:
Though also available on the three databases considered above, your best bet for locating the
European cases is at the CURIA website which can be found at https://curia.europa.eu available in
some 23 languages to date the following link will take you to the relevant Search page:
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/recherche.jsf?cid=3011138
Just plug in your case name and/or case number - usually in the format C - case number/year and
away you go.
iv. Human Rights Law:
Though the European Convention on Human Rights can be readily downloaded using the following
link:
https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

10. The relevant case law is scattered far and wide. Over time as you start to become more familiar
with the databases you will find it it is relatively very easy to just type in the particular Article - say
Article 6 concerning the Right to a Fair Trial - and there you will have it; a list of the cases in which
Article 6 concerns were raised.
Study Habits
That only leaves me (before a brief introduction to case citation) to say a few words about
adopting what we might think of as good study habits; and these I think do flow quite naturally and
logically from the previous two sections.
First and foremost don’t be attempted to take any shortcuts - lawyers are afforded the respect they
are in practically every society because to acquire the level of expertise they have is not easy - it is
a long and winding road so rather than be tempted by short term gains, strap yourself in for the ride
and be sure to enjoy your journey.
Secondly (and it ties in very closely with the first point) use authentic sources of primary law - your
subject guide and/or textbooks will only get you so far - at some point you need to crack open the
statute book/s, the case law and/or an occasional academic article.
Thirdly and finally - don’t study in a vacuum - try to connect your studies with the real world; not
only through social media study groups but also through an attempt to grasp the world as it really
is. Read newspapers, listen to the news, and try to read widely in any way that will enhance your
degree of commercial/criminal and all round legal awareness.
Slowly you will start to see how all the pieces of this very complex legal jigsaw start to connect.
Citations
As this presentations winds to its conclusion I just want to say a few words about how to correctly
cite (spelt CITE) a law case. Citation is the accepted way of referring to the ‘primary’ sources of
law, cases, legislation and also books and journal articles. It follows a standard format which makes
it possible for anyone to find the cited item. This is essential information for being able to locate
relevant legal material and for being able accurately to refer to legal cases or cite them in writing
and/or in legal argument.

11. The briefest of backgrounds to Law reports is necessary to understand what follows. Firstly you might
do to understand that formal reports of legal cases is a relatively recent phenomenon; less than 200
years old. In 1866 the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting began to issue a series of eleven
reports, each covering one of the superior courts. Secondly it’s helpful to understand that (in 2020)
there is not just one source for the law reports, in fact there are numerous sources, and this is often
reflected (captured if you will) in the case law citation. Thirdly (and finally for now) you will come to
understand that since 2002 a system of ‘neutral’ citation has evolved which allows you to cite the
case without specifically identifying in which set of law reports it is to be specifically found, and will
even cover unreported transcripts. It will usually (if not always) be enough for you to locate the
case on one of the databases we have previously discussed.
OSCOLA - The Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities provide the following
guidelines:
i. give the party names - Page v Smith (written Page v Smith) might be a typical civil conflict whilst
(as we have discussed before) a criminal case will take the form of R v defendant (written R v
defendant).
ii. followed by the neutral citation - [2008] UKHL 13 might be an example (this being the neutral
citation for a case known as Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd; here you will see we are not directed to
any specific law report.
iii. followed by the Law Reports citation (eg AC, Ch, QB) - in our instant case: 1 AC 884
So this in full would read: Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884
Other instances would be:
• R (Roberts) v Parole Board [2004] EWCA Civ 1031, [2005] QB 410
• Page v Smith [1996] AC 155 (HL)
OSCOLA’s quick reference guide available at:
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012quickreferenceguide.pdf
should help you when it comes to citing other matters; statutes and statutory instruments, EU
legislation and cases, cases from the European Court of Human Rights (all known as you will recall
as primary sources of law); and secondary sources which might include books, journal articles and
in today’s climate inevitably blogs and websites.