| Legal family | Common law | Common law |
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| JuriGlobe lists | Common law | Common law |
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| In short | The United States has one federal legal system and fifty state systems, side by side. All of them are common-law systems built on a written constitution. Statutes and precedent both matter. | The United Kingdom has three separate legal systems: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. England and Wales is the home of common law. Scotland is a mixed system that blends Roman-influenced civil law with common law. |
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| Where the law comes from | - The U.S. Constitution, the highest law, and each state's own constitution
- Statutes passed by Congress and by the state legislatures
- Regulations made by government agencies under those statutes
- Judges' decisions (precedent), which explain and develop all of the above
| - Acts of Parliament, the highest source: Parliament can make or change any law
- Case law (precedent) from the courts, very important in England and Wales and Northern Ireland
- The Human Rights Act 1998, which brings most rights from the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law
- In Scotland, institutional writers (old authoritative legal textbooks) and Roman-influenced principles also count
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| The main courts | - Federal: the Supreme Court, then the regional courts of appeals, then the district (trial) courts
- State: each state has its own trial courts, usually an appeals court, and a state supreme court (the name varies)
- State courts decide most cases. Federal courts hear cases about federal law and some disputes between citizens of different states
| - The UK Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases across the UK and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland
- England and Wales: Court of Appeal, then the High Court, then county courts, the Crown Court and magistrates' courts
- Scotland has its own courts: the Court of Session (civil) and the High Court of Justiciary (criminal), and Scotland's criminal appeals end there
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| Becoming a lawyer | Usually a four-year college degree, then three years of law school for the Juris Doctor (J.D.), then a bar exam. Lawyers are admitted state by state. | The profession is split. Solicitors (who deal with clients and most paperwork) and barristers (specialist court advocates) train separately. In England and Wales solicitors qualify through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own routes. |
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| What may surprise you | - Federalism: contract, tort, property and most criminal law are mainly state law, so the answer can change when you cross a state line.
- Judicial review: courts can strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution (the idea comes from Marbury v. Madison, 1803).
- Juries are used in many civil cases as well as criminal ones.
- There is no separate profession of barrister: one lawyer can usually do all the work, in or out of court.
| - There is no single written constitution document. The constitution is made of statutes, court decisions and conventions.
- Parliament is sovereign: unlike in the United States, courts cannot strike down an Act of Parliament.
- Equity (a body of rules that grew in the old Court of Chancery) is a separate branch of law, important for trusts and remedies.
- A lawyer qualified in England and Wales is not automatically qualified in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
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| Related systems | United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Ireland | Ireland, United States, India, Australia, Canada |
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