Critically examine the sources of law which have shaped the English Essay

Critically examine the sources of law which have shaped the English Legal System. Assess which source is the most influential to - Essay Example This essay will assess the sources of law shaping the English legal system and in doing so will demonstrate why acts of parliament are the most influential source of law today. This essay is therefore divided into two main parts. The first part of the essay examines the four main sources of law and the second part of this essay examines the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and its role in shaping the hierarchal order of sources of law today. The Main Sources of Law The four main sources of law shaping the English legal system can be classified as case law and codes of law. ... Only when statutory laws have been exhausted can a judge then look to case law. When both sources of law have been exhausted, a judge may rule on the matter and establish a precedent.10 As creative and as important as judicial precedents are, it is a long established principle that Parliament can overrule or alter any judicial precedent.11 Separate and apart from the binding nature of acts of Parliament, case law is also subject to a hierarchal order. This is established by the doctrine of stare decisis which compels a lower court to be bound by the previous decisions of higher courts or a court of equal rank.12 The difficulty with the doctrine of stare decisis is that although it establishes an hierarchal structure, a lower court may be bound by a faulty decision of a higher court and is powerless to overrule the decision.13 Master of the Rolls Lord Greene, established rules designed to resolve some of the difficulties that might arise when applying the previous decisions. Lord Gree ne ruled that when there was a conflict â€Å"between two decisions† of a courts of â€Å"co-ordinate jurisdiction†, the court must choose between them.14 However, where a decision of a higher court conflicted with a decision of a court of higher jurisdiction, the court must follow the decision of the highest court. A court when looking at decisions of higher courts could not â€Å"follow decisions of its own given per incuriam†.15 A decision is given per incuriam when it misapplies a previous decision or a statute.16 Noticeably absent is the authority to ignore a previous erroneous decision of a higher court. Obviously, case law serves an important function in shaping the English legal system. When Parliament enacts a law, it passes through a formal debate process