Editing English law (section)

==Legal terminology==
===Criminal law and civil law===
[[File:Justice (3643291515).jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of [[Lady Justice]] on the dome of the [[Central Criminal Court (England and Wales)|Central Criminal Court of England and Wales]] in the [[City of London]] (the "[[Old Bailey]]")]]
[[English criminal law|Criminal law]] is the law of crime and punishment whereby the [[Crown Prosecution Service|Crown]] prosecutes the accused. [[Civil law (common law)|Civil law]] is concerned with [[tort]], contract, families, companies and so on. Civil law courts operate to provide a party{{efn|... or "claimant", "plaintiff", "petitioner" etc.}} who has an [[Cause of action|enforceable claim]] against another party with a [[Legal remedy|remedy]] such as [[damages]] or a [[Declaratory judgment|declaration]].<ref>Other remedies include [[Equitable remedy|equitable relief]] such as an [[injunction]] and [[account of profits]].</ref>

===Common law and civil law===
In this context, [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] is the system of [[Codification (law)|codified]] law that is prevalent in the rest of Europe. Civil law is founded on the ideas of [[Roman law]].{{efn|An example of civil law is the [[Napoleonic Code]] in France}}

By contrast, English law is the archetypal [[common law]] jurisdiction, built upon [[case law]].<ref>Penny Darbyshire writes: "... in England ... at no time was it felt necessary to look outside the principles of common law or equity for assistance. Inevitably, through the ecclesiastical courts in particular, some Roman law influence can be traced, but in general terms, this is very limited". - ''Darbyshire on the English Legal System'' (2017)</ref>

===Common law and equity===
In this context, "common law" means the judge-made law of the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|King's Bench]]; whereas [[Equity (law)|equity]] is the judge-made law of the (now-defunct) [[Court of Chancery]].<ref>The [[Judicature Acts]] of 1873-75 abolished the Court of Chancery and "fused" law and equity. Today, equity cases are mostly dealt with in the Chancery Division of the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]].</ref> Equity is concerned mainly with [[English trust law|trust]]s and [[Equitable remedy|equitable remedies]]. Equity generally operates in accordance with the principles known as the "[[maxims of equity]]".{{efn|Equitable maxims include: "[[Maxims of equity#Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy|Equity will not suffer a wrong to be without a remedy]]", "[[Maxims of equity#Equity acts in personam (i.e. on persons rather than on objects)|Equity acts on the person]]" and "[[Maxims of equity#He who comes into equity must come with clean hands|He who comes into equity must come with clean hands]]".<ref>Snell, Edmund Henry Turner; Megarry, R.E.; Baker, P.V. (1960). ''Snell's Principles of Equity'' (25 ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. p. 24</ref>}}

The reforming [[Judicature Acts]] of the 1880s amalgamated the courts into one Supreme Court of Judicature which was directed to administer both law and equity.<ref>Snell, Edmund Henry Turner; Megarry, R.E.; Baker, P.V. (1960). ''Snell's Principles of Equity'' (25 ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. p. 10</ref> The [[neo-Gothic]] [[Royal Courts of Justice]] in The Strand, London, were built shortly afterwards to celebrate these reforms.

===Public law and private law===
Public law{{efn|This distinction is borrowed from civil law systems, and is neither as useful nor as appropriate in England as in Europe.}} is the [[law]] governing relationships between individuals and the [[government|state]]. Private law encompasses relationships between private individuals and other private entities (but may also cover "private" relationships between the government and private entities).

===Legal remedies===
A [[Legal remedy|remedy]] is "the means given by law for the recovery of a [[right]], or of [[Financial compensation|compensation]] for its infringement".<ref>Law Dictionary (10th ed) - E.R.Hardy Ivamay - Butterworths</ref>  Most remedies are available only from the court, but some are "[[Self-help (law)|self-help]]" remedies; for instance, a party who lawfully wishes to cancel{{efn|Using [[Anticipatory repudiation|repudiation]] or [[Rescission (contract law)|rescission]], (as the case may be)}} a contract may do so without leave;{{efn|If the other party feels that the first was wrong to cancel, he may ask a court to "[[Declaratory judgment|declare]] the contract subsisting".<ref>See ''[[Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd]] 1961] EWCA Civ 7''</ref>}}<ref>[[Misrepresentation Act 1967]] s.2</ref> and a person may take his own steps to "[[Nuisance abatement|abate a private nuisance]]".  

Formerly, most civil actions claiming damages in the [[High Court]] were commenced by obtaining a [[writ#History#Rationalisation of writs|writ]] issued in the Queen's name. After 1979, writs have merely required the parties to appear, and writs are no longer issued in the name of the Crown.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1979/1716/made Rules of the Supreme Court (Writ and Appearance) 1979 (Statutory Instrument 1979, No. 1716)], [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1980/feb/07/rules-of-the-supreme-court-writ-and discussed in House of Lords in 1980]</ref> After the [[Woolf Reforms]] of 1999, almost all civil actions other than those connected with insolvency are commenced by the completion of a Claim Form <ref>...as prescribed by Rules 7 ''How to start proceedings'' and 8 ''Alternative procedure for claims'' of the [[Civil Procedure Rules]])</ref> as opposed to a writ, originating application, or a summons.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/3132/contents/made The Civil Procedure Rules 1998]</ref>