Editing Law of the United Kingdom (section)

===England And Wales===
{{Main|English and Welsh law}}[[File:Royal courts of justice.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Royal Courts of Justice]] in London, home of the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales]]]]

''English and Welsh law'' (or just ''English law'') refers to the [[legal system]] administered by the courts in England and Wales, which rule on both civil and criminal matters. English and Welsh law is based on the principles of [[common law]].<ref>{{cite book |title = The English Legal System |last1 = Gary |first1 = Slapper |last2 = Kelly |first2 = David |year = 2017 |publisher = Routledge |isbn = 9781351967068 |location = London, England |page = 4 |oclc = 1006335991 }}</ref> English and Welsh law can be described as having its own legal doctrine, distinct from [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] legal systems since 1189.

There has been no major [[Codification (law)|codification]] of the law, rather the law is developed by [[judge]]s in [[court]], applying [[statute]], [[precedent]] and case-by-case reasoning to give explanatory judgments of the relevant legal principles. These judgments are binding in future similar cases (''[[stare decisis]]''), and for this reason are often reported in [[law report]]s.

The [[courts of England and Wales]] are headed by the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales]], consisting of the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]], the [[High Court of Justice]] (for civil cases) and the [[Crown Court]] (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in [[England]] and [[Wales]] (also in Northern Ireland cases and civil cases in Scots law) and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, and often has persuasive effect in its other jurisdictions.<ref name="supreme" />

On appeal, a court may overrule the decisions of its inferior courts, such as county courts (civil) and magistrates' courts (criminal). The High Court may also quash on [[judicial review]] both administrative decisions of the Government and delegated legislation. Before the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] was created in October 2009, the highest appellate body was the [[Appellate Committee of the House of Lords]], usually just referred to as "The [[House of Lords]]".<ref name="supreme" />

After the [[Acts of Union, in 1707]] English law became one of two legal systems in different parts of the same United Kingdom and has been influenced by Scots law, most notably in the development and integration of the law merchant by [[Lord Mansfield]] and in time the development of the law of [[negligence]]. Scottish influence may have influenced the abolition of the [[forms of action]] in the nineteenth century and extensive procedural reforms in the twentieth. Since the [[accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities]] in 1973, English law has also been affected by [[European law]] under the [[Treaty of Rome]].

==== Wales ====
{{Main|Welsh law}}{{See also|Proposed Wales criminal justice system}}[[File:Cardiff Crown Court.JPG|thumb|The main entrance to Cardiff Crown Court]]

Welsh law is the primary and secondary legislation generated by the [[Senedd]], using the devolved authority granted in the [[Government of Wales Act 2006]], amended substantially by [[Wales Act 2014]] and [[Wales Act 2017]], and in effect since May 2007. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an [[Act of Senedd Cymru]].

As there is no criminal law within contemporary Welsh law, Wales is not generally considered a fourth jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. This is because the judiciary and the courts follow England and Wales law, which is made by the [[Parliament at Westminster]], and is not specific to Wales. Although Welsh law is recognised as separate in operation, this is not sufficient for Wales to constitute a separate legal jurisdiction.

A commission set up in 2017 by the [[First Minister of Wales]] known as "The Commission on Justice in Wales" and chaired by [[Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd]], looked into the operation of justice in the country. Its aim was to further clarify the legal and political identity of Wales within the UK constitution. The commission's report was released in October 2019 and recommended the full devolution of the justice system. This would formalise Wales as the fourth jurisdiction of the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/blog/commission-justice-wales-thomas-commission |title = The Commission on Justice in Wales (Thomas Commission) {{!}} Centre on Constitutional Change l Researching the issues. Informing the debate. |website = www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk |access-date = 2019-02-01 }}</ref>

There have been multiple calls from both academics and politicians however for a [[Wales criminal justice system]].<ref name="auto"/><ref name="nation.cymru"/><ref name=":1"/>