Common Law Reasoning

What are the source of law? Illustrate your answer by reffering to

adequate cases, journal articles and/or other materials.

Introduction
Legal systems are there to determine what will happen when people
have disputes. Legal rules are also there so people can order their lives in
such a way as to avoid such disputes. 1 English law is the legal system of
England and Wales, and the basis of common law legal systems in the
Republic of Ireland, Commonwealth countries and the United States of
America. No civilization would ever have been possible without a
framework of stability. To provide the wherein for the flux of charge.
Foremost among the stabilizing factors, more enduring than customs,
manners and traditions are the legal systems that regulate our life in the
world and our daily affairs with each other.2

1) Primary Source of Law

i) Common Law
Before the Norman Conquest 1066, there was no system of law
uniform to the country as a whole. Customary laws are formed according
to the local customs in different area of the country. There was no any

1 Reference to: English Legal System in context (2nd edn. Butterworth, 2000, p6)
by F Cownie and A Bradney.
2 Reference to: Hannah Arendt quote, (German Philosopher and Political
scientist. 1906-1975).
1

central law to govern the people; instead they just practise their own
custom. William the conqueror, wanted to standardise the law that
applicable throughout the country. There are judges known as the
itinerant justices which are the representatives of the King were travelled
throughout the country to adjudicate the disputes according to the local
customary law.3 The justices will return to London once a while to discuss
their experience and select the best local customs and this developed a
uniform rule which is applied throughout the whole country. This then
emerge the concept of common law, which is the law common to all
people. There are mainly two types of sources of law, namely primary
source and secondary source.
ii) Equity
The birth of equity is due to the shortcoming and defects of common law
as it was formed to fill in the lacuna in the common law.4 It is a venerable
group of rights and procedures to provide fairness, unhampered by the
narrow strictures of the old common law or other technical requirements
of the law.5 Today, although equity and the common law are implemented
by the same courts, the two branches of the law are separated. Whenever
a conflict is occurred, equity still prevails. This is because equity
3 Reference to: E Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the Country
of Kent: Volume 1 (Institute of Historical Research, 1797) p229-231.
4 Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd
edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.5-6, 1.4.2 Development of equity
5 Reference to: Gerald and K.Hill, Law.com Legal Terms and Definition URL:
http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=646 accessed 2 March 2014.

developed maxims to ensure that decisions made are morally fair, i.e.
equity is equality, equity looks to the intention and not the form, equity
acts in personam etc.6 Besides that,

equity also provides additional

remedies such as injunction, specific performance and rescission.7

Common Law and Equity

Common Law and equity are found by judges in cases. It is submitted that
the main purpose of equity is to remedy the odd pronouncements of
common law and it provides a gloss to the common law system.8 Although
it doesnt replace common law, there are times where two different
jurisdictions conflicted, as seen in the case of Earl of Oxfords Case.9
James I settled the situation: where the two jurisdictions conflicted, equity
6 Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd
edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.6-7, Maxims of equity. This refer to one of
the ways in which equity was able to plug the gaps of the common law was by
using guidelines called maxims of equity. One of the better-known maxims is
He who comes to equity must come with clean hands, this means that equity
will not assist a party who has acted in bad conscience.
7 Reference to: R H Binns and J Martin, Unlocking the English Legal System (3rd
edition, Hodder Education, 2010), pg.7. Equitable remedies. This states that
equity created not only new rights,but also new remediesequity recognised
the limits of the usefulness of money as an award and developed,among
others
8 Reference to: Lawyers.com.au, The Difference between Common Law and EquityURL:
http://www.lawyers.com.au/legal-articles/difference-between-law-and-equity/accessed on
2 March 2014.

9 Reference to: Earl of Oxfords Case (1616) 1 Rep Ch 1. The common law judges
refused to recognise the interest of a beneficial owner of a trust while the
Chancery judges threatened to imprison the trustees unless they recognised that
same interest.
3

was to prevail. When the Judicature Act 1873-75 was passed, the
jurisdiction of common law and equity had been merged and there would
no longer be separate courts administering equity and common law.

iii) Case Law

Case law is a mass of judge-made decisions which lay down rules to be
followed in future court cases. It is very important today because for
centuries case law have been the main form of law. This is evidenced
when cardinal foundation of various core subject being taught in the
course, i.e. law of tort; modification of the Reynold Defence for defamation
under Defamation Act 2013, company law; codification of directors duty
in part 10 of Companies Act 2006, and etc. was found under common law
principle. As Smith, Bailey and Gunn in their book had noted common law
as a number of "distinct sources of law that exist within such a system"10.
Case law is the set of existing rulings which have made new
interpretations of law and, therefore, can be cited as precedent. 11 In most
countries, including most European countries, the term is applied to any
set of rulings on law which is guided by previous rulings, for example,
previous decisions of a government agency - that is, precedential case law
can arise from either a judicial ruling or a ruling of adjudication within an
10 Reference to: The Modern English Legal System, S Bailey and Gunn(5th
edition, Sweet and Maxwell, 2007), pg. 5.
11 Reference to: Gerald and K Hill, Law.com Legal Terms and Definition URL :
http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=148 accessed 1 March 2014.

executive branch agency.12 Even so, on times of necessity, the courts have
the power to do any option like: follow, overrule, distinguish and reverse. 13
However it is rather strange for the People Republic of China since their
judiciary are lack of the system of precedent.14
Sometimes foreign legal materials may play a role both in the
heuristic phase of the judicial deliberations and in the phase of the
legitimising of the decision through the court's reasoning. 15 When they
have a legal obligation to take these sources into account and when they
consider that, even in the absence of an obligation to do so, taking
account of foreign legal sources could be useful.16

Judicial Precedent
The doctrine of judicial precedent lies at the heart of the English Legal
System and is based on stare decisis, it simply means that the court is

12 Ibid.
13 Reference to: the three exception in Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944]
KB 718 Court of Appeal.
14 Reference to Guangdong Xu, Tianshu Zhou, Bin Zeng, and Jin Shi, Directors
duties in China , (2013), 14(1) E.B.O.R. 57, p73.
15 Reference to: B Markesinis & J Fedtke, Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law,(Abingdon
2006), pg. 7-46. Normative frameworks for judicial decision-making generally allow
judges a considerable amount of discretion regarding the sources which they take into
account.

16 Reference to: Camb. Law J., 70 [2011], pp 420-450 at 421.

5

bounded by the previous legal principle decided in a higher court or and

has to be followed in certain other courts. In the case of Donoghue v
Stevenson [1932], the House of Lords held that a manufacture owed a
duty of care to the consumer.17 It was then followed in Grant v Australian
Knitting Mills [1936] since there are similar cases.18
When a judge is delivering a judgement, they will set out their reason for
reaching a decision; this is known as the ratio decidendi as any rule of law
treated by the judges as an essential step in reacting his decision had
been regarded to the line of reasoning adopted by himself. 19 This is the
part of judgement that forms binding precedent for future cases.
On the other hand, obiter dicta simply means that remarks of a judge
which are not necessary to reaching a decision, but are made as
comments, illustrations or thoughts, e.g. in case of R v Howe & Bannister
[1987], the court held that the defence should not be available to one who
attempts murder, the judge then choose whether they want to follow the
previous decision made.
Binding precedent must be applied in a later case even it is wrongly
decided but the course material facts must be similar, such as in the case
of Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998).20 However,
persuasive precedent means precedent which a judge is not obliged to

17 Reference to: Donoghue v Stevenson[1932] AC 562.

18 Reference to: Grant v Australian Knitting Mills [1936] AC 85.
19 Reference to: e-lawresources.co.uk, Judicial Precedent, URL: http://www.elawresources.co.uk/Judicial-precedent.php accessed on 1 March 2014.

follow, but is of importance in reaching a judgment as in the case of R v R

[ 1991]21, it opposed to a binding precedent.

iv) Legislation
a) Domestic Legislation or Act of Parliament or Statute
Statute, also known as Act of Parliament, which is some of the
founding origin of the English Legal System, are law made by Parliament
that consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the
Monarch.22 Although statute came late, in the case of Proclamation, it was
held that only the Parliament can prohibit an offence and not the King of
United Kingdom.23 Not only that, its authority and sovereignty had ensured
that the Parliament is always above the common law system. The Act of
Settlement24 was later passed by the Parliament which recognised the

20 Reference to: Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998) 4 All ER 513
House of Lords. An old established rule of contract law that if the parties to an
agreement based upon a mistake as to what the law was they are still bound by
the contract: a mistake as to law was of no effect. However, if the parties made a
mistake about the facts then in some circumstances the contract would not be
binding. Although this distinction had seemed rather illogical, it was not until
1998 that the H of L decided, by a majority of 3-2, to abolish this rule about
mistakes in law.
21 Reference to: R v R [1991]UKHL 12. The Court of Appeal decided that a man
could be guilty of raping his wife and the House of Lords followed the same legal
reasoning and agreed with the Court of Appeal's decision although the House of
Lords being higher in the hierarchy than the Court of Appeal were not bound to
follow the decision.
22 Reference to: e-lawresources.co.uk, Statutes URL: http://www.elawresources.co.uk/Statutes.php accessed on 2 March 2014.

autonomy of the judiciary after the Glorious Revolution in 1688 to

168925.
The significant of the revolution is that it established an elected
Parliament as supreme in the fundamentals of taxation and legislation and
set clear limits to royal assent.26 Due to the supremacy of the law making
institution, the product of Parliament - Act of Parliament basically had
'inherited' the sovereign status of the legislature.

23 Reference to: The case of PROCLAMATIONS 77 ER 1352, (1611) 12 Co Rep 74.

The King cannot issue any proclamation. This proclamation is not part of the law.
Only the parliament can prohibit an offence and not the King through a
proclamation. And even in the case where the Parliament does not issue a law
prohibiting an offence, a proclamation imposing fine or imprisonment is
impossible. Separation between the executive and the legislative branch.
24 Reference to: The British Monarchy (Official Website), The Act of Settlement, URL:
http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedkingdom/thest
uarts/maryiiwilliamiiiandtheactofsettlement/theactofsettlement.aspxaccessed on 3 March
2014. The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the Protestant succession to
the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees for ensuring parliamentary system of
government.

25 Reference to: --, Bill of Rights Act, 1689 - The Glorious Revolution', URL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A727265 accessed on 3 March 2014.
The Bill of Rights Act, 1689 passed through Parliament after the coronation and, on 16
December, 1689, the King and Queen gave it Royal Assent, passing it into English law.
Never again would English monarchs claim their power came from God as The Bill of
Rights Act, 1689 represented the end of the concept of Divine Right of Kings, which was
one of the issues over which the English Civil War had been fought. It also made kings
and queens subject to laws passed by Parliament; this has been called the 'Glorious
Revolution'.

26 Reference to: C Easton, The English Legal System (course notes), (1 st edn, Hodder
Education, 2012), pg.7. Royal assent simply means that No Bill can become an Act
without the Royal Assent, this means that the monarch must consent to the Bill becoming
law. However, this is merely a formal process; the monarch does not read every Bill and
give personal consent. Reference to: --, Typical Revolution
URL: http://students.cis.uab.edu/jcmetcal/CS%20101%20Glorious%20Revolution.html
accessed on 3 March 2014.

b)Delegated Legislation or Subordinate Legislation or Secondary

Legislation
Delegated Legislation are laws passed otherwise than in an Act of
Parliament and it can take a variety of forms, each of which are for
different purposes. This legislation is made under an enabling Act or the
Parent Act of a statute which allows the Government to make changes to a
law such as altering sanctions under a given statute without needing to
push through a completely new Act of Parliament, leaving the detailed
rule or technicalities to the third parties. Moreover, the legislation created
by delegated legislation must be made in accordance with the purposes
laid down in the Act.27

As John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton expressed: Power tends to

corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 28 Delegated legislation
can be criticized on the ground that, the power confers to them to make
law is too powerful. They are not democratically elected. Thus, the control
of delegated legislation by the Parliament and the courts are very

27 Reference to: Law Teacher ( The Law Essay Professional), Delegated Legislation,URL:
http://www.lawteacher.net/english-legal-system/resources/delegated-legislation.php
accessed on 3 March 2014.

28 Reference to: Power Corrupts

URL:www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html accessed on
4 March 2014.

important. As Thomas Hobbes said: It is not wisdom but Authority makes

the law.29 The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 30 gives the
executive very wide powers to make delegated legislation. If this power is
misused, the consequences could be disastrous. Delegated legislation can
take a variety of forms, each of which are for different purposes.
Statutory Instruments
Statutory Instruments are rules and regulations that are being made by
the relevant ministry and government department which derived their
power from the Parent Act that set out the broad general principles and
delegate the technicalities that are to be filled in by them.31 Consultations
are often take place with interested bodies and parties Around 3,000
Statutory Instruments are issued each year, making up the majority of
delegated legislation. In the year 2010, there are about 3866 of Statutory
Instruments that became law according to the Parliament Session. 32 It is
29 Reference to: Quotes by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury (5 April 1588- 4
December 1679) English philosopher, best known today for his work on political
philosophy.
30 Reference to: Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. It was introduced
following a report of the Better Regulation Task Force, Regulation- Less is More
(2005). The official aim of the Act is to make it simpler and faster to amend
existing legislation. It allows minister to issue statutory instrument to amend
legislation to reduce a burden (such as unnecessary cost or administrative
inconvenience) caused by legislation in order to promote better regulation.
31 Reference to: LAWMENTOR, Parent Act, URL:
http://www.lawmentor.co.uk/glossary/P/parent-act/ accessed on 4 March 2014.Such
parent or enabling act derives their authority from the Parliament.

32 Reference to: House of Commons Information Office, House of Commons Brief

Guild, Delegated Legislation (August 2011).
10

normally drafted by the legal office of the relevant government

department. Consultations are often take place with interested bodies and
parties.
Orders in Council
Orders in Council are specific forms used in very important or urgent
circumstances which are passed by the Privacy Council of the Legislative
Committee, it effectively allows the government to introduce legislation
without the approval of Parliament.33 This form of delegated legislation is
also used during war time as was in the case of the Gulf War and
subsequent invasion of Iraq34, as well as to give the European law direct
effect when the legislation is not directly effective. However, after the
Statutory Instruments Act (SIA) 1946 under section 1 was passed, every
power to make an Orders of Council conferred by an Act of Parliament
must be in the form of statutory instrument.
By-laws
By-Law are laws made by the local authorities, public bodies or
private institution, using the power granted by an Act of Parliament under
the Local Government Act 1972. Moreover, a breach of the bylaw may

33 Reference to: G Slapper and D Kelly, The English Legal System, (14 th edition,
Routledge-Oxon, 2013), pg.114.
34 Reference to: Kenneth Estes, The Second Gulf War, 12 July 2007, ISN, URL:
http://www.cfr.org/world/isn-second-gulf-war-1990-1991/p13865 accessed on 4 March
2014.

11

lead to legal proceeding initiation, such as in the case of Boddington v.

British Transport Police [1998].35

v) The European Union

The accession of the United Kingdom into the membership of the
European Community (now called the European Union) was through the
Treaty of Rome in 1 January 1973, which is made up from four main
institutions.36 It created new and very important sources of law for the UK.
Section 2(4) of the European Communities Act 1972 provides that
English law should be interpreted and have effect subject to the principles
that European law is supreme; this means that European law now takes
precedence over all domestic sources of law.37
There is a range of different forms of European Legislations,
namely Treaties, Regulations, Directives. In considering the impact of this
legislation, a distinction has to be drawn between direct applicability and
direct effect. Direct applicability refers to the fact that treaty articles,
35 Reference to: House of Lord, Judgment of Boddington v. British Transport Police URL:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldjudgmt/jd980402/bodd01.htm
accessed on 4 March 2014.

36 Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (7 th edn Hodder Education,
London 2013), p.g. 68. The main institutions are The Council of the European
Union, The Commission, The European Parliament, The European Court of Justice.
37 Reference to: European Communities Act 1972, c.68 Section2(4).
12

regulations and some decisions immediately become part of the law of

each member state without intervention of Parliament. Provisions of
treaties, regulations and directives only have direct effect if they are clear,
unconditional and their implementation requires no further legislation in
member states. Direct effect can be divided into two types; verticle effect
gives individual rights against Governments to invoke a European
provision in relation to the State.38 Horizontal direct effect gives rights
against other people and organizations, just as in the case of Van Gend en
Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen (1963).39
Treaties, a major source of law, it is a binding agreement between
European Union member countries. It sets out European Union objectives,
rules for European Union institutions, how decisions are made and the
relationship between the European Union and its member countries. 40
There are quite some number of treaties which the United Kingdom had
signed such as the Treaties of the European Union, the European
Convention of Human Rights and etc. The Treaties of the European Union
are international treaties agrees between all the member states. They

38 Reference to: Europa (Summaries of EU Legislation), The direct effect of European

Law URL:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/decisionmaking_process/l145
47_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

39 Reference to: NV Algemene Transporten Expeditie Onderneming van Gend en

Loos v. Nederlandse Administratis der Belastingen 26/62, [1963 ECR 1; [1963]
CMLR 105].
40 Reference to: European Union, EU treaties URL: http://europa.eu/eu-law/decisionmaking/treaties/index_en.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

13

effectively constitute the European constitution, establishing the six key

European institutions and the aims of the European Union. The treaty is of
direct effect.41 An example of directly effective treaty is Macarthys Ltd v
Smith (1979), they impose obligation on the member state to adhere the
provision.42
Regulations are the most direct form of European Union law; they
are directly applied throughout the European Union once they are passed,
without the need for each country to make its own legislation, in particular
the people of the member state43, which is similar to the Act of Parliament.
Regulation must be applied even if the member state has already passed
legislation which conflicts them, this was happened in the case of
Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry (1973).44
Directives are addressed to national authorities, they aim to set out
broad objectives, leaving members state with a margin to create their own
detailed rule so that the objective of the directive is achieve without
41 Reference to: Sixth Form Law, EC Law - directly applicable and the doctrine of direct
effect URL:
http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod2/2_3_2_eu_sources/08_doctrine_of_direct_effect
.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

42 Reference to: Macarthys Ltd v. Smith [1979] I.C.R. 785, [1981] QB 180. Art.
157 was held to give a woman in the UK the right to claim the same wages as
were paid to the male predecessor in her job, even though she had no such right
under the UK equal pay legislation passed in 1970 before UK joined Europe.
43 Reference to: European Commission, Application of EU Law URL:
http://ec.europa.eu/eu_law/introduction/what_regulation_en.htm accessed on 5 March
2014.

44 Reference to: Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry [1973]
ECR 287
14

compromising the member state autonomy. Directives are of direct effect

as it was essential for the government to implement the directive, as in
the case of Van Duyn v Home Office45.
Decisions of the European here does not refer to decisions made by
the European Court of Justice but to decisions issued under the power of
Article 288 (TFEU) which is addressed to a Member State or an individual
and are binding in every respect.46

European Convention on Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights is an international treaty to
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe under Hitlers
rule of Germany; it played an important role in the development and
awareness about Human Rights.

47

This convention was One can appeal

their case to the European Courts of Human Rights whenever there is an

alleged breach of human rights by the government. Moreover, this
convention is the most important instrument of international law to
emanate from the Council of Europe. Still, the decision under the
European Court of Human Right would be a source of law under the
judicial precedent because section 2 of the HRA 1998 requires the
45 Reference to: Van Duyn v Home Office [1975] Ch 258 ECJ.
46 Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (7 th edn Hodder Education,
London 2013), p.g. 80.
47 Reference to: UK LAW ONLINE, The European Convention on Human Right URL:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/hamlyn/echr.htm accessed on 5 March 2014.

15

domestic court to take into account the foreign decision, which might
indirectly mound the jurisprudence of the English court.48

Human Rights Act 1998

This Act gives legal effect in the UK to certain fundamental rights
and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.49
The HRA 1998 makes the European Convention binding at national level
as well, so that people in the UK can complain in their local courts about a
failure to uphold their Convention Rights.50
Under the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Bill of Rights of 1689, rights
such as the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial and the prohibition
against torture and slavery, have long been recognised in UK law. The HRA
codifies these rights and puts them into an accessible framework.51
When judges are deciding cases of question about a Convention right has
arisen, the court must follow decisions of the European Court of Human
48 Reference to: A The National Achieves, Human Right Act 1998 URL:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/section/2 accessed on 6 March 2014.

49 Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (6 th edn Hodder Education,
Oxon 2010), p.g. 289.
50 Ibid.
51 Reference to: mind, Human Right Act URL:
http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/legal-rights/human-rightsact/#TheEuropeanConventiononHumanRights accessed on 6 March 2014.
16

Rights instead of a conflicting decision by a UK court, as section 2 of the

HRA 1998 states that the court must follow any judgement, decision,
declaration or advisory opinion of the European Court of Human Rights. 52
This was seen in the case of Re Medicaments (No.2).53
2) Secondary Source of Law
i) Customs
Customs are previously a very important source of law which had lost it
significance now, they are rules of behaviour which develop in a
community without being deliberately invented. In the case of Tanistry
(1608), the courts had described customs as ' such usage as has obtained
the force of law'.54 Even before the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxon
community are bound by the norm of society and customs. Customs can
be classified into general customs and local customs. It is very unusual for
a new custom to be considered or recognised as a valid custom by the
courts today but there is some exceptions, such as in the case of Egerton
v Harding (1974)55.
52 Reference to: J Martin, The English Legal System (6 th edn Hodder Education,
Oxon 2010), p.g. 289.
53 Reference to: Re Medicaments (No.2), Director General of Fair Trading v
Proprietary Association of Great Britain (2001). The Court of Appeal refused to
follow the decision of the House of Lords in R v Gough (1993) on the test for bias
because it was slightly different to decisions of the European Court of Human
Rights.
54 Reference to: Case of Tanistry (1608) ), Davis 28, 80 E.R. 516.
55 Reference to: Egerton v Harding (1974), the court held that there was a
customary duty to fence land against cattle straying from the common.
17

ii) Works of Authority

Works of Authority usually comes in the form of article, books, journal and
even speech which are considered to be authoritative guides to the UK
constitution.56 These forms are provided to the courts as guidance when a
court is unable to locate a precise or analogous precedent. 57 However,
such books are subdivided, depending on when they were written, but
only certain works are actually treated as authoritative source of law. As
seen in the case of Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd58 , definition of consideration
given by Sir Frederick Pollock in his book, The Principle of Contracts
(1876), was approved by Lord Dunedin. Sometime works of authority also
gave criticism to the law and tender proposed reform to refine the law.

Conclusion
Law signifies a rule of action in its most general and comprehensive
sense. This term is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action; whether
animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. The relationship of European
Union and United Kingdom had originated far in 1972 when United
Kingdom joined the European Union, with the aim to redevelop the
scattered Europe after the Second World War and to secure a larger single
market. Although the English Legal system had recently been encroached

56 Reference to: G Slapper and D Kelly, The English Legal System, (14 th edition,
Routledge-Oxon, 2013), p.g. 153.
57 Ibid.
58 Reference to: Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd [1915] AC 847.
18

by the Europe Union Act, some protection are still given by the national
act to acknowledge Parliamentary sovereignty .

Bibliography
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Cownie F. and Bradney A. , English Legal System in context (2nd edn.
Butterworth, 2000)
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Hasted E. , The History and Topographical Survey of the Country of Kent:
Volume 1 (Institute of Historical Research, 1797)
Huxley-Binns R. and Martin J. , Unlocking English Legal System, (3rd edn,
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19

Markesinis B. and Fedtke J. , Judicial Recourse to Foreign Law , (Abingdon

2006).
Slapper G. and Kelly D. , The English Legal System, (14th edn, Routledge,
2013).
Smith, Bailey and Gunn, The Modern English Legal System, (5th edition,
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Articles
Guangdong Xu, Tianshu Zhou, Bin Zeng, and Jin Shi, Directors duties in
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Camb. Law J., 70 [2011].

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20

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Power Corrupts
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LAWMENTOR, Parent Act,
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accessed on 4 March 2014.
House of Lord, Judgment of Boddington v. British Transport Police
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URL:
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Table of Cases

Boddington v. British Transport Police [1998].

22

Case of Tanistry (1608), Davis 28, 80 E.R.516.

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562.
Dunlop v Selfridge Ltd [1915] AC 847.
Earl of Oxfords Case (1616) 1 Rep Ch1.
Egerton v Harding (1974).
Grant v Australian Knitting Mills [1936] AC 85.
Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council (1998) 4 All ER 513.
Leonesio v. Italian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry [1973] ECR 287.
Macarthys Ltd v. Smith [1979] I.C.R. 785, [1981] QB 180.
NV Algemene Transporten Expeditie Onderneming van Gend en Loos v.
Nederlandse Administratis der Belastingen 26/62, [1963 ECR 1; [1963]
CMLR 105].
PROCLAMATIONS 77 ER 1352, (1611) 12 Co Rep 74.
R v Gough (1993).
R v Howe & Bannister [1987].
R v R [1991] UKHL 12.
Re Medicaments (No.2), Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary
Association of Great Britain (2001).
Tanistry (1608).
Van Duyn v Home Office [1975] Ch 258 ECJ.
Young v. Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd [1944] KB 718.

23

Table of Statutes
Act of Settlement 1701.
Bill of Right Act 1689.
Companies Act 2006.
Defamation Act 2013.
European Communities Act 1972, Section2(4).
Human Right Act 1998.
Judicature Act 1873-1875.
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.
Local Government Act 1972.
Magna Carta of 1215.
Statutory Instruments Act (SIA) 1946.

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