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abstract |
We have aimed to expound how the English legal system currently works, and the content
of English law in all of its key areas of operation. Where we have deemed it appropriate,
we have aimed to put a legal rule or principle in its social, historical or economic
context. We have also put several areas of law into some legal theory settings. Given
a little depth in another dimension, a plain legal rule will often be not just easier
to understand but also more interesting.
English law probably exercises more influence, for better or worse, over people’s
lives across the world than any other set of legal principles and procedures. This
is certainly so in most of the 53 members of the Commonwealth, including the considerable
jurisdictions of places such as Canada, Pakistan, India and Australia. The population
of the Commonwealth is 1.8 billion – that is almost a third of the people on the earth.
It is also worthy of note that the original law and legal systems in North America
were largely based on the principles of English law.
Few people go through life without, at various stages, developing strong opinions
about the desirability or otherwise of some aspect of law. Moreover, lawyers constitute
about one fifth of members in the House of Commons in the British Parliament, and
it is clear that many debates about law are very important because the way the debates
are resolved ultimately has a substantial effect upon the way we live.
We have, therefore, in this text allowed a critical element into our explanations
and discussions. We have thought it helpful to present the legal theory underlying
policies and law in many of the chapters of this book. At the end of the last century,
a great many major changes were made to the English legal system and several areas
of English law. |