The purpose of this research guide is to introduce the sources used to conduct research in modern English law. The sources discussed apply only to the law of England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own courts, parliaments, sources of law, and to some extent separate legal systems. This guide also does not deal with the law of the European Union, which may also be binding in English courts.
For comparative purposes, it is noteworthy that England has no codified constitution. Instead, the constitution is composed of a number of uncodified statutes that establish the institutions and practices of government, together with unwritten custom. It follows that there also is no constitutional review of statutes by courts; under the English doctrine of separation of powers, only Parliament may make or alter law embodied in statutes. Finally, it should be noted that English statute law is uncodified. There is no analog to the United States Code.
For a classic introduction to Britain's uncodified constitution, see Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution, by A.V. Dicey, in various editions, the most recent of which in the Library's collection is the 10th (London:Macmillan, 1959) (KD3934 .D54 1959). Various editions are also available in the Making of Modern Law.
For a recent re-interpretation of the British constitution, see The New British Constitution, by Vernon Bogdanor (Oxford: Hart, 2009) (KD3966 .B64 2009), The constitution of the United Kingdom: A Contextual Analysis, by Peter Leyland (Oxford: Hart, 2012) (KD3989 .L49 2012), Constitutional and Administrative Law, 14th ed., by A.W. Bradley (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2007) (KD3939 .W3 2007), The British Constitution, by Anthony King (Oxford: OUP, 2009), and Constitutional and Administrative Law, 8th ed., by H. Barnett (Milton Park: Routledge, 2011).
UK Constitutional Reform, by L Dingle and B Miller, is a research guide providing background information and links to sources related to constitutional reform in the U.K.
For recent commentary on the Human Rights Act and common law constitutionalism, see The New Commonwealth Model of Constitutionalism: Theory and Practice, by S. Gardbaum (Cambridge: C.U.P., 2013), Parliamentary Sovereignty: Contemporary Debates, by J. Goldsworthy (Cambridge: CUP, 2010), and Constitutional Review Under the UK Human Rights Act, by A. Kavanaugh (Cambridge: CUP, 2009).
For an encyclopedic introduction to the British constitution, together with electronic versions of statutes, from Magna Carta to the Government of Wales Act, comprising a substantial part of the constitution, see Constitutions of the World. For a larger collection of constitutional statutes, see HeinOnline's World Constitutions Illustrated, which also includes a large number of electronic titles related to British constitutional history.
For a detailed introduction to the structure of the British legal system, see Walker & Walker's English Legal System, 11th ed., by Richard Ward and Amanda Wragg (Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 2011) (KD7100 .W3 2011), The English Legal Process, 13th ed., by Terence Ingman (Oxford: OUP, 2011) (KD7111 .I53 2011), and English Legal System, 10th ed., by Gary Slapper.
For a detailed, scholarly introduction to the various subjects of common law, see the many titles within the Common Law Library series. For example, to find the most recent edition of this series on contracts in IUCAT, combine a search for the series keywords "common law library" with a search for the title word "contracts." (You will have to use the Advanced Keyword Search option.) This will retrieve Chitty on Contracts, the most recent edition of which is the 31st (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2012) (KD1554 .C48 2012).
Halsbury's Laws of England, begun in 1907, is a particularly comprehensive and scholarly encyclopedia of English law. Currently transitioning from the 4th to 5th edition, this title provides a detailed introduction to all areas of English law, with citations to cases and secondary sources. An annual Abridgement, begun in 1974, includes matter not contained in the main volumes, and therefore extends their coverage. Access is through a variety of indexes, including a detailed subject index. (KD310 .H34 2008) The Library also has the 2nd and 3rd editions for historical reference.
The two leading English legal dictionaries are Stroud's Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases (8th ed.) (Law Ref. KD313 .S77 2012) and Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law (3rd ed.) (2010). These dictionaries are updated with supplements and provide citations to relevant cases and statutes. For those interested in historical research, the original, 1890 edition of Stroud's is available in HeinOnline.
