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PARLIAMENT
Based on Smith & Keenans English
Law (sixteenth edition)(Longman)
Few statutes in earlier times most law was
case law
Earliest legislation after the Norman Conquest
was by means of Royal Charter
By the 12
th
century, legislation was made by
the King in Council, and sometimes by a kind
of parliament consisting of noblemen and
clergymen
The making of legislation by Parliament
became more ordered in the 14
th
century. The
practice that exists to this day of a Bill (draft
law) being read three times before it was
passed, began then
From this period too Parliament became more
independent and the amount of law made by
statute increased
Statute has however become an important
source of law only within the last couple of
centuries
Although the flow of legislation has increased
and there is now a large amount of statute
law, it is still a relatively small amount of our
law as a whole the basis of UK law is still
common law
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The existence of more statute law came about
as a result of the greater involvement of
Parliament in the economic and social affairs
of the nation
Some modern law is so complex that it can
effectively introduced only by Parliament it
would not evolve in a satisfactory way if it
came about by decisions of the courts

It has been said that a statute is the ultimate
source of law (Smith and Keenan). Where
there is a conflict between a statute and a
principle of common law or equity, the statute
will prevail, and this cannot generally be
challenged
Exceptions to this now exist because of the
UKs membership of the EU
The validity of an Act of Parliament can be
challenged at the European Court of Justice on
the ground that the Act conflicts with the Treaty
of Rome
The Human Rights Act 1998 allows UK courts to
make declarations of incompatibility where a UK
Act of Parliament is found not to accord with the
European Convention on Human Rights but the
UK courts cannot disapply the incompatible law
Parliament should change the offending law to
make it comply
Delegated legislation statutory instruments
Local by-laws
The growth of legislation made under powers
contained in the Regulatory Reform Acts
Custom
International Conventions
Canon Law