Great Britain

The Legal Systems

The doctrine of Parliamentary supremacy was modified when Britain entered the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1972 (renamed the European Union [EU] after the Treaty of the European Union [TEU] 1992, also known as the Maastricht Treaty). Thereafter, the UK incorporated EU law, which takes precedence over all national legislations of the member states of Europe. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg is the supreme court in the EU (for civil matters only), comprising fifteen judges from the member states of the EU. The ECJ can overrule all other courts on matters of Community law. On October 2, 2000, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the “Convention”) was incorporated into UK law by means of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The highest civil appellate court is the House of Lords (HL), which sits in Westminster (London). The judges include the Lord Chancellor, the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and those peers (i.e., members of the House of Lords) who hold or have held high judicial office. The HL has an appellate jurisdiction from Scottish courts in civil matters only. It has no Scottish criminal jurisdiction. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the ultimate court of appeal for the overseas territories except for those that independently have abolished the right of appeal. The Judicial Committee consists of all members of the Privy Council who hold or have held high judicial office under the Crown (mainly of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary), and, occasionally, privy councillors from overseas who have the necessary judicial qualifications. Territories from which an appeal lies to Her Majesty in Council include New Zealand, Jamaica, and other West Indies islands, and areas such as the sovereign base in Cyprus. The national courts (High Court, Court of Appeal, and House of Lords) are based in London; local courts of first instance (magistrates' courts and county courts) are based throughout the country, and the crown court has many locations.

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