ENGLISH STATUTES AND CASES -- HOW TO FIND THEM

A. Session laws

  1. Available online on LEXIS.
  2. The Public General Acts and Measures, 1831 to date. Official. Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (H.M.S.O.).
  3. The Law Reports: Statutes. Commercially published. Verbatim reprint of the Public General Acts and Measures.

B. Codes/Compilations of Laws/Statutes

  1. Available online on LEXIS.
  2. No official codification comparable to U.S.Code.
  3. Statutes in Force. Official, H.M.S.O. Text of all acts in force, as amended. Covers 1235 to date. Looseleaf, arranged by subject. Each act (with all amendments to date) published as separate pamphlet, which is periodically replaced as needed.
  4. Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales, 4th ed. Commercially published compilation of statutes in force, arranged by subject. Annotated. Annual cumulative supplement; Tables and index volume; Noter-up (updating) service; Current statutes service.**
  5. Is It in Force? A Guide to the Commencement of Statutes Passed Since 1 January, 1968. Annual.

C. Administrative Regulations ("Statutory Instruments" - formerly called Statutory Rules and Orders)

  1. Available online on LEXIS.
  2. Statutory Instruments. Official, H.M.S.O. Chronological arrangement; analogous to U.S. Federal Register. Statutory instruments appear first individually, then in several bound volumes each year.**
  3. Index to Government Orders. Official, H.M.S.O. Biennial. Subject index to Statutory Instruments. Indicates which S.I. are still in force.
  4. The official Statutory Rules and Orders and Statutory Instruments Revised to Dec. 31, 1948 is out of date and in need of replacement.
  5. Halsbury's Statutory Instruments. Commercially published compilation, arranged by subject; analogous to U.S. CFR.

D. English Court System

  1. House of Lords:Civil cases: supreme court of appeal for U.K.Criminal cases: final court of appeal for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
  2. Supreme Court of Judicature:Overall name given to three different courts:
  3. Court of Appeal. Has two divisions: civil and criminal. Hears appeals from High Court and certain other lower courts.
  4. High Court. Has three divisions: Queen's Bench Division (including Admiralty Court and Commercial Court), Chancery Division, and Family Division. In practice, each division acts as a separate court.
  5. Crown Court. Criminal court with general jurisdiction. Main criminal court of England. Tries more serious cases and hears appeals from magistrates' courts.
  6. County courts. Have limited first instance civil jurisdiction.
  7. Local and special courts. These are mainly Magistrates' Courts and courts of special jurisdiction such as the Restrictive Practices Court and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

E. Court Reports

  1. Sizable portions of English case law (but not all cases) are available online on Lexis.
  2. English Reports, Full Reprint. Reprint of virtually all nominative court reports from 1220 to 1865. Two-volume table of cases; Chart referencing nominative reports to their location in this set.
  3. Revised Reports. Reprint of virtually all nominative court reports from 1785 to 1865. Editor: Sir Frederick Pollock.
  4. All England Law Reports Reprint. Selective; 1558-1935.
  5. The Law Reports. 1865 to date; preferred set of reports. Selective, covering House of Lords, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, and the High Court. Appears in four series: Appeal Cases; Queen's Bench; Chancery; and Family Division. Decisions of the Court of Appeal are published in last three series.
  6. The Weekly Law Reports. Weekly pamphlets, then three bound volumes each year. Includes (each year, in vols. 2 & 3) most cases ultimately published in The Law Reports. Volume 1, each year, publishes cases not intended for The Law Reports.
  7. All England Law Reports. 1936 to date. Includes decisions of House of Lords, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and courts of special jurisdiction.

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