#16451 - Introduction To Legal Systems In The Uk - Scottish Legal System

1. Introduction to Legal Systems in the UK

What is law?

• The words of someone in authority who has the power to intervene in other people’s affairs

• Imposes patterns of conduct on other people, and if they don’t comply there are unpleasant consequences

• Law can compel conduct

• A lot of law simply provides opportunities to do things effectively

• A lot of law is unwritten, which is called custom or convention

• Law is always subject to change

UK legal systems and jurisdictions:

1. England and wales

2. Northern Ireland

3. Scotland

Scotland has a mixed legal system, with elements of both common and civil legal systems

Types of law:

What is public law?

• Relations between individual and state

  • Constitutional law

  • Judicial review of administrative action

  • Criminal law

  • Revenue law

What is private law?

• Gaius’s division

  • Property (assets)

  • Obligations (contracts, delict, unjustified enrichment)

  • Persons (family law, law of persons)

  • Actions