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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Key definition
Common law definition What does Common law mean? In practice, common law means judge‑made rules developed through case law and applied by courts when resolving disputes, filling gaps where no statute applies, and guiding statutory interpretation. It is not defined by legislation; it is a descriptive label for principles articulated in judicial decisions and followed under the doctrine of precedent (stare decisis). Key features include incremental development, binding effect according to the court hierarchy, and availability of judge‑made remedies. It encompasses both common law and (in England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland) equitable doctrines, such as fiduciary duties, trusts and injunctions. In Scotland, the mixed system uses...
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United Kingdom constitutional law sources: legislation, constitutional principles and case law, international and human rights law, prerogative powers, conventions, and parliamentary sovereignty
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Practice notes
In brief
The British constitution is uncodified, meaning it does not spring from a single constitutional document or code. It draws on a wide range of written and unwritten sources. Alongside the principal written sources of law in England and Wales—legislation (which has also introduced international and human rights principles into our constitution) and the common law—the constitution also rests on two further unwritten bases within this system: the prerogative, and non-legal constitutional conventions. In addition, on one view the basic or prevailing principle of our constitution, Parliamentary sovereignty, is ultimately grounded in political fact rather than in law.
Legislation
Legislation is the foremost source of constitutional law. Acts of Parliament may set out detailed constitutional rules, or even pass authority to create them to ministers or to others. Under the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, legislation is traditionally regarded as taking precedence over any other form or kind of constitutional rule. For example, statutes providing for constitutional matters include the Bill of Rights 1688, the Act of Settlement (1700), the Union with Scotland Act 1706, the Parliament Act 1911 and the Parliament Act 1949, the Scotland Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998), the House of Lords Act 1999 and...
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Web page updated on 21/05/2026
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Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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