ABSTRACT
All A-level law students are required to develop a knowledge and understanding of sources of law as part of the study of the general principles underlying English law as a whole. English law does not grow on trees, neither was it handed to Moses on top of a mountain. It is derived from Acts of Parliament (statute law) and from the decisions of judges in decided cases (common law). Students of this book will have already read, in each chapter, countless references to case decisions and to Acts of Parliament. When reading about a particular branch of law, such as criminal law, the significance of these major sources of law becomes apparent. These are the primary sources of law. Writers and lawyers, including judges, must take them as the starting point for what the law actually is. Most of the things that you have read in this book are merely the informed interpretations that the authors of this book have placed upon these primary sources. Consequently, most of the views put forward in this book are merely a secondary source of reference.
