ABSTRACT
History and politics have both caused this nation state to be created out of three separate legal jurisdictions, each of which has its own courts, judges and legal professions. The United Kingdom is a 'dualist' nation because it treats international law and national law as two distinct legal orders. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is a court of immemorial antiquity and it once functioned as the final court of appeal for all parts of the British Empire. The concern of the Common Law with human rights pre-dates the enactment of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which it is relevant to note English and Scottish lawyers largely helped to write. The United Kingdom government bases its contention that the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) is not binding on the UK because of a Protocol which it succeeded in getting appended to the Lisbon Treaty.
