ABSTRACT
An ability to assess the law critically is one of the crucial academic and practical legal skills that form the basis of much of the academic study of law and, indeed, its practice. Attention turns from notions of law to the concept of the ‘legal system’ as this is a necessary precursor to discussing the ‘English’ Legal System. The companion website to this text has some exercises based on fictitious legal scenarios. The European Union is a good example of an international organisation that has a developed and sophisticated legal system that sits both outside and as part of the legal heritage of its 27 Member States. Legal systems can vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Case law forms an important source of law, and judges are particularly powerful actors within the legal system. The preceding is just a brief sketch of the main forms of legal system that are present in different states.
