Here you can find downloadable resources, recommendations for further study, and popular material from the previous edition book and website which has been archived but may remain useful.
The European Union
Following Brexit, the chapter in the previous edition which covered the nature, structure, history, and law of the Europe Union has been removed from the published book. However, the material has been turned into a downloadable word document to provide not just a comparison to English law but equally a historical context of much of that law and the form of law that still.
Other Routledge Titles
For further study, check out these Routledge titles:
The Insider’s Guide to Legal Skills, 2e Allbon and Kaur Dua (2023) 9780367486051
Law Made Simple, 14th ed, Barker (2020) 9781138488847
Mooting, Baskind (2016) 9781138851177
Life as a Junior Barrister, Booth (2022) 9780367566494
A Practical Guide to Lawyering Skills, Boyle and Capps, 4e (2019) 9780815347040
Preparing to Moot, Cooper and McArdle (2017) 9781138853157
Practical English Language Skills for Lawyers, Costello & Kulbicki (2022) 978-0-367-69046-5
Learning Legal Skills and Reasoning, 5e, Hanson (2021) 9780367249267
International Legal English, 6e, Haigh (2021) 9780367569754
Digital Lawyering, Jones et al (2021) 978-0-367-26078-1
Law Dissertations, Lammasniemi (2021) 978-0-367-56877-1
The Formation of Professional Identity, Longan, Floyd & Floyd (2019) 9781138651692
Problem Questions for Law Students, Brown (2021) 978-0-367-64670-7
Research Methods in Law, Watkins and Burton (2017) 9781138230194
Legal Writing, Webley, 5e (2023) 9781138586154
Archived Revision Tips
Gary Slapper provided a list of top 10 revision tips for the 17th edition. Although the tips were made for the 17th edition, students may still find the resource useful.
Archived Podcasts
Here you will find archived podcasts created by Gary Slapper and the Open University on a range of themes related to the English Legal System. These were originally created for the 17th edition, although students might still find them useful.
Learn about a wide range of topics from the role of women in the legal profession, the 21st century lawyer, the capital punishment debate and the role of advocacy.
- THE GENDER AGENDA “Women? We’ve already got a woman” Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The Times & Professor Gary Slapper discuss women &law: http://t.co/IX7jC5AQi4
- PASSIONATE ADVOCACY Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The Times, & Professor Gary Slapper discuss whether advocates should be ardent at work. http://t.co/qIBUxcNc
- JUDGES, JURORS &BOFFINS. Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The Times, & Professor Gary Slapper discuss the major sway of experts in the courts http://t.co/sEtJSSUW6l
- LIFE CHOICES ABOUT DEATH. Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The Times, Professor Gary Slapper discuss law and the idea of ‘a right to die’ : http://t.co/Yav3Sy4F
- LEGAL KILLING. Professor Gary Slapper discusses capital punishment with Nigel Warburton and others http://t.co/x2QJuv6YPY
- A SURGEON, A PILOT and A CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAWYER WALK INTO AN EXAMPLE…Peter Ward, criminal lawyer, and Professor Gary Slapper discuss crime. http://t.co/81a3PQiB
Weblinks
Originally put together by Gary Slapper, these links have been updated for the 20th edition by Avis Whyte.
Chapter One: Law and Legal Study
The constant impingement of legal issues on all aspects of social and individual life should be tracked and explored at:
- www.bbc.co.uk
- www.guardian.co.uk
- www.timesonline.co.uk
- www.independent.co.uk
- www.ft.com
- www.telegraph.co.uk/[AW1]
http://www.justice.gov.uk/
The official website of the Ministry of Justice
Chapter Two: The Rule of Law and Human Rights
https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/home[AW2]
https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/about-cm[AW3]
http://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/rt-hon-lord-bingham-cornhill-kg-rule-law
An audio archive of ‘The Rule of Law”, a lecture given in 2006 by The Rt Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG, House of Lords
www.equalityhumanrights.com
The official website for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The UK’s longstanding commitment to the Rule of Law is under grave threat according to landmark report from JUSTICE (Sept 2023)
In terms of other ‘top’ Human Rights & Rule of Law—web links consider:
- https://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-rule-of-law/home[AW5]
- LexisNexis[AW6] has a Rule of Law Centre/Foundation
- The Constitutional Unit Blog at UCL is a useful site for keeping up to date on rule of law, human rights and similar issues https://constitution-unit.com/
Chapter Three: Sources of Law
Text of Acts as passed:
Texts of Acts of Parliament as originally passed by Parliament since 1988 are available on the Legislation.gov.uk website.
Texts of Acts as amended:
Texts of Acts of Parliament incorporating changes made by later Acts or delegated legislation are also available on the Legislation.gov.uk web site. The database contains all Acts still in force with Acts dating back as far as 1267.
The Parliamentary Archives
The Parliamentary Archives has copies of original Acts from 1497
http://www.lawcom.gov.uk
The Law Commission’s website is a valuable resource because it carries scores of reports that provide very useful critical digests of whole areas of law.
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/
The UK Statute Law database.
http://www.parliament.uk/
The official website of the Parliament.
https://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation
“Bills and Legislation sets out the proposals for new laws, and plans to change existing laws, that are presented for debate before Parliament.
Keep up to date with the progress of current and draft Bills before Parliament; read the full texts of Acts of Parliament, and find out the details of delegated legislation that change laws under existing Acts.”
[AW7] https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service
Chapter Four: The Civil Courts
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/advisory-bodies/cjc/
The site of the Civil Justice Council
[AW8] [AW9] https://www.supremecourt.uk/
Chapter Five: The Civil Process
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil[AW10]
[AW11] https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/advisory-bodies/cjc/
Chapter Six: The Criminal Courts
[AW12] https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service
www.magistrates-association.org.uk
The official website of the Magistrates’ Association.
www.gov.uk/browse/justice
The official website of the Criminal Justice System.
Chapter Seven: The Criminal Process: (1) The Investigation of Crime
www.cjsonline.gov.uk
The official website of the Criminal Justice System; very useful across a range of subjects.
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
The website of the Home Office — very useful on matters of policing and crime.
https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk
The website of the National Crime Agency very useful source about the investigation of serious and organised crime
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/police-and-criminal-evidence-act-1984-pace-codes-of-practice
The Government’s official website which gives access to The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 codes of practice regulate police powers and protect public rights
Chapter Eight: The Criminal Process: (2) The Prosecution
www.cps.gov.uk
This is the website of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Chapter Nine: The Judiciary
www.dca.gov.uk/judges/diversity.htm
An archived webpage on information regarding the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to ensuring “a judiciary of the highest calibre, with candidates drawn from the widest possible range of available talent”.
www.judiciary.gov.uk
The official website for the Judiciary of England and Wales.
Chapter Ten: Judicial Reasoning and Politics
www.bailii.org/databases.html
A list of the databases that BAILII holds.
Chapter Eleven: The Jury
Professor Cheryl Thomas is the country’s leading expert on juries (courts and judges). So, it may be worth citing some of her major work(s):
- The 21st Century Jury: Contempt, bias and the impact of jury service (2020). Available for free download here:
- https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115525/7/Thomas_21st%20century%20jury%20CLR%202020%20RPS.pdf
- The publisher’s version is here: https://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Product/Criminal-Law/Criminal-Law-Review/Journal/30791441
- Are Juries Fair? Produced for the Ministry of Justice in 2010. “Are Juries Fair? is the most in-depth study into the issue ever undertaken in this country”
- Diversity and Fairness in the Jury System (2007) archived here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20100512145248/http:/www.justice.gov.uk/publications/research130607.htm
Chapter Twelve: Arbitration, Tribunal Adjudication and Alternative Dispute Resolution
http://www.cedr.co.uk
The official website for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution.
https://www.cedr.com/
The website for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
http://www.adrnow.org.uk
A useful website on ADR, run by the Advice Services Alliance.
https://www.acas.org.uk/dispute-resolution[AW13]
The website of the Advisory, Conciliatory and Arbitration Service gives free unbiased advice to employees and employers on workplace rights, rules and best practice,
Chapter Thirteen: Legal Services
www.lawsociety.org.uk
The official site of the Law Society.
www.sra.org.uk
The official site of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.
www.barcouncil.org.uk
The official site of the Bar Council of England and Wales.
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
The official site of the Bar Standards Board, which regulates barristers in England and Wales.
https://www.cilex.org.uk/[AW14]
The official site of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives
Chapter Fourteen: The Funding of Legal Services
www.legalservices.gov.uk
The site of the Legal Services Commission, with links also to the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service.
www.clsdirect.org.uk
The site of Community Legal Service Direct.
Chapter Fifteen: The European Context
This site is the official database for all EU law. It includes the Official Journal, Treatises, recent case law, and legislation.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
EUR-Lex provides direct free access to European Union law.
http://curia.europa.eu
The official website for the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
https://www.echr.coe.int/[AW15]
[AW1]This may be worth adding.
[AW2]This may be the best replacement. From this page one can jump to the European Court of HR, the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly
[AW3]This is the site for the Committee of Ministers directly.
[AW4]The State We’re In: Addressing Threats & Challenges to the Rule of Law: this recent report from Justice, should make a good replacement for the Goldsmith transcript you have deleted above.
[AW5]“Useful to check recent developments. The Council of Europe site includes a breakdown of its activities under subject tabs including Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law. Browse information via country, organisation or topic tab. The Newsroom tab gives access to factsheets, opinion articles and speeches”
[AW6]“Provided by Lexis Nexis, the Rule of Law Resource Center, offers a mixture of articles by their ‘Community of Experts’, news and a web directory to sites under headings like genocide, women’s rights and human trafficking. There are a couple of interesting podcasts available too”
[AW7]HM Court Service is now part of HM Courts & Tribunals Service
[AW8]The “gov” bit has been dropped.
[AW9]The court was established/founded in Oct 2009. 14 yrs on, the website is no longer ‘new’, so perhaps delete that word.
[AW10]New address for the CPR, still hosted by the MoJ.
[AW11]Has a new web address as below.
[AW12]As stated above, this is now HM Courts & Tribunals Service
[AW13]The page on the ACAS website specific to dispute resolution
[AW14]As legal execs are the ‘third branch’ of the legal profession, it is worth including their site here.
[AW15]This is the new address of the ECtHR