Legal System of United Kingdom

United Kingdom is located in Europe. It is geographically situated in western europe, islands - including the northern one-sixth of the island of ireland - between the north atlantic ocean and the north sea; northwest of france. The country achieved independence on no official date of independence: 927 (minor english kingdoms unite); 3 march 1284 (enactment of the statute of rhuddlan uniting england and wales); 1536 (act of union incorporates england and wales); 1 may 1707 (acts of union unite england, scotland, and wales as great britain); 1 january 1801 (acts of union unite great britain and ireland as the united kingdom of great britain and ireland); 6 december 1921 (anglo-irish treaty formalizes partition of ireland; six counties become northern ireland and remain part of the uk); 12 april 1927 (royal and parliamentary titles act establishes current name of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland). The capital is London.

Government Overview

Government Type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm Chief of State: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022) Head of Government: Prime Minister Keir STARMER (since 5 July 2024) Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister Administrative Divisions: England: 24 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities (including 4 single-tier counties*)

two-tier counties: Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire

London boroughs and City of London or Greater London: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster

metropolitan districts: Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton

unitary authorities: Bath and North East Somerset; Bedford; Blackburn with Darwen; Blackpool; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Bracknell Forest; Brighton and Hove; City of Bristol; Buckinghamshire; Central Bedfordshire; Cheshire East; Cheshire West and Chester; Cornwall; Darlington; Derby; Dorset; Durham County*; East Riding of Yorkshire; Halton; Hartlepool; Herefordshire*; Isle of Wight*; Isles of Scilly; City of Kingston upon Hull; Leicester; Luton; Medway; Middlesbrough; Milton Keynes; North East Lincolnshire; North Lincolnshire; North Northamptonshire; North Somerset; Northumberland*; Nottingham; Peterborough; Plymouth; Portsmouth; Reading; Redcar and Cleveland; Rutland; Shropshire; Slough; South Gloucestershire; Southampton; Southend-on-Sea; Stockton-on-Tees; Stoke-on-Trent; Swindon; Telford and Wrekin; Thurrock; Torbay; Warrington; West Berkshire; West Northamptonshire; Wiltshire; Windsor and Maidenhead; Wokingham; York

Northern Ireland: 5 borough councils, 4 district councils, 2 city councils

borough councils: Antrim and Newtownabbey; Ards and North Down; Armagh City, Banbridge, and Craigavon; Causeway Coast and Glens; Mid and East Antrim

district councils: Derry City and Strabane; Fermanagh and Omagh; Mid Ulster; Newry, Murne, and Down city councils: Belfast; Lisburn and Castlereagh

Scotland: 32 council areas

council areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian

Wales: 22 unitary authorities

unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea, The Vale of Glamorgan, Torfaen, Wrexham National Holiday: the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal System

The legal system of United Kingdom is described as common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998 International Law: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Constitutional Framework

The constitution has the following history: uncoded; partly statutes, partly common law and practice Amendment Process: proposed as a bill for an Act of Parliament by the government, by the House of Commons, or by the House of Lords; passage requires agreement by both houses and by the monarch (Royal Assent)

Judicial Branch

Highest Court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 12 justices, including the court president and deputy president) Judge Selection: judge candidates selected by an independent committee of several judicial commissions, then recommended to the prime minister, and appointed by the monarch; justices serve for life Subordinate Courts: England and Wales: Court of Appeal (civil and criminal divisions); High Court; Crown Court; County Courts; Magistrates’ Courts; Scotland: Court of Sessions; Sheriff Courts; High Court of Justiciary; tribunals; Northern Ireland: Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland; High Court; county courts; magistrates’ courts; specialized tribunals

Legislative Branch

The legislative structure consists of bicameral Lower Chamber: House of Commons (650 (all directly elected) seats) Electoral System (Lower Chamber): plurality/majority Upper Chamber: House of Lords

Citizenship and Suffrage

Citizenship by Birth: no Citizenship by Descent: at least one parent must be a citizen of the United Kingdom Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Historical Background

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created when the Kingdoms of England and Scotland -- which previously had been distinct states under a single monarchy -- were joined under the 1707 Acts of Union. The island of Ireland was incorporated under the 1800 Acts of Union, while Wales had been part of the Kingdom of England since the 16th century.

This article provides a summary of the legal system and governmental structure of United Kingdom based on the CIA World Factbook. The Factbook is a public domain publication of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.