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The Nature of Law

Custom, statute and common law as sources

  • 3 things to know
  • All three papers

Overview

The three traditional sources of English law: custom and the tests a valid custom must meet, statute law and the Parliament Acts, and common law made through precedent, and how the sources relate when they conflict.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Process

What does 'time immemorial' mean as a test for a valid custom?

Key term

What is custom as a source of law?

Process

How can an Act become law without the consent of the House of Lords?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the three traditional sources of English law.

    Model answer

    Custom, statute law made by Parliament, and common law developed by judges through precedent.

  2. 2

    What is custom as a source of law?

    Model answer

    A practice followed in a community for so long that the courts recognise it as legally binding; today it survives mainly as local customary rights, such as rights over land in a particular area.

  3. 3

    How did the customs of England develop into the common law?

    Model answer

    After the Norman Conquest of 1066, royal judges travelling the country recorded local customs and applied the best of them nationwide, creating one law common to the whole of England.

  4. 4

    What does 'time immemorial' mean as a test for a valid custom?

    Model answer

    The custom must have existed since 1189; the courts usually accept proof of use as far back as living memory, unless it is shown that the custom began after 1189.

  5. 5

    Why did the claimed custom fail in Simpson v Wells (1872)?

    Model answer

    The claimed right to set up a refreshment stall on a public footpath came from the statute sessions, which began in the 14th century under the Statute of Labourers, so it could not have existed since 1189.

  6. 6

    Apart from time immemorial, what tests must a custom meet to be recognised by the courts?

    Model answer

    It must have been exercised peaceably, openly and as of right, continuously, and be reasonable, certain as to its content, area and beneficiaries, and treated as obligatory.

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