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Comparative analysis of the United States and United Kingdom legal systems

This compare and contrast essay example, written for an undergraduate law course, analyzes the legal systems of the United States and the United Kingdom. It explores the development of English common law in both countries, highlighting their divergent paths. The United States is characterized by a written, rigid constitution emphasizing judicial review for applying constitutional law in relation to individual rights. In contrast, the United Kingdom operates under an uncodified constitution that prioritizes parliamentary sovereignty and flexibility in interpretation. Key cases such as Marbury v. Madison and Miller v. Secretary of State are used to illustrate these principles. This analysis reveals how different legal traditions influence governance, affecting legal predictability, adaptability, and institutional authority in each country. The essay is cited using the Harvard citation style.

November 3, 2024

* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM

LEGAL SYSTEMS

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Comparative Analysis of the United States and United Kingdom Legal Systems

Although the United States and the United Kingdom both legally descend from

English common law, their paths diverged in each country's development under unique

political circumstances, constitutional structures, and procedural frameworks. The following

essay will seek to highlight some of the main differences and similarities between the two,

based on constitutional structure, judicial hierarchy, court procedures, and appointments to

the judiciary. This essay will be a comparative analysis of the unique traits each system

operates under in terms of law and governance.

Constitutional Structure

One of the differences between the legal systems of the US and the UK emanates

from their constitutional structure. The United States operates under a codified constitution

instituted in 1787, which clearly outlines the powers of the three arms of government: the

executive, legislative, and judiciary (White 2024). It is an inflexible, written constitution

intended to restrain the government from easily abusing its powers, as well as to protect the

rights of the citizens. Judicial review, as in Marbury v. Madison (1803), gives the U.S.

Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional, thereby giving the judiciary a check on the

other branches of government, outlining the constitution as the highest law of the land,

dictating all facets of governance and law (White 2024).

The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution; hence, there are various sources:

statutes, common law, and historical documents like the Magna Carta. The absence of one

single written document allows flexibility but sometimes allows ambiguity in the application

of constitutional conventions (Pratt, 2022). One of the most applauded cases that

demonstrates this flexibility is Miller v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, in

which the UK Supreme Court ruled that the government required parliamentary consent to

trigger Article 50 and formally commence Brexit (Pratt 2022). This decision emphasized the

tradition of parliamentary sovereignty-a fundamental principle in the law of the United

Kingdom-in which Parliament is considered to be the ultimate legislature.

Judicial Hierarchy and Precedent

The United States and the United Kingdom both use judicial systems that are

organized into hierarchical levels, yet each is distinct in its application of precedent or

previously ruled cases and interpretation of laws by judges. The United States has federal

district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court, the highest judiciary (Goldner 2020,

p.10). Precedent plays an important role, as the decisions of the Supreme Court are binding

on all lower courts. A typical example of such a system is that of Brown v. Board of

Education, 1954, whereby the Supreme Court reached a binding precedent outlawing racial

segregation in public schools and thus consequently influenced every court to adhere to this

principle (Goldner 2020, p.10)

The judicial hierarchy in the UK includes magistrates' courts, Crown Courts, and the

Supreme Court at the top. Due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, the UK Supreme

Court is not able to strike down parliamentary statutes, as its counterpart does in the United

States (Ramsundar 2020, p.120). In the UK courts, while they do adhere to the rules of

precedent, there is a large degree of latitude, as can be seen in the case of Regina v. Jogee,

2016, where the UK Supreme Court revisited its long-standing "joint enterprise" doctrine and

changed interpretations it had earlier ruled on (Ramsundar 2020, p.120). This allows for

flexibility in courts in the UK to interpret the application of legal principles in a way that is

subject to relevant variations on new developments without having to observe outdated

precedents.

Conclusion

Though both the United States and the United Kingdom have their origins in English

common law, each country has developed and adopted different systems in form and

character, largely influenced by their constitutional principles, procedural structures, and

legal conventions. The US system has a strong emphasis on a written Constitution and

judicial independence through judicial review, while the UK places its emphasis on

parliamentary sovereignty and flexibility in legal interpretation. Cases like Marbury v.

Madison and Miller are landmark cases that signal some of the divergences between these

systems and how they have adapted to their national context. Such divergences represent the

varied legal landscapes around the world and are a testament to how different historical and

political factors shape contemporary legal structures.

References

Goldner, J.A. (2020). Civil Law. The Wiley International Handbook on Psychopathic

Disorders and the Law, 42(2), pp.7–24.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119159322.ch42.

Pratt, W.F. (2022). ‘The Rhetoric of Judicial Review in the Supreme Courts of the United

States and the United Kingdom.’ SSRN Electronic Journal, 40(1).

doi:https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4017720.

Ramsundar, N.K. (2020). The Tests for Assigning Criminal Responsibility in the

International Criminal Courts and Tribunals. Brill | Nijhoff eBooks, 5(1), pp.115–186.

Doi:https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004408456_006.

White, C. (2024). The Establishment of the American Judicial System Through Marbury vs.

Madison. Tenor of Our Times, [online] 13(1). Available at:

https://scholarworks.harding.edu/tenor/vol13/iss1/16?utm_source=scholarworks.hardi

ng.edu%2Ftenor%2Fvol13%2Fiss1%2F16&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PD

FCoverPages [Accessed 1 Aug. 2024].

November 3, 2024

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Academic level:

Undergraduate 1-2

Type of paper:

Compare and contrast essay

Discipline:

Law

Citation:

Harvard

Pages:

2 (716 words)