| | LLRX -- Update to A Guide to the UK Legal System (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22) |
 | | The United Kingdom was established in 1801 with the union of Great Britain and Ireland, but only achieved its present form in 1922 with the partition of Ireland and the establishment of the independent Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland). |
 | | The UK joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973, since when it has been a requirement to incorporate European legislation into UK law, and to recognise the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in matters of EU law. |
 | | The constitutional law of the UK is regarded as consisting of statute law on the one hand and case law on the other, whereby judicial precedent is applied in the courts by judges interpreting statute law. |
| www.llrx.com /features/uk2.htm (4564 words) |