English Law/History

The legal system of England and Wales is as much a product of its history as it is of logic and planned design. It has been in a state of constant evolution for almost 1,000 years and it still changes daily. For this reason, there are concepts in English law that on the face of them make little sense without understanding the social and historical context in which they developed. In this article, the history of the English legal system will be briefly described in chronological order. It is important knowledge for a student of English law and will make much of the learning on this course a lot easier.