What is the difference between parliament law making and judicial law making?
Parliament write the legislation (also known as statutes). These are interpreted and applied by the judiciary. The principle of judicial precedent means that lower courts must follow the decisions of the higher courts (County court – High Court – Court of Appeal – House of Lords). By interpreting and applying statutes to different situations, the judges develop case law (aka common law) and this has evolved over hundreds of years. If there is a conflict between statute and common law, the statute will always prevail (following the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty) However, the emergence of EU law has questioned whether Parliament made law is still the highest law in England and Wales.
