3 Where does law come from?

In the UK, there is statute law, also called primary legislation. Statutes can be made by both the UK Parliament and the national parliaments/assemblies.

Statutes can begin life as part of the government of the day’s manifesto commitment in response to a public inquiry. For example, after the Hillsborough disaster (where 96 people were crushed to death as a result of overcrowding at a football stadium) the law was changed to introduce all-seater stadiums. In addition to statutes, there is ‘case law’, also referred to as ‘judge-made law’. This is in fact a misnomer: when it comes to case law, judges do not make the law but interpret and apply it to real-life situations.