Portal:Law

The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in Holborn, London, initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from at least 1344, the Inns gradually changed their purpose, and became both the offices and accommodation for solicitors (as the Inns of Court were to barristers) and a place of initial training for barristers.

The practice of training barristers at the Inns of Chancery had died out by 1642, and the Inns instead became dedicated associations and offices for solicitors. With the founding of the Society of Gentleman Practisers in 1739 and the Law Society of England and Wales in 1825, a single unified professional association for solicitors, the purpose of the Inns died out, and after a long period of decline the last one (Clement's Inn) was sold in 1903 and demolished in 1934. (Full article...)

Sir Nicholas Fuller (1543 – 23 February 1620) was an English barrister and Member of Parliament. After studying at Christ's College, Cambridge, Fuller became a barrister of Gray's Inn. His legal career there began prosperously—he was employed by the Privy Council to examine witnesses—but was hampered later by his representation of the Puritans, a religious tendency which did not conform with the established Church of England. Fuller was repeatedly in contention with the ecclesiastical courts, including the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission, and was once expelled for the zeal with which he defended his client. In 1593 he was returned as the Member of Parliament for St Mawes, where he campaigned against the extension of recusancy laws. Outside of Parliament, he successfully brought a patents case which not only undermined the right of the Crown to issue patents but accurately predicted the attitude taken by the Statute of Monopolies two decades later.

Returned to Parliament in 1604 for the City of London, Fuller became considered the "leader of the opposition" due to his conflict with the government over policy, fighting the impositions on currants, the patent on blue starch, and opposing the proposed union with Scotland on legal and economic grounds. In 1607, in what became known as Fuller's Case, he again began challenging the Court of High Commission, and eventually got the Court of Common Pleas under Sir Edward Coke to agree that the common law courts had the power to free imprisoned ecclesiastical prisoners. These encounters with the ecclesiastical courts were described as "bruising", but by 1610 he was considered an "elder statesman", introducing bills on ecclesiastical reform and the statutory management of customs duties. He continued to sit in Parliament until his death on 23 February 1620. (Full article...)

A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed will of a legislative body, whether that be on the behalf of a country, state or province, county, municipality, or so on. They are also distinguished from secondary legislation, or regulations, that are issued by an executive body under authority granted by a statute. Depending on the legal system, a statute may also be referred to as an "act". (Full article...)

The Representation of the People Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to reform the electoral system in England and Wales and to expand the male franchise, but excluded women from voting. The measure was brought forward by the Whig government of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey.

The legislation granted the right to vote to a broader segment of the male population by standardising property qualifications, extending the franchise to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers, and all householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more. The act also reapportioned constituencies to address the unequal distribution of seats. The act formally excluded women from voting, as a voter was defined in the Act as a male person; prior to 1832 there were occasional, rare, instances of women voting. The act of England and Wales was accompanied by the Scottish Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 65) and Irish Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 88). (Full article...)

• ... that other than the Second World War, there has never been a declaration of war by Canada?

• ... that, in the cases of Klayman v. Obama and ACLU v. Clapper, US district courts issued conflicting rulings on the constitutionality of bulk data collection by the US government?

• ... that part of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, a piece of United Kingdom legislation on tort law, is intended to permit educational and recreational use of land?

• ... that banking regulations in Russia include significant specifics, such as mandatory deposits placed in special reserve accounts at the Russian Central Bank?

• ... that the 501(h) election allows many U.S. non-profit organizations to engage in unlimited lobbying as long as they do it cheaply?

• ... that the Autism Act 2009 is the first ever disability-specific legislation to be passed in the United Kingdom?

• ... that in 2011, Nitehawk Cinema successfully lobbied to overturn a Prohibition-era liquor law that prevented movie theaters in New York from serving alcohol?

Case law is a law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a legal case that have been resolved by courts or similar tribunals. These past decisions are called "case law", or precedent. Stare decisis—a Latin phrase meaning "let the decision stand"—is the principle by which judges are bound to such past decisions, drawing on established judicial authority to formulate their positions. The term is often used interchangeably with common law. (Full article...)

Cambridge Water Co Ltd v Eastern Counties Leather plc [1994] 2 AC 264 is a case in English tort law that established the principle that claims under nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher must include a requirement that the damage be foreseeable; it also suggested that Rylands was a sub-set of nuisance rather than an independent tort, a debate eventually laid to rest in Transco plc v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.

The Cambridge Water Company was a company responsible for providing potable water to the inhabitants of Cambridge and the surrounding areas. In 1976, it purchased a borehole outside Sawston to deal with rising demand. In 1980, a European Directive was issued requiring nations of the European Community to establish standards on the presence of perchloroethene (PCE) in water, which the United Kingdom did in 1982. It was found that the Sawston borehole was contaminated with PCE that had originated in a tannery owned by Eastern Counties Leather. Prior to 1980, there was no knowledge that PCE should be avoided or that it could cause harm, but the Cambridge Water Company brought a case against Eastern Counties Leather anyway.

The case first went to the High Court of Justice, where Kennedy J dismissed claims under nuisance, negligence and Rylands v Fletcher because the harm was not foreseeable. His decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, who cited an "obscure decision" to justify doing so. The case then went to the House of Lords, where a decision was read by Lord Goff on 9 December 1993. Goff first countered the Court of Appeal decision, restoring Kennedy's dismissal of the case, before moving on to the deeper legal points. Based on the original decision in Rylands, Goff argued that it had always been intended for foreseeability of harm to be a factor, something not previously put into law by the English judiciary. He then stated that Rylands was arguably a sub-set of nuisance, not an independent tort, and as such the factors which led him to including a test of foreseeability of harm in Rylands cases also imposed such a test on all nuisance cases.

The decision in Cambridge Water Co made an immediate change to the law, for the first time requiring foreseeability of harm to be considered in cases brought under Rylands v Fletcher and the general tort of nuisance. It was also significant in implying that Rylands was not an independent tort, something later concluded in the Transco case. Goff's judgment has been criticised on several points by academics, who highlight flaws in wording which leave parts of the judgment ambiguous and a selective assessment of Rylands that ignores outside influences. (Full article...)

• ... that Rama Alexander Asia attempted to make community forestry permits last up to 100 years, although legally they could only last for 25?
• ... that in his autobiography, openly gay footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger criticises high-profile players for promoting gay rights while working in countries where homosexuality is illegal?
• ... that May McGee's successful legal action against the Irish government for restricting her access to contraceptives led to an eventual liberalization of the country's laws on birth control?
• ... that Trump's NLRB general counsel called for the re-legalization of captive audience meetings, in which employees are often coerced to listen to anti-union speeches?
• ... that an Australian High Court case found a hotel chain to have used third-party contractors to avoid paying employees their required benefits?
• ... that O-Zone threatened legal action over Haiducii's cover of "Dragostea din tei", which became a hit on charts at the same time as the original?

9 October 2026 – 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

South African judge and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her efforts to promote peace and international law". (DW)

8 October 2026 – Relationship of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein

High Court judge Nicholas Hilliard of England and Wales quashes search warrants used on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's homes, finding errors in Thames Valley Police's applications and issuing judge Mark Lucraft's consideration of legally protected material. (AP)

7 October 2026 – Libor scandal

The Court of Appeal in London, United Kingdom, quashes the convictions of five former Barclays traders for manipulating Libor and Euribor, following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling that found legal errors had made similar convictions unsafe. (AFP)

6 October 2026 – Peruvian security crisis

Three gunmen and a police officer are killed, and another officer is wounded, in a shootout during an operation against illegal miners in Inambari District, Tambopata province, Madre de Dios, Peru. Authorities seize 15 AKM rifles, a pistol, and five grenades. (Evidencia de Perú in Spanish) (Infobae in Spanish)

5 October 2026 –

Protesters clash with police in Pristina, Kosovo, after parliament fails to advance legislation limiting the Kosovo Specialist Chambers' powers. One police officer and 11 civilians are injured. (AP)