Act of Parliment

[Hettster]

Is an Act of Parliament such as the "Highways Act 1980" the same as a law?

[buildersmate]

Yes, Parliament approves Acts, and these make new or amended laws.

The circumstances of an alleged offence are then subject to conparison against the wording of the law and the outcomes of what previous similar cases there have been (case law), then interpreted by judges, magistrates (or juries in the event of criminal caes heard by juries) to determine whether guilt is proven beyong reasonable doubt (criminal caes) or on the balance of probabilities (civil law cases).

[atalanta]

The Act is a Statute. What it says you can or can't do is the law.
There is another way in England and Wales of making law - if a case goes through several appeals to the House of Lords ( now Supreme Court) and they make a decision which has never been made before on a point of law, that decison becomes law and is called "case law", which Parliament can change or leave alone, as it sees fit.

[Hettster]

To both "buildersmate" & "atalanta" a very big thank you for your through and comprehensive answers . . . the time you guys gave is very much appreciated.

[Buenchico]

Laws actually come about in three ways:
As has been said, statute law is created by Acts of Parliament and case law is created by the decisions of the higher courts when they're asked to rule upon how statute law should be interpreted.

'Case law' forms part of 'common law' but English common law also embraces concepts which go back before a formal legal structure even existed in this country. For example, you can be arrested (under common law) for a 'breach of the peace' even though there is no actual statute which makes it an offence.

Chris