Respecting the law: Life in the UK test study notes

Key facts to remember

• Everyone in the UK is equal before the law and must obey it, whoever they are and wherever they come from.
• Criminal law deals with crimes; civil law settles disputes between individuals or groups.
• Civil law examples: housing disputes (such as a landlord and tenant disagreeing over repairs), consumer rights, employment disputes and debt.
• Crimes are usually investigated by the police, but also by bodies such as councils or HM Revenue & Customs.
• Carrying any weapon in public, including a knife, is a crime, even for self-defence.
• Selling tobacco or alcohol to under-18s, and buying alcohol for under-18s, are offences.
• Drink-driving, buying or selling illegal drugs, and racially or religiously motivated offences, such as harassing a person on account of their ethnic origin or religion, are all crimes.
• Smoking is banned in almost all enclosed public places.
• Some areas are alcohol-free zones where drinking in public is banned; police can confiscate alcohol or move people on, and offenders can be fined or arrested.
• The police protect life and property, keep the peace, and prevent and detect crime.
• Each police force is headed by a Chief Constable, and the police are independent of the government.
• The police must obey the law themselves; corruption or misuse of their powers is punished severely.
• If you are arrested, you are told the reason and can ask for legal advice at the police station.
• PCSOs carry out street patrols, work alongside members of the public and assist police officers at major events and crime scenes, but they lack full police powers.
• Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are directly elected; they set local policing priorities and budgets and appoint the Chief Constable.
• November 2012 – first elections for Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales (the government plans to abolish the role in 2028).
• Complaints about the police: go to a police station or write to the Chief Constable. In England and Wales you can also complain to an independent body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
• In Northern Ireland, complaints about the police go to the Police Ombudsman's Office.
• Report suspected terrorism, or anyone trying to recruit you to extremism or terrorism, to the police, for example through the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline.
• Judges are together called the judiciary; they interpret the law and make sure trials are fair.
• Judges are independent of the government. If they rule that the government has acted unlawfully, it must either alter its policy or ask Parliament to amend the law.
• Judges can order a public body that ignores people's legal rights to change how it works and/or pay compensation.
• Minor criminal cases: magistrates' courts (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); Justice of the Peace Courts (Scotland).
• Magistrates and Justices of the Peace are usually unpaid volunteers without legal qualifications; in Northern Ireland, paid, legally qualified District Judges or Deputy District Judges hear them.
• Serious criminal cases: the Crown Court with a judge and jury (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); the Sheriff Court or, for the most serious crimes such as murder, the High Court (Scotland).
• Jury size – 15 members in Scotland; 12 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Juries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland find a defendant guilty or not guilty. The handbook says Scottish juries can also return 'not proven'; since 2026 it has been abolished for new trials.
• Jury service is compulsory unless you are ineligible, for example because of a criminal conviction, or have a good reason such as ill health.
• Youth courts hear cases of 10 to 17-year-olds in private, before a District Judge or up to three specially trained magistrates; the young person's name and photo must not be published.
• Scotland uses the Children's Hearings System, and Northern Ireland also uses youth conferencing.
• Civil disputes: county courts (England, Wales and Northern Ireland; since 2014 England and Wales have had a single County Court); sheriff courts (Scotland).
• County courts handle many different civil disputes, for example debts, divorce, family matters, personal injury and breaches of contract.
• Serious civil cases: the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); the Court of Session in Edinburgh (Scotland).
• Small claims procedure – lets people resolve minor disputes informally, without needing a lawyer; in England and Wales it covers claims under £10,000 (in Scotland it is now called the simple procedure).
• Solicitors give legal advice and represent clients; Citizens Advice offers free help.
• Solicitors usually charge according to the time they spend on a case, so ask at the outset what it may cost.
• To find a local solicitor and their specialist areas, ask Citizens Advice or the Law Society (England and Wales), or its equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland.