The English Law (Application) Act 1962, originally known as the Application of English Law Ordinance, is an Act of the

Gibraltar Legislative Council The Gibraltar Legislative Council was the legislature of Gibraltar created in 1950 and sat until the creation of the Gibraltar House of Assembly in 1969. History Prior to 1950, the Governor-in-Council retained the legislative power in the then Cr ...

concerning the applicability of

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Law

The Ordinance affirmed that Gibraltar would follow

English Common Law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, bee ...

and defined in schedules which specific statutes of English law would apply in Gibraltar. The list of statutes would be updated infrequently. It was also done to confirm in statute, rather than implied common automatic supersession, that Gibraltar would continue with English law. Though the Ordinance did not clarify whether Gibraltar would follow English case law

precedents A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great value ...

, it was later interpreted by Gibraltarian legal practitioners as meaning that they were not binding but were useful starting points for the consideration of judgments, due to the low amount of case law that originated in Gibraltar. The Ordinance was later used as a model in other British colonies for similar ordinances. In

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

, it was used as the basis for the Application of English Law Ordinance 1966. It is believed that the Hong Kong ordinance was drafted based upon Gibraltar's due to the

Attorney General of Hong Kong The Secretary for Justice () is the head of the Department of Justice (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Ko ...

Denys Roberts Sir Denys Tudor Emil Roberts (Traditional Chinese: 羅弼時爵士; 19 January 1923 – 20 May 2013) was a British colonial official and judge. Joining the colonial civil service as a Crown Counsel in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in 1953, he became ...

supplying a copy of Gibraltar's ordinance which he had from when he was the

Attorney General of Gibraltar The Attorney General of Gibraltar is the chief legal advisor of HM Government of Gibraltar. He combines the functions of Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecution and is also an ex officio member of the Gibraltar Parliament. The Attorney ...

in 1962. In 2012, the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

investigated the possibility of creating a system of

Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 2022 ...

separate from English law, and a barrister responding to the proposal referred to the English Law (Application) Act 1962 and found it ambiguous.

Repeals

While the Act confirmed many English offences, others were not confirmed, and the Act also made provision for the

Gibraltar Parliament The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006, it was called the Gibraltar House of Assembly. Functions The House of Assembly, set up under the 1969 constitution, was a uni ...

to amend or disapply any relevant legislation. As a result, some common law criminal offences have been abolished in Gibraltar, such as being a

common scold Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

cheating the public revenue At law, cheating is a specific criminal offence relating to property. Historically, to cheat was to commit a misdemeanour at common law. However, in most jurisdictions, the offence has now been codified into statute. In most cases the codi ...

, champerty, and

larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...

. And at civil law,

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

and

seduction Seduction has multiple meanings. Platonically, it can mean "to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty", or "to lead astray, usually by persuasion or false promises". Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual ...

were no longer to be

causes of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...

References

{{Reflist English law Law of Gibraltar 1962 establishments in Gibraltar