Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 June 1964.
Mr. Vane:
Is my hon. Friend aware that that is not a very robust Answer? While not wishing to exaggerate, may I ask whether he is aware that this long-established local racket is now becoming a European scandal, that even the West German Government are beginning to consider it and that people concerned with moral welfare on both sides of the Border have long felt that this is a situation which should be changed? Whereas I am concerned with the shame which reflects on Scotland, I am concerned with such part of the shame as reflects on England. This is happening just across our Border, and surely my hon. Friend will look at the matter again.
Laws are the rules by which a country is governed. Britain has a long history of law making and the laws of this country can be divided into three types:- 1) Statute Laws are the laws that have been made by Parliament. 2) Case Law is law that has been established from cases tried in the courts - the laws arise from test cases. The result of the test case creates a precedent on which future cases are judged. 3) Common Law is a part of English Law, which has not come from Parliament. It consists of rules of law which have developed from customs or judgements made in courts over hundreds of years. For example until 1861 Parliament had never passed a law saying that murder was an offence. From the earliest times courts had judged that murder was a crime so there was no need to make a law.
