> Even the British courts, in sharp contrast to many other places, "deliver the law as it is, and not as we wish it to be"

The English practically invented the idea of common law. Even today there are still important legal principles based entirely on the decisions of earlier courts.

A formal UK Constitution doesn't exist and is a striking example of this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_K...

The constitution of the United Kingdom comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no official attempt has been made to codify such arrangements into a single document, thus it is known as an uncodified constitution. This enables the constitution to be easily changed as no provisions are formally entrenched.

There are still important legal principles in the US and other places around the world based entirely on the decisions of earlier English courts. The first local decisions will reference English cases, and English legal experts often would have been consulted.

Same thing with most of the world's parliaments and congresses having to reference English Parliamentary precedent in order to figure out how to operate themselves. The UK Parliament and courts may be terrible, but they invented the thing and we're forks.