Common Law
The Common Law, also known as Anglo-American Law, surfaced in England during the Middle Ages in the 14th century and was spread all over the world with the British colonies. Although England had numerous connections to the rest of Europe in those times, one thing that was not similar was the use of judicial decisions as the foundation of common law.
It was created with the idea that as the law was handed down from the King’s Courts, it represented the common custom of the people; Developing from three English Crown courts of the 12th and 13th centuries who started deciding in disputes were local or manorial courts had jurisdiction before: The Exchequer, The King’s Bench and the Common Pleas. Usually, there are no formal codes, texts or regulations that common law relies on
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Both parties present their cases before a judge who moderates and a jury of people with no legal training decides on the facts of the case. The judge evaluates the evidence, the jury decisions on the facts and applies the appropriate law to it, then provides a judgement in favour of one of the parties. After the decision, if one of the parties believes it was unfair, he may appeal it to a higher court, in such appeal; courts may only review findings of law, not the facts.
In the 15th century, after the creation of common law, it became usual that litigants who thought that they had been cheated by the common would ask to see the King in person, they felt cheated for different reasons but the most common ones where due to the use of juries, who could be intimidated or corrupted and that the Court only had one remedy which was damages and it was often inadequate, they paid too much attention to formalities did not recognise the trust, among others, being the repudiation to this sort of cases the start of the system of equity.
The “writ of Henry I on local courts” is an administrative command issued around 1108 by Henry I, King of England during the Anglo-Norman period from 1100 till 1135. Henry addresses the writ to two individuals specifically in the country of Worcestershire, Samson and Urse of Abbetot, as well as to the barons of Worcestershire generally. Samson and Urse both held titles of prestige and power in Worcestershire County as the bishop and sheriff respectively at the time. The writ generally concerns the court systems, both royal and local, and more specifically delineates the jurisdictional spheres to be enjoyed by the particular courts concerning land disputes. Technically, the writ alludes to four distinct courts: the King’s Court, the Lord’s Court, and the County (or Shire) Court and the Hundred Court. Moreover, it refers to two types of people within Anglo-Norman society: the barons, or lords, and the vassals, or those who held the lands of, and at the pleasures of, the barons.
The system of crime and law enforcement had hardly changed in Britain since the medieval times. Justices of the Peace or JPs were appointed by the Crown since 1361. Before the night watchmen and parish constables were introduced a primitive police force was introduced and the JPs were assisted by constables who only worked part time and were very unreliable as the pay was really bad. The early stages of the force consisted of a night watchmen and parish constables, who were prior to the creation of the main police force. Watchmen were groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement. Constables were required to apprehend anyone accused of a felony and bring criminals to a justice of the peace. They also had a general responsibility to keep the peace. There was no expectation that they would investigate and prosecute crimes because of limited responsibility and training. Night watchmen patrolled the streets between 9 or 10pm until sunrise and were expected to examine all suspicious characters. In the City of London, the City Marshall and the Beadles (Parish wardens) conducted daytime patrols. Similar to the night watchmen, primary responsibilities were to patrol and deter, drunkenness, beggars, vagrants and prostitutes and to act as a deterrent against more serious offences. Over the course of this period, the arrangements by which men served as constables and watchmen changed significantly, to incorporate how felons were detected and apprehended.
Common Law vs. Political Law vs. Scientific Law Americans are no longer aware that there are two kinds of legal systems, political and scientific. America was founded on principles of scientific law. But these principles have now been submerged in today's legal system. What is taught today as law is political law. To understand the difference between a scientific legal system and a political one, it is necessary to know that scientific law developed in the absence of any legislature or Congress or Parliament whatever.
There are certain categories of legal tradition that differentiate by country or time. These legal traditions are shared by a certain groups of individuals or whole systems in and of themselves. In other words, you have to understand the legal tradition, and which legal system it is affiliated with, to understand the whole picture of how disputes and conflicts are handled. I think in our modern times, it would be challenging to find one legal system that is without influence from other legal systems (Different Legal Traditions, 2012). Legal traditions tend to incorporate different elements from other cultures and legal systems. Most legal traditions have derived from a common origins, similar institutions, and shared concepts from regarding
The criminal justice system has been evolving since the first colonists came to America. At first, the colonists used a criminal justice system that mirrored those in England, France, and Holland. Slowly the French and Dutch influences faded away leaving what was considered the English common law system. The common law system was nothing more than a set of rules used to solve problems within the communities. This system was not based on laws or codes, but simply that of previous decisions handed down by judges. Although rudimentary, this common law system did make the distinction between misdemeanors and the more serious crimes known as felonies.
The court of Common Pleas resembled the early, compensation based legal codes of the Anglo Saxons and early Normans, and were a way for the aggrieved to recover damages. Trespass fell within the common pleas. This meant that one could be tried in both the criminal court and the civil court. Often though, the very broad definition of Trespass seems to be problematic, in that these cases ignored possible criminality in these
The principle of bail is basic to our system of justice and its practice as old as English law itself. When the administration of criminal justice was in its infancy, arrest for serious crime meant imprisonment without preliminary hearing and long periods of time could occur between apprehension and the arrival of the King's Justices to hold court. It was therefore a matter of utmost importance to a person under arrest to be able to obtain a provisional release from custody until his case was called. This was also the desideratum of the medieval sheriff, the representative of the Crown in criminal matters,
Throughout the years there have been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented, they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply, among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved.
The decisions of the group is governed by a vote, majority of the votes wins the dispute. If in any case there should be an even number of votes on both sides of the decision, a conference is held where all members must speak their mind on why the decision they chose is correct. If the decision remains at a 50/50 vote,
In medieval Europe, determination of guilt and innocence experienced numerous change and continuity throughout laws and trials. Before King Henry II’s reign, the local lord generally decided law cases, however this was later changed by King Henry II (Johndclare.net, 2018). King Henry II was responsible for introducing the court system as well as introducing the use of juries as opposed to trial by ordeal (Johndclare.net, 2018). By 1215, trial by ordeal was abolished and replaced by trials with juries as the church found this a fairer and more rational way to determine someone’s guilt or innocence. (History Learning Site, 2018). Despite these changes, trial by jury continued throughout the medieval era, enduring the use of punishments to people
The Westminster Legal System, upon which the Australian one is based, can be traced back to 1066 when William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings. As king, he set out rules and sent judges around the land on horseback to ensure that they were followed and offenders punished. It is from these times that the Doctrine of Precedence originated. A log of crimes and punishments was kept: as a means of convenience, judges could hand out punishments in line with the punishments given for similar cases. In the 19th Century, this doctrine became binding. In 1215, the Magna Carta was signed by King John, putting the first check against all previous monarchs’ ‘rule by Divine Right’. It was significant because the Magna Carta also gave people the right to be judged by one’s peers. In 1689, after the Glorious Revolution, Parliament became the Supreme Law-making body, monarchs no longer reigned over Parliament, but sat in Parliament.
The English legal system is ostensibly embedded on a foundation of a ‘high degree of certainty with adaptability’ based on a steady ‘mode’ of legal reasoning. This rests on four propositions
A major impediment of the common is the tendency to lead to perpetuity of bad decisions once a precedent has been set. If there is no amendment and the same ruling is applied, that bad decision will be subsist and will be perpetuated. Since the common law system revolves around following antecedents, it usually takes a long while for change to occur. Unfortunately, before this change is effected, the bad decision will be upheld as long as the change does not come into effect. This is one area where the codified system of law has an advantage as it is rules based approach to law making designed to provide a comprehensive code of laws for the area in question.
The meaning of English Legal System is stated out by Cownie and Bradley in the English Legal System book . There are many sources that build up the English Law as it is today. The main sources of English Law consist of Common Law, parliamentary legislation and delegated legislation. As stated in Gary Slapper & David Kelly’s English Legal System book , there are many different interpretations of the phrase ‘source of law’ where in this book the law is made up of three main sources; where in Martin Hunt’s “A” Level Law , though there are different sources that make up the English law, these sources are differentiated in two main categories with various minor sources.
In the mouth of a British constitutional lawyer, the term the rule of law seems to mean primarily a corpus of basic principles and values, which together lend some stability and coherence to the legal order.