Common law
Judge-made law originating in medieval English King's courts.
The common law is the system of judge-made law that originates in the King's courts of medieval England and has since been received to the former colonies of the British Empire. During the 12th century, Henry II established a system of travelling judges, who decided on cases and enforced a set of laws common to all England, and over time the precedent of the judges' decisions evolved into a sophisticated system of common law. Today, approximately one-third of the world's population lives in common law jurisdictions or in mixed legal systems, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, and the United States.
- key_developer
- Henry II (12th century)
- field
- Legal system
- known_for
- Judge-made law, precedent, and quasi-legislative judicial discretion
- influence
- Approximately one-third of the world's population lives in common law or mixed jurisdictions
- distinct_from
- Civil law, equity, canon law, sharia, and statutory law
Lore & Background
Initially, the common law referred to the laws common to all the King's courts across England, distinct from local folk courts, urban borough courts, merchant courts, and manorial courts. Early common law judges and scholars, including Glanvill and Bracton, were well accustomed with Roman law, and Bracton's treatise 'De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae' was heavily influenced by canon law and Justinian's Institutes, later influencing Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England.
Reader's Guide
The common law tradition has markedly less influence from Roman law than the civil law tradition of much of Continental Europe, and has less tendency to be codified, leaving common law judges broader discretion in statutory interpretation and a quasi-legislative function in adjudication. Some jurisdictions, such as South Africa and Scotland, have mixed systems incorporating both common law and civil law elements. The common law can be distinguished from statutes, the law of equity, and religious laws such as canon law or sharia. In the late 19th century, the separate judicial systems of common law and equitable courts in England were fused, though the rules of equity were retained. Early legal theorists believed the common law reflected ancient Anglo-Saxon customs, but by the 20th century scholars such as A. V. Dicey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Roscoe Pound generally disavowed that historical theory, viewing the law in a positivistic or realist way as the binding ratio decidendi of case law.
Did You Know?
- The term 'common law' originally referred to the law common to the King of England's courts, as distinct from local courts.
- Henry II established a system of travelling judges in the 12th century that enforced a set of laws common to all England.
- In the 17th century, it was established that where the rules of equity and common law conflicted, equity would prevail.
- Jeremy Bentham introduced the term 'judge-made law' as a criticism of the pretense that judges merely discovered unwritten rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Common law and where did it originate?
Common law is a judge-made legal system that grew out of the King's courts in medieval England. It was shaped in the 12th century when Henry II sent travelling judges across the realm to apply a unified set of rules, and their accumulated decisions gradually crystallized into the precedent-based framework we recognize today.
What are Common law's core powers and role?
Its defining function is creating binding legal rules through judicial decisions rather than through a single codified statute. Judges exercise quasi-legislative discretion, and every ruling sets a precedent that later courts must follow, making the system continuously self-building.
How does Common law's story end?
It does not have a fixed ending; the system remains fully operative in the present day. Roughly one-third of the global population currently lives under common law or mixed legal systems, including nations such as Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, and Hong Kong, so its narrative is still unfolding.
Why is Common law important in the broader legal landscape?
Because it spread from England to the former colonies of the British Empire, it now underpins the legal frameworks of a vast number of countries. Its reliance on precedent and judicial reasoning offers a flexible, case-by-case approach that complements or replaces rigid statutory codes in those jurisdictions.
How is Common law distinct from other legal systems?
It is specifically a product of judicial interpretation and precedent, setting it apart from civil law's codified statutes, equity's fairness-based remedies, canon law's ecclesiastical rules, sharia's religious jurisprudence, and purely statutory law's legislative text. While these systems can coexist in mixed jurisdictions, common law's engine is the judge's evolving reasoning rather than a single authoritative code.
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