Kara Sears
The English common law, which originated in the early Middle Ages, was common to all the king's courts across England. It was established in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. The English Court of Common Pleas was established after the Magna Carta in 1215 to try lawsuits between commoners in which the monarch had no interest. The common law of England was largely created in the period after the Norman Conquest of 1066, when William the Conqueror, a Norman, invaded England and began a new age in English history.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Origin | The common law originated in the king's courts in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066 |
| Name | So named because it was common to all the king's courts across England |
| Legal System | Unified legal system that gradually replaced local folk courts and manorial courts |
| Influence | Spread by England across the British Isles and later by the British Empire to its colonies |
| Current Use | Many former colonies continue to use the common law system today |
| Judicial Precedent | Common law systems give significant weight to judicial precedent and the reasoning inherited from the English legal system |
| Judicial Decision-Making | The rule of stare decisis encouraged uniformity and flexibility in the law as judges followed precedent or distinguished it when issuing rulings |
| Complexity | Over time, common law developed into a complex system of rules and principles that required considerable study and experience in court to understand |
| Legal Profession | The development of common law gave rise to the profession of lawyers who represent individuals with legal problems in English courts |
| Magna Carta | The English Court of Common Pleas was established after the Magna Carta in 1215 to hear lawsuits between commoners in which the monarch had no interest |
| Legislative Powers | Parliament acquired legislative powers to create statutory law, but common law continues to serve as the residual source of law in the absence of statutory law |
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What You'll Learn
The Norman Conquest of 1066
In 1066, William, a Norman, invaded England and established a centralised monarchy. He strengthened royal authority, introduced a national tax, and asserted that all feudal lords owed their allegiance to him, thereby diminishing their legal authority. William's reign laid the foundation for a unified legal system, gradually replacing the diverse courts that previously existed. This legal system became known as the "common law" because it was common throughout the king's courts across England.
The common law originated in the practices of the English kings' courts in the centuries following the Norman Conquest. It evolved over time, drawing from earlier Anglo-Saxon traditions such as the jury, ordeals, the penalty of outlawry, and writs. The Catholic Church's court system, which dealt with canon law, including what we now know as family law, also influenced the development of common law.
In conclusion, the Norman Conquest of 1066 was a transformative event that shaped the English legal system. It led to the establishment of a unified legal framework, centralising power in the monarchy and setting the stage for the development and spread of common law across England and its colonies.
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The English Court of Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the central English courts for around 600 years. It was created after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, another body that had split from the curia regis (King's Court). The court's jurisdiction included almost all civil litigation, as well as the supervision of local and manorial courts. The judges of the Court of Common Pleas sat in open court in the Great Hall of the king's Palace of Westminster, except during vacations between the four terms of the legal year.
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the two principal common law courts, along with the King's Bench. However, over time, the King's Bench and the Exchequer of Pleas gradually encroached on its jurisdiction with legal fictions, such as the Bill of Middlesex and the Writ of Quominus. This competition led to the accumulation of complicated and overlapping jurisdictional rules. The Court of Common Pleas became highly conservative and reactionary in response to the changes introduced by the King's Bench, which made the former court expensive and limited in its malleability.
By the 19th century, the multiple writs and competing jurisdictions had become unbearable, and the Judicature Act of 1873 replaced the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Queen's Bench, and the Court of Exchequer with a single High Court of Justice. The Common Pleas Division of the High Court ceased to exist in 1880, marking the end of the Court of Common Pleas.
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The Magna Carta
The common law in England, so named because it was common across all the king's courts, originated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It established a unified legal system, gradually replacing local folk courts and manorial courts.
The enduring influence of the Magna Carta lies in its more general clauses, which continue to inspire generations in their protection of individual rights and liberties. It is considered the foundation of English common law and is one of the most famous documents in history.
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The Jury
The Norman Conquest marked a period of colonial rule, during which the legal authority of feudal lords was diminished as the king encroached on the jurisdiction of the manorial courts. William the Conqueror enhanced royal political authority, created and collected national taxes, and insisted that all feudal lords owed their ultimate allegiance to him. This centralisation of power laid the foundation for the development of common law, which gradually supplanted local folk courts and manorial courts, establishing a unified legal system.
In the context of common law, the jury serves as a key mechanism for delivering justice and ensuring fairness in legal proceedings. The jury's role is to evaluate the evidence presented in a trial and render a verdict based on the facts of the case. The jury system provides a check on the power of the judiciary and helps to ensure that decisions are made impartially and with the participation of ordinary citizens.
Over time, the common law evolved into a complex system of rules and principles, and the jury remained at the heart of this evolving legal landscape. The tradition of the jury, with its roots in Anglo-Saxon times, has endured as a cornerstone of the English legal heritage and continues to shape legal traditions worldwide.
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The influence of Germanic tribes
The English legal system, or common law, was established in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. However, the influence of Germanic tribes on the English legal system predates this. From the 5th to the 9th centuries, the Germanic peoples' laws were not laid down by a central authority but were instead based on the customs of individual tribes. This is reflected in the first written collections of Germanic law, the Leges Barbarorum, which were not legislation in the modern sense but records of customs that were later declared as law. These laws were written in Latin and showed Roman influence, but the Anglo-Saxon laws were written in the vernacular and were influenced by Christianity.
The Germanic legal system was based on the concept of each man following his own law, which was appropriate for a nomadic people who did not live in clearly defined territories. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes took over former Roman provinces but did not impose their laws on their Roman subjects. For example, the Visigothic code of Euric, king of the Visigoths in the late 5th century, applied only to Visigoths, and Roman law remained applicable to Roman subjects. It was only in the 7th century that Visigothic law was applied to both Visigoths and Romans, as the two peoples had become substantially fused.
Germanic law was influenced by the legal importance of kinship groups, retinues, and loyalty, as well as the concept of outlawry. The judicial oath, in which an oath was sworn to or denying the validity of an accusation, was also a significant method of proof in Germanic law. The initiative for declaring law usually came from the king, but the resulting laws required approval by popular assemblies.
The influence of Germanic law on the English legal system is evident in the adoption of certain legal traditions such as the jury, ordeals, the penalty of outlawry, and writs. These traditions were incorporated into the English legal system following the Norman Conquest, which unified the various courts and legal traditions that existed in England at the time.
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Frequently asked questions
No single person founded English common law. It originated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror, a Norman, invaded England.
English common law was common to all the king's courts across England. It established a unified legal system, gradually replacing local folk courts and manorial courts.
The common law was based on the rule of stare decisis, which required judges to follow past decisions on the same questions. Over time, this developed into a complex system of rules and principles that could only be understood after considerable study and experience in court.
