English common law
Judge-made legal tradition
English common law is the legal system originating in medieval England, built on judicial precedent rather than comprehensive written codes.
Judges decide cases by applying principles from earlier rulings, creating law through accumulated decisions over centuries.
This system spread through British colonization and now forms the basis of law in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other former British territories.
It contrasts with civil law systems, which rely primarily on codified statutes.
- Magna CartaCharter curbing royal authority
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
- precedentPrior authoritative example
- case lawJudge-made legal doctrine
- solicitorsLawyers who advise clients
barristers · feudal system · Norman Conquest · trial procedure · tort · habeas corpus · contract law · jury system · burden of proof · due process · natural justice · reasonable person · property law · Coke · Glorious Revolution · criminal law · legal remedies · injunctions
English common lawcivil law
Law governing private disputes
civil code · Napoleonic Code · Roman law · Corpus Juris Civilis
English common lawSharia law
Islamic religious legal framework
Islamic law · canon law · religious law · Sharia · tribal law
English, England, unlawful, unlawfully, common, commonly, uncommon, uncommonly, commonness