What is common law?
Common Law is a legal system that is based on the decisions made by judges, and court cases in the past rather than solely written laws created by legislators. It is developed through court rulings that are then used as examples for future cases. This system ensures that similar issues are dealt with in the same manner while also being able adapt to new situations as they arise. Common law plays an important role in the UK legal system, working together with written laws to offer a flexible and practical way to achieve justice.
Common Law: A Brief History
Common law has its roots in medieval England and has developed over many years as a system based on customs and court decisions instead of written laws. In the medieval era, judges traveled around the country to settle disputes. Over time, judges began to make consistent rulings for similar cases. The term “common-law” refers to a legal system that is used across the country to replace local customs which were often very different. This system spread to other countries, particularly those in the Commonwealth. It influenced their legal systems. While it works alongside statutory law (those created by Parliament), it still plays an important role in the UK’s legal system.
Principles of Common Law
Common law is based on ideas that promote fairness and consistency. A key idea in common law is judicial precedent. This is where courts follow previous decisions made in similar cases. It helps people predict how it will apply in their situations.
Another essential principle is stare decisis, which means “to stand by things decided”. This principle ensures lower courts follow rulings from higher courts, creating a clear legal system. For instance, decisions made by the Supreme Court must be followed by lower courts, which helps maintain uniformity.
Common law also focuses on judicial interpretation. Judges examine statutes within the context of specific cases, allowing them to adapt and change the law in response to current issues. This flexibility ensures that legal decisions reflect modern values and challenges.
The rule of law supports common law by promoting fairness and accountability. The adversarial method is a common law principle that allows both sides to present their case in front of an impartial judge or jury. This method is meant to give both sides a fair chance to present their case, helping to keep the legal process fair and unbiased.
Together, these principles create a system that is both steady and adaptable, balancing the need for consistent rules with the ability to respond to new circumstances.
Common Law vs Statutory Law: What’s the Difference?
The key difference between common and statutory law lies in their sources. Common law is based on judicial decisions and precedents set by courts, while Parliament creates statutory law through legislation.
Common law develops gradually, case by case. Judges interpret laws for specific cases and their decisions become standards for future cases. It means they can change over time to address new situations that written laws might not cover.
Statutory law is more straightforward. It is a set of written rules, carefully crafted by legislators to provide clear guidelines on certain issues. These take priority over common law, so if a written law conflicts with a judge’s decision, then written wins.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Common Law
Advantages
Flexibility: Common law evolves through judicial decisions, allowing it to adapt to new societal changes and emerging issues. Judges can interpret laws to handle special or unexpected situations, which helps the legal system stay relevant.
Consistency and Predictability: Judicial precedents establish a consistent approach, ensuring that similar cases are handled in the same way. It helps individuals and businesses anticipate legal outcomes and plan ahead, reducing uncertainty.
Detailed Case Law: Common law includes a wealth of case law that explains the reasoning behind decisions. This provides useful guidance for future cases and helps create a clear understanding of how legal principles work.
Judicial Expertise: Judges use their knowledge and experience to interpret laws, applying careful reasoning to complex cases. It ensures that decisions are well-informed and suited to specific situations.
- Fills Gaps in Legislation: When laws are unclear or silent on certain issues, common law can help to address those gaps. This means that legal disputes can still be resolved even without specific laws addressing them.
- Disadvantages
- Complexity and Volume: The large amount of past court decisions can make common law difficult to understand, especially for those not trained in the field. Finding relevant cases and seeing how they apply to a situation can take a lot of time and effort.
- Potential for Inconsistency: Although common law tries to be consistent, different courts or regions might interpret the same statute or facts of a case in various ways, leading to conflicting decisions. It can create confusion until higher courts settle the disagreements.
- Slow Evolution: Since common law develops through individual cases, changes can happen slowly. It can take years for significant shifts to occur, especially if no similar cases are available to draw from. It may result in higher costs for individuals or businesses looking for legal guidance.
Less Democratic: Unlike statutory, which is created by elected officials, common law is shaped by judges who are not directly accountable to or voted in by the public. This can raise concerns about fairness and representation in the legal system.
- Frequently Asked Questions
- What Is the Meaning of Common Law?
- Common law is a legal system that relies on decisions made by judges in individual cases, known as “judicial precedents,” rather than solely on laws passed by Parliament. Judges interpret the law and apply it to specific situations. Their rulings are binding on lower courts. This process creates legal principles that guide future decisions and shape the system’s development.
- What Is the Difference Between Common Law and Civil Law?
- The UK mainly uses a common law system based on past court decisions. Other European countries have civil law systems. Civil law relies on established codes and previous cases to develop and change the common law, whereas common law is influenced by previous cases. Both systems serve different purposes, but are often part of a country’s legal system.
