PUBLIC LAW L4 - Sources of Law - COMMON LAW Flashcards
How did the current legal system come about? (1)
The current legal system of England and Wales is the result of many centuries of evolution and development.
How did the common law come about? (2)
The common law emerged as part of the centralising influence of the monarchy in the medieval period. It gradually supplanted locally based and administered customary law.
What is the legal remedy for common law? (1)
Damages.
Definition of law (1)
The system of rules by which a country or community recognises as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.
Definition of common law. (1)
Law as developed by judges through the system of precedent.
Why did common law develop and what was its aim? (2)
It developed as a means by which a dispute could be resolved, aim to conclude disputes rather than resolve in a just way.
What is the rule of precedent and what does it govern? (2)
It means that judges in lower-level courts and tribunals have to decide cases in accordance with the principles laid down by the higher courts. It governs the common law system.
Summarise the history of legal development that led to law we have today. (3)
Post Norman conquest the Kings council emerged, which had the king as the central figure, aided by group of semi-professional skilled clerics, began to deal with different kinds of disputes. Then the three courts, which were the Court of Exchequer - dealing with royal finances - the Court of common pleas - dealing with ownership and possession of land - and the King’s Bench - dealing with serious criminal matter. From this then developed the common law.
What are the different contextual ways ‘ common law ‘ can be used? (4)
It can be used in a historical context to distinguish the law as applied by the King’s judges as opposed to the a law as applied by customary courts. It can also be used to distinguish law as applied by the King’s courts as opposed to the rules of equity. It can also be used to identify the law as applied by common law countries as opposed to civil law countries. It can be meant in the most used term as law as developed through the system of precedent.
