Reading extracts from law dictionaries and works of reference

A Before you read 1 Think about the subject

I common law

Strictly, the general law contained in decided cases, as opposed to Acts of Parliament. But also used to include law in 5 Acts of Parliament and decided cases as a contrast with equity (q.v.) A third use is to distinguish the English (common-law) legal system from a foreign (codified) system of law.

TEXT B: Roger Bird, Osborne's Concise Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition

1 common law.That part of the law of England formulated, developed and administered by the old common law courts, based originally on the com­mon customs of the country, and unwritten. It is 5 opposed to equity (the body of rules administered by the Court of Chancery); to statute law (the law laid down in Acts of Parliament); to special law (the law administered in special courts such as ecclesias­tical law, and the law merchant); and to the civil 10 law (the law of Rome).

It is 'the commonsense of the community, crystallised and formulated by our forefathers'. It is not local law, nor the result of legislation.

TEXT C: The Encyclopaedia Britannica

common law, also called anglo-american law, the body of customary law, based upon judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, which has been administered by the common-law courts of England since the Middle Ages. From this has evolved the type of legal system now found also in the United States and in most of the member states of the Common­wealth of Nations. Common law stands in contrast to the rules developed by the separate courts of equity (q.v.), to statute law (i.e., the acts of legislative bodies), and to the legal system derived from civil law (q.v.) now widespread in western Europe and elsewhere.

TEXT D: David M, Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law

Common law.A term used in various distinct senses. (1) It was originally used by the canonists (q.v.) jus commune, as denoting the general law of the Church, as distinct from divergent local customs which in 5 particular areas modified the common law of Christendom;

(2) As the powerful centralized system of justice of the English kings developed in the twelfth and later centuries, the royal justices increasingly 10 developed and administered general rules common to the whole of England, the common law of England, as distinct from local customs, peculiarities, and variations, such as gavelkind (q.v.);

(3) The common law accordingly came to mean the whole law of England, including ecclesiastical law and maritime and mercantile law, as administered in England, as distinct from that of other countries, particularly those based on the Roman law;

(4) Hence, in the context of comparative law, a common law system is one based fundamentally on English common law, as distinct from a civil law system based on the civil law of Rome;

(5)With the development of equity (q.v.) and equitable rights and remedies, common law and equitable courts, procedure, rights, remedies, etc., are frequently contrasted, and in this sense common law is distinguished from equity; thus at common law a person aggrieved by a breach of contract could claim damages only, but in equity he could claim specific performance (q.v.);

(6)Common law was similarly distinguished from ecclesiastical law; Common law rights, powers, remedies, crimes, etc., are frequently distinguished from statutory rights, powers, remedies, crimes, etc., according to the formal source of the particular right, etc., in principles of common law or in the prescriptions of statute.

In French and German law common law (droit commun, Gemeinrecht) mean law common to the whole area of the State as distinct from local or regional customs or peculiarities.

TEXT E: Black's Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition

1 Common law.As distinguished from law creau-d by the As distinguished from ecclesiastical law, it is the system enactment of legislatures, the common law comprises the 20 of jurisprudence administered by the purely secular body of those principles and rules of action, relating to the tribunals.

government and security of persons and property, which Calif. Civil Code, Section 22.2, provides that the 5 derive their authority solely from usages and customs of 'common law of England, so far as it is not repugnant to immemorial antiquity, or from the judgments and decrees or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, of the courts recognizing, affirming, and enforcing such 25 or the Constitution or laws of this State, is the rule of usages and customs; and in this sense, particularly the decision in all the courts of this State.' ancient unwritten law of England. The 'common law' is all In a broad sense 'common law' may designate all that 10 the statutory and case law background of England and the part of the positive law, juristic theory, and ancient American colonies before the American revolution. custom of any state or nation which is of general and People v. Rehman, 253 C. A. 2d 119; 61 Cal.Rptr. 65,85. 30 universal application, thus marking off special or local 'Common law'consists of those principles, usage and ' rules or customs, rules of action applicable to government and security of For 'Federal common law', see that title.

15 persons and property which do not rest for their authority As a compound adjective 'common-law' is understood upon any express and positive declaration of the will of as contrasted with or opposed to 'statutory' and the legislature. Bishop v. U.S., D.C.Tex., 334 F. Supp. 35 sometimes also to 'equitable' or to 'criminal'.

Sometimes when we read we are only interested in a specific piece of information, or a single section of a book, article, etc. Learning to find the information or section of the text we want quickly is an important reading skill because it helps us to save time and concentrate only on the parts of a text that interest us.

This style of reading (which you used to complete Activity 1 ii) above) is called scanning. To practise this skill, scan the texts on pages 29-30 to find the following information as quickly as you can. Do not try to read or understand the whole text for this activity.

a) Which extract gives the greatest number of different definitions of common law?

b) Which extract is from an American law dictionary?

c) Which extract does not come from a law dictionary?

d) How many distinct meanings of common law does The Layman's Dictionary of English Law give?

e) What is the name of the court which administered Equity?

f) What was the original source of common-law principles?

g) What other countries apart from England have a common-law legal system?

h) Find the name for the study and comparison of legal systems, used in text D.

i) Does 'common law' have the same meaning in both French and German law?

j) What force does 'the common law of England' have in the American state of California?

k) Find the name of two cases in US law.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 994