Concept information
Preferred term
common law
Definition
- Common law refers to the English and Anglo-American legal tradition featuring independent courts of law and a legal profession, trial by jury of citizens to balance a judge, and liberty under rule of law—with law defined both as customs or principles affirmed by a court and statutes or codes made by a legislature. Further characteristics of common law include the selection of judges from the experienced lawyers (the bench from the bar), reliance upon precedent and traditional principles in adjudicating new cases, and a jurisprudential complexity that balances continuity and adaptability. [Source: Encyclopedia of Political Theory; Common Law]
Broader concept
Belongs to group
URI
https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/common_law
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