common law

Table of Contents

Introduction
The origin of the common law
- The feudal land law
- Development of a centralized judiciary
- Bracton and the influence of Roman law
- Early statute law
- Growth of chancery and equity
- Inns of Court and the Year Books
- The rise of the prerogative courts
- The 16th-century revolution
- Further growth of statute law
- Consolidation of equity
The modernization of common law in Great Britain
- Influence of Blackstone
- Reforms since the 19th century
  - Bentham
  - Changes in procedure and criminal law
  - Reorganization of the courts
  - Public law
  - Reform in private law
The development of common law in the United States and other jurisdictions
- American innovations
  - Growth of statute law and codes
  - Equity and probate
  - Federal and state judicial systems
- Personal and property rights
Comparisons of modern English, American, and Commonwealth law
- Personal law
- Property and succession
- Tort law
- Contracts
- Criminal law and procedure
- The future of the common law

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Henry II and Thomas Becket

Sir Edward Coke

William Blackstone

Declaration of Independence

For Students

Declaration of Independence

common law summary

Discover

A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000

14 Tough Questions Answered

Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer

Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.

Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

Artist interpretation of a Space meteoroid impact. Meteor impact. Asteroid, End of the world, danger, destruction, dinosaur extinct, Judgement Day, Planet Earth, Doomsday Predictions, comet

10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

John F. Kennedy as a boy with his family

What Did We Call America’s Elite Before the “1 Percent”?

common law: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Anglo-American law

Photos

Henry II and Thomas Becket

Sir Edward Coke

William Blackstone

Declaration of Independence

See All Images →

Topics

equity coverture feme sole judicial lawmaking stare decisis English law American law customary law civil law Roman-Dutch law European law adat Roman law Chinese law Soviet law Greek law Scottish law cuneiform law

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone

English jurist

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

United States jurist

Sir Edward Coke

English jurist

Sir Matthew Hale, detail of an oil painting after John Michael Wright; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Sir Matthew Hale

English legal scholar

James Kent, portrait by Daniel Huntington; in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

James Kent

American jurist

Henry de Bracton

British jurist

Ranulf de Glanville

English politician and legal scholar