Common Law
Common law and equity are systems of law whose sources are the decisions in cases by judges. Alongside, every system will have a legislature that passes new laws and statutes. The relationships between statutes and judicial decisions can be complex. In some jurisdictions, such statutes may overrule judicial decisions or codify the topic covered by several contradictory or ambiguous decisions. In some jurisdictions, judicial decisions may decide whether the jurisdiction's constitution allowed a particular statute or statutory provision to be made or what meaning is contained within the statutory provisions. Statutes were allowed to be made by the government. Common law developed in England, influenced by Anglo-Saxon law and to a much lesser extent by the Norman conquest of England which introduced legal concepts from Norman law, which had its origins in Salic law. Common law was later inherited by the Commonwealth of Nations, and almost every former colony of the British Empire has adopted it (Malta being an exception). The doctrine of stare decisis or precedent by courts is the major difference to codified civil law systems.
Common law is currently in practice in Ireland, most of the United Kingdom (England and Wales and Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India (excluding Goa), Pakistan, South Africa, Canada (excluding Quebec), Hong Kong, the United States (excluding Louisiana) and many other places. In addition to these countries, several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system. For example, Nigeria operates largely on a common law system but incorporates religious law.
In the European Union, the Court of Justice takes an approach mixing civil law (based on the treaties) with an attachment to the importance of case law. One of the most fundamental documents to shape common law is Magna Carta which placed limits on the power of the English Kings. It served as a kind of medieval bill of rights for the aristocracy and the judiciary who developed the law.
| Country | Description |
|---|---|
| American Samoa | |
| Antigua and Barbuda | based on English common law |
| Australia | based on English common law |
| Bahamas | based on English common law |
| Bangladesh | based on English common law |
| Barbados | based on English common law |
| Belize | based on English common law |
| Bhutan | |
| British Virgin Islands | based on English common law |
| Canada | based on English common law, except in Quebec, where a civil law system based on French law prevails in most matters of a civil nature, such as obligations (contract and delict), property law, family law and private matters. Federal statutes take into account the bijuridical nature of Canada and use both common law and civil law terms where appropriate. |
| Dominica | based on English common law |
| England and Wales (UK) |
primarily common law, with early Roman and some modern continental influences |
| Fiji | based on English common law |
| Gibraltar | based on English common law |
| Ghana | |
| Myanmar | based on English common law |
| Grenada | based on English common law |
| Hong Kong | principally based on English common law |
| India | based on English common law (except Goa, Daman and Diu which follow a Civil Law based on Portuguese Civil Law) |
| Ireland | based on Irish law before 1922, which was itself based on English common law |
| Israel | based on English common law from the period of the British Mandate, also incorporating civil law and fragments of Jewish and Sharia law for family law cases |
| Jamaica | based on English common law |
| Kiribati | based on English common law |
| Marshall Islands | based on U.S. Law |
| Nauru | based on English common law |
| New Zealand | based on English common law |
| Northern Ireland (UK) |
based on Irish law before 1921, which was itself based on English common law |
| Palau | based on U.S. Law |
| Pakistan | based on English common law with some provisons of Islamic law |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | based on English common law |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | based on English common law |
| Singapore | based on English common law, but Muslims are subject to the Administration of Muslim Law Act, which gives the Sharia Court jurisdiction over Muslim personal law, e.g., marriage, inheritance and divorce. |
| Tonga | based on English common law |
| Trinidad and Tobago | based on English common law |
| Tuvalu | based on English common law |
| Uganda | based on English common law |
| United States | Federal courts and 49 states use the legal system based on English common law which has diverged somewhat since the nineteenth century in that they make their own rulings rather than accept those handed down in the UK State law in the U.S. state of Louisiana is based upon French and Spanish civil law (see above) |
Read more about this topic: List Of Country Legal Systems
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