Common law | Definition, Origins, Development, & Examples
Nov 26, 2024 · Common law, the body of customary law, based on judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, that has been administered by the courts of England since the Middle Ages. From it has evolved the legal systems found in the United States and most of the Commonwealth countries as well.
Application of common law | Britannica
common law, Body of law based on custom and general principles and that, embodied in case law, serves as precedent or is applied to situations not covered by statute. Under the common-law system, when a court decides and reports its decision concerning a particular case, the case becomes part of the body of law and can be used in later cases ...
Common law Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
COMMON LAW meaning: the laws that developed from English court decisions and customs and that form the basis of laws in the U.S.
Common law - Public Law, Jurisdiction, Precedent | Britannica
Nov 26, 2024 · Common law - Public Law, Jurisdiction, Precedent: In the early part of the 20th century, it could be asserted that there was no public law in England in the sense of a set of rules regulating the administration of public affairs, which differed from …
Common law - English, American, Commonwealth | Britannica
Nov 26, 2024 · Common law - English, American, Commonwealth: The legal systems rooted in the English common law have diverged from their parent system so greatly over time that, in many areas, the legal approaches of common-law countries differ as much from one another as they do from civil-law countries.
Common-law marriage | Recognition, Requirements & Benefits
Nov 13, 2024 · Common-law marriage, marriage undertaken without either a civil or religious ceremony. In a common-law marriage, the parties simply agree to consider themselves married. The common-law marriage is a rarity today, mainly because of the legal problems of property and inheritance that attend it in
Precedent | Case, Common, Legal | Britannica
precedent, in law, a judgment or decision of a court that is cited in a subsequent dispute as an example or analogy to justify deciding a similar case or point of law in the same manner. Common law and equity, as found in English and American legal systems, rely strongly on the body of established precedents, although in the original ...
Common law - Feudal, Land, Law | Britannica - Encyclopedia …
Nov 26, 2024 · The expression “common law,” devised to distinguish the general law from local or group customs and privileges, came to suggest to citizens a universal law, founded on reason and superior in type.
Writ | Legal Process, Court Orders & Civil Procedure | Britannica
writ, in common law, order issued by a court in the name of a sovereign authority requiring the performance of a specific act. The most common modern writs are those, such as the summons, used to initiate an action.
Larceny | Definition & Examples | Britannica
Dec 7, 2024 · larceny, in criminal law, the trespassory taking and carrying away of personal goods from the possession of another with intent to steal. Larceny is one of the specific crimes included in the general category of theft. Historically, the property subject to larceny in common law consisted of tangible personal goods. Modern legislation has ...