Law Systems

Law systems.

Common law is a system of law which was created by English judges when deciding individual disputes or cases. It includes both the unwritten law of England and the statutes of Parliament. Precedents are of key importance in common law. It is contrasted with continental law which proceeded from broad legal principles and the interpretation of doctrinal writings and was codified.

This unit is composed of two texts on common law and continental law and several language activities.

to understand the features of common and continental law, to comprehend the importance of precedents and codes as well as different systems of adjudication, as the context is important for learning legal vocabulary;

to learn the basic legal vocabulary necessary to speak and read about common and continental law.

Originally the common law was based on the local customs of the area, and due to its unwritten nature, would vary slightly on a case-to-case basis. This primarily criminal law grew over time to encompass private disputes, and due to the doctrine of precedent eventually became a very rigid (inflexible) and static body of written law. Because of the nature of the common law as well as corruption in the legal system – many decisions of the courts were harsh and unjust.