The Expansion of the Common Law |
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administer ancient Anglo-Norman Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon laws appear archaic assize authority British India called Chancellor civil claim Code Coke Common Law Conquest Council county court Court of Chancery court of equity custom decisions defendant doctrine doubt early Edward England English law equity extraordinary fact formal Germanic Henry Henry II Hist inquest judgment judicature judicial jurisdiction jurisprudence jury kind king King's Bench king's courts king's judges king's justice King's peace land later Law Merchant Law of Nature lawyers learned legislation less Lord man's matter medieval ment modern natural justice natural reason Norman Conquest oath offence opinion ordeal ordinary Parliament parties perhaps persons political popular courts practice principles procedure proof Roman law royal rules settled sheriff Star Chamber Statute statutory suitors superior courts thing thirteenth century tion tradition trial wergild witness writ
Popular passages
Page 77 - Exchequer, that the King in his own person cannot adjudge any case, either criminal, as treason, felony, etc., or betwixt party and party, concerning his inheritance, chattels, or goods, etc., but this ought to be determined and adjudged in some court of justice according to the law and custom of England...
Page 80 - State should reconsider their ordinances of secession, and again recognize the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land.
Page 120 - The seat of judicial authority is, indeed, locally here, in the belligerent country, according to the known law and practice of nations; but the law itself has no locality.
Page 78 - King cannot arrest a man for suspicion of treason or felony, as other of his lieges may ; for that if it be a wrong to the party grieved he can have no remedy : and it was greatly marvelled that the Archbishop durst inform the King that such absolute power and authority as is aforesaid belonged to the King by the word of God.
Page 109 - As when anything is grounded upon the law of nature, they say, that reason will that such a thing be done; and if it be prohibited by the law of nature, they say it is against reason, or that reason will not suffer that to be done.
Page 84 - ... the pretorian power for mitigating the rigour of law, in case of extremity, by the conscience of a good man ; there was nevertheless always reserved a high and pre-eminent power to the king's council in causes that might in example or consequence concern the state of the commonwealth ; which if they were criminal, the council used to sit in the chamber called the star chamber ; if civil, in the white chamber or white hall.
Page 49 - It is needless to explain to a legal audience that this is not so. Judges are indeed bound to find some rule for deciding every case that comes before them, but they must do it without contradicting established principles, and in conformity with the reasons on which previous decisions were founded. They may supplement and enlarge the law as they find it, or rather they must do so from time to time, as the novelty of questions coming before them may require; but they must not reverse what has been...
Page 21 - ... Westminster to an English judge on the Northern or Western circuit. Opinions from every supreme appellate court in every English-speaking jurisdiction might now be collected within the time that Lord Eldon commonly devoted to the preliminary consideration of an appeal from the Master of the Bolls.
Page 84 - This court of star chamber is compounded of good elements, for it consisteth of four kinds of persons, counsellors, peers, prelates, and chief judges. It discerneth also principally of four kinds of causes, forces, frauds, crimes various of stellionate, and the inchoations or middle acts towards crimes capital or heinous, not actually committed or perpetrated.