For Students
Henry II and Thomas Becket
Henry II (left) disputing with Thomas Becket (centre), miniature from a 14th-century manuscript; in the British Library (Cotton MS. Claudius D.ii).
common law
Also known as: Anglo-American law
- Also called:
- Anglo-American law
- Related Topics:
- equity
- coverture
- feme sole
- stare decisis
- judicial lawmaking
common law, the body of customary law, based upon judicial decisions and embodied in reports of decided cases, that has been administered by the common-law courts of England since the Middle Ages. From it has evolved the type of legal system now found also in the United States and in most of the member states of the Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth of Nations). In this sense common law stands in contrast to the legal system derived from civil law, now widespread in continental Europe and elsewhere. In another, narrower, sense, common law is contrasted to the rules applied in ...(100 of 11278 words)