Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Canon law, Jewish Law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law. It includes the description and analysis of foreign legal systems, even where no explicit comparison is undertaken. The importance of comparative law has increased enormously in the present age of internationalism, economic globalization, and democratization.
Sir Henry James Sumner Maine,, was a British Whig comparative jurist and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in his book Ancient Law that law and society developed "from status to contract." According to the thesis, in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status dealing with(in) a particular group while in the modern one, in which individuals are viewed as autonomous agents, they are free to make contracts and form associations with whomever they choose. Because of this thesis, Maine can be seen as one of the forefathers of modern legal anthropology, legal history and sociology of law.
Frederic William Maitland was an English historian and jurist who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. From 1884 until his death in 1906, he was reader in English law, then Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge.
Sir Paul Gavrilovitch Vinogradoff was a Russian and British historian and medievalist.
Henry Wheaton was an American lawyer, jurist and diplomat. He was the third reporter of decisions for the United States Supreme Court, the first U.S. minister to Denmark, and the second U.S. minister to Prussia.
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology.
Nathaniel Lindley, Baron Lindley, was an English judge.
Sir Frederick Pollock, 3rd Baronet PC, FBA was an English jurist best known for his History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, written with F.W. Maitland, and his lifelong correspondence with US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was a member of the Cambridge Apostles.
Substantive law is the set of laws that governs how members of a society are to behave. It is contrasted with procedural law, which is the set of procedures for making, administering, and enforcing substantive law. Substantive law defines rights and responsibilities in civil law, and crimes and punishments in criminal law, substantive equality or substantive due process. It may be codified in statutes or exist through precedent in common law. Substantive laws, which govern outcomes, are contrasted with procedural laws, which govern procedure.
Henry of Bracton, also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English cleric and jurist.
Theodore William Dwight (1822–1892) was an American jurist and educator, cousin of Theodore Dwight Woolsey and of Timothy Dwight V.
John Ferguson McLennan FRSE LLD, was a Scottish advocate, social anthropologist and ethnologist.
Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener was a New Testament textual critic and a member of the English New Testament Revision Committee which produced the Revised Version of the Bible. He was prebendary of Exeter, and vicar of Hendon.
Hymns Ancient and Modern is a hymnal in common use within the Church of England, a result of the efforts of the Oxford Movement. The hymnal was first published in 1861. The organization publishing it has now been formed into a charitable trust, Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, and as of 2022 it publishes a wide range of hymnals as well as other theological and religious books and magazines, under imprints such as the Canterbury Press and SCM Press.
The Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer is an annual appointment to give a public lecture, the Sir Robert Rede's Lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is named for Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the sixteenth century.
The English historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) is known primarily as the author of the magisterial The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Both the imposing length of and awesome erudition displayed in that work have understandably overshadowed his other literary achievements, many of which deserve to be noted in their own valuable capacities.
Sir John Stoddart was an English journalist and lawyer, who served as editor of The Times.
Samuel Bagster the elder was the founder of the publishing firm of Bagster & Sons.
John Bird, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1737.
Legal evolution is a branch of legal theory which proposes that law and legal systems change and develop according to regular, natural laws. It is closely related to social evolution and was developed in the 18th century, peaking in popularity in the 19th century before entering a prolonged hiatus. Legal evolution saw a revival at the end of the 20th century and is continued in multiple contemporary theories. Theories of legal evolution use a variety of methodologies, including elements of sociological, historical, philosophical approaches.
