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Common law is a legal system named after judge-made law, which plays an important role in it.
In law, common law is that body of law derived from judicial decisions of courts and similar tribunals. The defining characteristic of “common law” is that it arises as precedent. In cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past precedential decisions of relevant courts, and synthesizes the principles of those past cases as applicable to the current facts. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the past, the court is usually bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision. If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases, and legislative statutes are either silent or ambiguous on the question, judges have the authority and duty to resolve the issue. The court states an opinion that gives reasons for the decision, and those reasons agglomerate with past decisions as precedent to bind future judges and litigants. Common law, as the body of law made by judges, stands in contrast to and on equal footing with statutes which are adopted through the legislative process, and regulations which are promulgated by the executive branch. Stare decisis, the principle that cases should be decided according to consistent principled rules so that similar facts will yield similar results, lies at the heart of all common law systems.
Common law may also refer to:
- Common-law marriage
- Jus commune , a type of broad, underlying law
- The Common Law (Holmes), an 1881 book by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
- The Common Law, a 1911 novel written by Robert W. Chambers, and its film adaptations:
- The Common Law (1916 film), an American silent drama film
- The Common Law (1923 film), a lost film
- The Common Law (1931 film), an American film starring Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea
The Common Law is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Albert Capellani and starring Clara Kimball Young, Conway Tearle and Paul Capellani. It was made at Fort Lee and distributed by the newly formed Selznick Pictures. Shortly afterwards the company switched production to Hollywood.
The Common Law is a lost 1923 silent film drama directed by George Archainbaud and starring Corinne Griffith and Conway Tearle. It was produced and released by Selznick Pictures Corporation.
The Common Law is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film, directed by Paul L. Stein and produced by Charles R. Rogers. Based on Robert W. Chambers' 1911 novel of the same name, this was the third time the book was made into a film, and the first during the talking film era. The sexual drama stars Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea in the title roles. It was received well both at the box office and by film critics, becoming one of RKO's most financially successful films of the year.
- Common Law (1996 TV series), a United States sitcom by ABC
- Common Law (2012 TV series), a United States comedy-drama by the USA Network
Common-law marriage, also known as sui iuris marriage, informal marriage, marriage by habit and repute, or marriage in fact, is a legal framework in a limited number of jurisdictions where a couple is legally considered married, without that couple having formally registered their relation as a civil or religious marriage. The original concept of a "common-law marriage" is a marriage that is considered valid by both partners, but has not been formally recorded with a state or religious registry, or celebrated in a formal religious service. In effect, the act of the couple representing themselves to others as being married, and organizing their relation as if they were married, acts as the evidence that they are married.
Jus commune or ius commune is Latin for "common law" in certain jurisdictions. It is often used by civil law jurists to refer to those aspects of the civil law system's invariant legal principles, sometimes called "the law of the land" in English law. While the ius commune was a secure point of reference in continental European legal systems, in England it was not a point of reference at all.
The Common Law is a book that was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in 1881, 21 years before Holmes became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
