Lesson - 1

lEGAl SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD

INTRODUC110N
e m od em w or ld 1s a fa ct. Eac, political
The diversity of law_s in th 1
n leg al sy ste m , an d 1t often happ ens that
soc1•e ty in the wor.
ld ha.s 1its. owI I
1 w it 11 nb a eg a sy ste m . In a fe de ral state ' m addition
severa laws co-exi st
e m ay e law s of
h stahte s, pr ov in ce s or d1stncts. There
to a -<,, ederal law, ther f ..
e no po lit ical orgamsation at
I m m un ities t at av
moreover laws o co
)
:~~ such as Canon_ law ,
l
M
law
us lim
w
_
hi
law
ch
,
re
H
la
m
te
du
s to
L~ w,
m tem
an d_
at io
Jewish Law. There
nal commerce.
l is as well internationa
l of la w po se s a pr ob lem sin ce the laws of the world
The diversity and smce they have
y di ffe re nt ~a ng ua ge s a~ d fo ~s
are expressed in man , be lie fs and social manners
he re th e so cia l orga m sa t1 on
,1 olved in societies w ien ce s, the laws can also
.
vary As there are cl as sif ic at io ns in di ffe re nt sc
•2 ev families.
i2 be reduced to a lin1ited number of
52 the law s in to 4 na m ely , Ro m an o- G ermanic Legal System
We can divide M uslim Legal System
th e Co m m on La w Le ga l Sy ste m ,
53 (Civil Law System),
63 and the socialist legal system.
2. The Common Law Legal System
A second family of law is that of the common law, including the 1a,v
of England and those laws modelled on English Law. The common la,v
y, formed primarily by judges who had to resolve indi\1dual
role is one which seeks to provide the
late a general rule of conduct for

all England. Previous to common

try or Hundred Courts, applied
Courts \\·ere gradual ly replaced
and these Courts too decided
w. The creation of the Common
 Legal Systems in the World
4
- . trul common to the whole of England, was to'
Law, an ~nghsh lawf th ~o al Courts of justice, be
the exclusive work O e Y usu ally call ed the Courts
of Westminster.
11 enlarged their jurisdic. . d b th
The Royal Courts gradua Y. f: ct the only courts tion, an Y e end
of justice and they
of the middle ages, had become in. ~ of the com
mon Ia,v are linked to
follo,vcd the common la,,,• The ong
bl.
1ns
for con .
royal power. It sce~s to be a pu ic 1awi cou testations between private
rts save to the extent that
individuals did not mtercst the common awki d
m In the formation and
they involved the interest of the crown ~r ngis
development of the common la\V• a pubhc la\V ~uin from procedure but
not from ius civile. The common law is notable for . ~ . .
its mclu~ion of. cxten5ive
non-statutory law reflecting precedent derived from
centunes of Judgments
by working jurists. The division of common law, its
concc~ts and vocabulary,
the method of the common law la\vycr are en
ti rely d1ffcrcnt from other
legal fam ilies.
3. History of Common law
Common law system had developed among
Anglo•Saxon people,
especially in England. Before the institutional stab
ility imposed on England
by William the Conqueror in 1066, English
residents, like those of many
other societies, were governed by unwritten loca
l customs that varied from
community to community and were enforced in
often arbitrary fashion. For
example, courts generally consisted of infonna
l public assemblies that
weighed conflicting claims in a case and, if
unable to reach a decision,
might require an accused to test guilt or inno
cence by carrying a red-hot
iron or snatching a stone from a cauldron of boiling
water or some other
test of veracity (trial by ordeal). If the defenda
nt's wound healed within
a prescribed period, he was set free as innocent
~ if not, execution usually
followed.
In 1154, Henry II became the first plantage
net king. Among many
.evcmcnts, Jlenry instituti~Jised common la,v
by creating a unified
'to.
'"'=-" " \ ~ ~ , . , ~
through incorporating and elevating
...~~A'k..,

control and peculiarities, eliminating

ystem of citizens sworn on oath
and civil claims. The jury reached
knowledge, not necessarily
• guishing factor from today's

.unified court system, \\'bich

di) courts, brought him (and
~l y, with Thomas J3eCkcl.
 Introdu ction 5

Archbishop of Canterb ury. Things v.crc resolved eventually, at least

th~ a time, i~ Jlenry's favour \\hen a group _of his hcnch1ncn n1urdcrcd
fo k t for its part, the Church soon canoniz ed Becket as a saint.
ace e.
Thus, in English leg.al history, Judicially- developed 'commo n Ja,\'
10 the
uniform authont y through out the realm several centurie s before
becani·amcnt acquire d the po\\·cr to make la,vs.
par 1 . .
Common la\v, thus, ong1nally develop ed under the adversa rial S) stein
in England fro1n judicial decis_ions that_ ,,ere based in trad1t1on, custo1n, and
eccdcnt. The form of reasoni ng used 1n commo n la\\' is kno,,n as casuist! )
pr • • 1n
Tl1c com1:ion l a\\', as apphcd ·
• c1vil cases, \Vas
or case-bas ed reasonin g.
devised as a means of compen sating someon e for \Vrongful acts kno\,n
as torts, including both intentio nal torts and torts caused by negligence, and
as developing the body of la,v recogni zing and regulati ng contrac ts. TI1e
type of procedu re practise d in com1non la,v courts is knov.n as the advers1al
system; this is also a develop ment of the commo n la,v
Comn1011 law ,vas la,v develop ed by custon1, beginni ng before there
,vere any \vritten la\\'S and continu ing to be applied by courts after there
\\'ere ,vrittcn laws, too. Statutes v.-hich reflect English commo n la,v arc
understood ah\·ays to be interpre ted in light of the co1nmon la\v tradition,
and so may leave a number of things unsaid because they are already
understood from the point of vic\v of pre-exis ting case la,v and custom.
The definite historical treatise on the commo n la\v is "Comm entaries
on the Laws . of ~ngland" \\·rittcn by Sir Wilham Blackst one and first
published in 1765-17 69. Today it has been superse ded in the English part
of the United Kingdo m by "Halsbury's La\-vs of England " that covers both
cdmmon fU'!d statutory English La\v. Justice Oliver Wendel] Holmes Jr.
~ .IQ~ volume called "The Commo n Law \\'hich remains a classic
'

law took place alongwith the colonization.

United States, Canada v.'herc a civilization
that of England . Some more countries
such as Austral ia, the Union of South
an, Singapo re, Ne\-.·zealand, l\falaysia,
.JJl3.DY other Common,vealth Countries.
common law in Europe (England and
certain extra-E uropean countries, the
• ly received as in the case of India,