COMMON LAW


Meaning of COMMON LAW in English

noun

Etymology: Middle English commun lawe, translation of Latin jus commune

1. : the system of unwritten law governing the rights and duties of persons that was developed in England in courts of superior jurisdiction having general application throughout the kingdom, that was declared in written opinions by the judges and based either on the general customs or on reason and fixed principles of justice but even in the absence of a precedent capable of being adapted to new situations or of being changed or modified in the light of different circumstances or needs, and that is distinguished both from the written statute laws enacted by the parliament and from other systems of law such as equity, ecclesiastical law, civil law, admiralty law, probate law, or the law merchant

2. in United States state courts and statutes : the common law as it existed in England at the time of the American Revolution or at some other time fixed by state statute with whatever modifications may have been made by the inclusion at the time of doctrines from other systems of law (as equity or civil law) together with such important English statutes of general application as were suitable to the needs and conditions of the state provided no such statute contravened any local statute

3. : unwritten law as opposed to statute law

4. : English common law unaffected by doctrines that originated in any system of law (as civil law) having a different tradition

5. : law of general application throughout a political entity (as a state) as opposed to law having only a special or local application

6. : the English common law as extended or modified by any doctrines taken from another system of law (as equity or civil law) or even by statutes whenever those doctrines or statutes may be judicially asserted to grant the remedies recognized under the English common law

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.