Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Common law" in English language version.
common law. A. As Noun—in Broad Contrasts. In modern usage, common law is contrasted with a number of other terms. First, in denoting the body of judge-made law based on that developed originally in England, common law is contrasted by comparative jurists to civil law, q.v. Second, 'with the development of equity and equitable rights and remedies, common law and equitable courts, procedure, rights, remedies, etc., are frequently contrasted, and in this sense common law is distinguished from equity' (OCL). Third, the term is similarly distinguished from ecclesiastical law. Fourth, it is occasionally used to denote the law common to the country as a whole-as distinguished from law that has only local applications. Finally, and perhaps most commonly within Anglo-American jurisdictions, common law is contrasted with statutory law <statutes in derogation of the common law are to be strictly construed>.
"common law" is contrasted by comparative jurists to civil law.
Common law is generally uncodified. This means that there is no comprehensive compilation of legal rules and statutes. While common law does rely on some scattered statutes, which are legislative decisions, it is largely based on precedent, meaning the judicial decisions that have already been made in similar cases. These precedents are maintained over time through the records of the courts as well as historically documented in collections of case law known as yearbooks and reports. The precedents to be applied in the decision of each new case are determined by the presiding judge.
Common law is law that is derived from judicial decisions instead of from statutes. American courts originally fashioned common law rules based on English common law until the American legal system was sufficiently mature to create common law rules either from direct precedent or by analogy to comparable areas of decided law.
Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent in making their decisions. Stare decisis means "to stand by things decided" in Latin. When a court faces a legal argument, if a previous court has ruled on the same or a closely related issue, then the court will make their decision in alignment with the previous court's decision. The previous deciding-court must have binding authority over the court; otherwise, the previous decision is merely persuasive authority.
A case of first impression is a case that presents a legal issue that has never been decided by the governing jurisdiction. ... A case of first impression lacks controlling precedent. In other words, a court deciding a case of first impression cannot rely on prior decisions nor is the court bound by stare decisis. To adopt the most persuasive rule of law, courts will look to various sources for guidance.
The object of genuine interpretation is to discover the rule which the law-maker intended to establish; to discover the intention with which the law-maker made the rule, or the sense which he attached to the words wherein the rule is expressed ... the object of spurious interpretation is to make, unmake, or remake, and not merely to discover ... it is essentially a legislative, not a judicial process, made necessary in formative periods by the paucity of principles, feebleness of legislation and rigidity of rules characteristic of archaic law. So long as law is regarded as sacred, or for any reason as incapable of alteration, such a process is necessary for growth, but surviving into periods of legislation, it becomes a source of confusion.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a comprehensive code addressing most aspects of commercial law, is generally viewed as one of the most important developments in American law. The UCC text and draft revisions are written by experts in commercial law and submitted as drafts for approval to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (referred to as the Uniform Law Commissioners), in collaboration with the American Law Institute. The Commissioners are all attorneys, qualified to practice law, including state and federal judges, legislators and law professors from throughout the United States and its territories. These quasi-public organizations meet and decide whether to endorse the drafts or to send them back to the experts for revision. The revision process may result in several different revisions of the original draft. Once a draft is endorsed, the Uniform Law Commissioners recommend that the states adopt these rules. The UCC is a model code, so it does not have legal effect in a jurisdiction unless UCC provisions are enacted by the individual state legislatures as statutes. Currently, the UCC (in whole or in part) has been enacted, with some local variation, in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The object of genuine interpretation is to discover the rule which the law-maker intended to establish; to discover the intention with which the law-maker made the rule, or the sense which he attached to the words wherein the rule is expressed ... the object of spurious interpretation is to make, unmake, or remake, and not merely to discover ... it is essentially a legislative, not a judicial process, made necessary in formative periods by the paucity of principles, feebleness of legislation and rigidity of rules characteristic of archaic law. So long as law is regarded as sacred, or for any reason as incapable of alteration, such a process is necessary for growth, but surviving into periods of legislation, it becomes a source of confusion.
It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Courts must decide on the operation of each.
India, being a common law country, derives most of its modern judicial framework from the British legal system.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the United States. It is not a federal law, but a uniformly adopted state law. Uniformity of law is essential in this area for the interstate transaction of business. Because the UCC has been universally adopted, businesses can enter into contracts with confidence that the terms will be enforced in the same way by the courts of every American jurisdiction. The resulting certainty of business relationships allows businesses to grow and the American economy to thrive. For this reason, the UCC has been called 'the backbone of American commerce.'
Common law is generally uncodified. This means that there is no comprehensive compilation of legal rules and statutes. While common law does rely on some scattered statutes, which are legislative decisions, it is largely based on precedent, meaning the judicial decisions that have already been made in similar cases. These precedents are maintained over time through the records of the courts as well as historically documented in collections of case law known as yearbooks and reports. The precedents to be applied in the decision of each new case are determined by the presiding judge.
Stare decisis is the doctrine that courts will adhere to precedent in making their decisions. Stare decisis means "to stand by things decided" in Latin. When a court faces a legal argument, if a previous court has ruled on the same or a closely related issue, then the court will make their decision in alignment with the previous court's decision. The previous deciding-court must have binding authority over the court; otherwise, the previous decision is merely persuasive authority.
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a comprehensive code addressing most aspects of commercial law, is generally viewed as one of the most important developments in American law. The UCC text and draft revisions are written by experts in commercial law and submitted as drafts for approval to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (referred to as the Uniform Law Commissioners), in collaboration with the American Law Institute. The Commissioners are all attorneys, qualified to practice law, including state and federal judges, legislators and law professors from throughout the United States and its territories. These quasi-public organizations meet and decide whether to endorse the drafts or to send them back to the experts for revision. The revision process may result in several different revisions of the original draft. Once a draft is endorsed, the Uniform Law Commissioners recommend that the states adopt these rules. The UCC is a model code, so it does not have legal effect in a jurisdiction unless UCC provisions are enacted by the individual state legislatures as statutes. Currently, the UCC (in whole or in part) has been enacted, with some local variation, in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
India, being a common law country, derives most of its modern judicial framework from the British legal system.
