Law

=== Common law and equity ===
{{main|Common law|Equity (law)}}
[[File:King John signing the Great Charter (Magna Carta) by English School.png|thumb|left|King John of England signs Magna Carta.]]

In [[Common law#1. Common law as opposed to statutory law and regulatory law|common law]] legal systems, decisions by courts are explicitly acknowledged as "law" on equal footing with legislative [[Statutory law|statutes]] and executive [[Primary and secondary legislation|regulations]]. The "doctrine of precedent", or ''[[stare decisis]]'' (Latin for "to stand by decisions") means that decisions by higher courts bind lower courts to assure that similar cases reach similar results. In [[Common law#2. Common law legal systems as opposed to civil law legal systems|contrast]], in [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems, legislative statutes are typically more detailed, and judicial decisions are shorter and less detailed, because the adjudicator is only writing to decide the single case, rather than to set out reasoning that will guide future courts.

Common law originated from England and has been inherited by almost every country once tied to the [[British Empire]] (except Malta, [[Law of Scotland|Scotland]], the U.S. state of [[Louisiana law|Louisiana]], and the Canadian province of [[Quebec law|Quebec]]). In medieval England during the [[Norman Conquest|Norman conquest]], the law varied shire-to-shire based on disparate tribal customs. The concept of a "common law" developed during the reign of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] during the late 12th century, when Henry appointed judges that had authority to create an institutionalised and unified system of law common to the country. The next major step in the evolution of the common law came when [[John, King of England|King John]] was forced by his barons to sign a document limiting his authority to pass laws. This "great charter" or ''[[Magna Carta]]'' of 1215 also required that the King's entourage of judges hold their courts and judgments at "a certain place" rather than dispensing autocratic justice in unpredictable places about the country.<ref>{{cite web| title=Magna Carta| url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html| publisher=[[Fordham University]]| access-date=10 November 2006| archive-date=10 September 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155351/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html| url-status=live}}</ref> A concentrated and elite group of judges acquired a dominant role in law-making under this system, and compared to its European counterparts the English judiciary became highly centralised. In 1297, for instance, while the highest court in France had fifty-one judges, the [[English Court of Common Pleas]] had five.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=4}} This powerful and tight-knit judiciary gave rise to a systematised process of developing common law.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=3}}

As time went on, many felt that the common law was overly systematised and inflexible, and increasing numbers of citizens petitioned the King to override the common law. On the King's behalf, the [[Lord Chancellor]] started giving judgments to do what was equitable in a case. From the time of [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]], the first [[lawyer]] to be appointed as Lord Chancellor, a systematic body of [[Equity (law)|equity]] grew up alongside the rigid common law, and developed its own [[Court of Chancery]]. At first, equity was often criticised as erratic.<ref>Pollock (ed) ''Table Talk of [[John Selden]]'' (1927) 43; "Equity is a roguish thing. For law we have a measure... equity is according to the conscience of him that is Chancellor, and as that is longer or narrower, so is equity. 'Tis all one as if they should make the standard for the measure a Chancellor's foot."</ref> Over time, courts of equity developed solid [[Maxims of equity|principles]], especially under [[John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon|Lord Eldon]].<ref>''[[Gee v Pritchard]]'' (1818) 2 Swans. 402, 414</ref> In the 19th century in England, and in [[West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish|1937 in the U.S.]], the two systems were [[Common law#1870 through 20th century, and the procedural merger of law and equity|merged]].

In developing the common law, [[Common law#Contrasting role of treatises and academic writings in common law and civil law systems|academic writings]] have always played an important part, both to collect overarching principles from dispersed case law, and to argue for change. [[William Blackstone]], from around 1760, was the first scholar to collect, describe, and teach the common law.<ref>Blackstone, ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp Book the First&nbsp;– Chapter the First] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705141310/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp |date=5 July 2011 }}</ref> But merely in describing, scholars who sought explanations and underlying structures slowly changed the way the law actually worked.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=17}}