Common Law

Laws guiding the behavior of community members are derived from three primary sources. In some instances (often called Roman, or civil, legal traditions), a legislature, monarch, or despot puts into writing the laws that will govern citizens' action and inaction. In religious and philosophical contexts, guiding laws are said to derive from, or reflect the principles of, a deity. Jewish law and Islamic law are examples of law in that tradition. The third primary source of laws is said to result from the ordinary way people in a community have handled disputes for as long as anyone can remember. The source of law in that circumstance is said to rely on custom and is referred to as common law.

It is clear that community standards have always been the initial source of norms and sanctions for maintaining social order. Whether the community operated at a familial, tribal, or village level, there were accepted standards for suitable behavior and agreed-upon consequences for misbehavior. In that sense, common law has a genesis similar to all legal traditions. However, common law is clearly different from the other forms of law in that its authority comes from custom rather than from political or religious entities. Because common law is most closely associated with English history, it is best understood in the context of that history.