A sentence using the word common law

Definition of Common law

a law that has become common practice and is widely accepted

Examples of Common law in a sentence

The couple decided on a common law marriage where their union was not blessed by priest or presided over by a member of the court.

 🔊

When a couple has happily lived together for a number of years it is considered a common law marriage and they have legal rights to each other’s property.

 🔊

A pesky common law is that you must read through and agree to terms on contracts before gaining full access to items like cellphones or mobile apps.

 🔊

Every time a law is changed due to a state or judicial ruling it becomes common law.

 🔊

Gay marriage used to be banned in most states but has since become common law after a series of court rulings.

 🔊

Other words in the Family category:

Most Searched Words (with Video)

1, Canadian libel law is based on English common law.

2, The rules of common law and equity are both, in essence, systems of private law.

3, The common law rules have now been overlaid by statute.

4, When the Court was abolished in 1641 the Common Law Courts had become strong enough to give adequate redress.

5, A Common Law right was practically, though not theoretically, nullified by the existence of a countervailing equitable right.

6, Teachers may sue if they believe state common law has been violated.

7, Nevertheless such a contract may be frustrated at common law.

8, The common law in Scotland is based on precedent.

9, Judge-made law is called common law.

10, The connection between common law and Roman law.

11, The exemplary damages are originated in the common law.

12, Chapter four is about jurisdiction under English common law.

13, Three, the Mercantile Law going into Common Law.

14, The Civil Law system and the Common Law system have made different provision about the corporate charter invalidity system which we can learn.

15, The common law distinguished » public » and » private » nuisances.

16, Case law — ( Also known as common law. ) Law established by previous decisions of appellate courts.

17, I keep my right to sue out my habeas corpus at common law,if you still want to search my bag.

18, Cameron and all teachers are governed by three main types of laws: statutory law, constitutional law, and common law.

19, In this way Equity is an addendum to the Common Law.

20, Let me therefore start afresh by looking at the common law.

21, For instance,[http://sentencedict.com/common law.html] the rule of contributory negligence applicable to collisions at sea differed from that established by the common law of tort.

22, It was further decided that such watching and besetting might be a nuisance at common law and illegal on that ground also.

23, Since the concept of materiality has been absorbed into the concept of relevance, the issue of relevance in the evidence law of common law system comprises two components, provability and materiality.

24, This special fiduciary relationship thus becomes the base of the theory on director’s duty in common law.

25, Frustration and clausula rebus sic stantibus are both important doctrines existing separately in the contract laws of civil law countries and common law countries.

26, For the United Kingdom Criminal exceptions to the hearsay rule, this article is to carry out assessment in two parts, the common law and statute law of the exception.

27, By reason of legal tradition, ascription of trust property is reasonablely interpreted under the framework of «double ownership» in common law system.

28, Dormant partnership belongs to the civil law system whereas limited partnership to the common law system.

29, The concept of due process is rooted in English common law.

30, The theory of res judicata is an indispensable theoretical research content of legislation and litigation, both in the civil law, or at common law.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘common-law.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Clearly the legal system in England and Wales could not rely only on
customs. Even in Anglo-Saxon times there were local courts which
decided disputes, but it was not until after the Norman conquest in
1066 that a more organized system of courts emerged. This was because
the Norman kings realized that control of the country would be easier
if they controlled, among other things, the legal system. The first
Norman king, William the Conqueror, set up the Curia Regis (the
King’s Court) and appointed his own judges. The nobles who had a
dispute were encouraged to apply to have the King (or his judges)
decide the matter.

As well as this central court, the judges were sent to major towns to
decide any important cases. This meant that judges travelled from
London all round the country that was under the control of the King.
In the time of Henry II (1154-89) these tours became more regular and
Henry divided up the country into ‘circuits’ or areas for the
judges to visit. Initially the judges would use the local customs or
the old Anglo-Saxon laws to decide cases, but over a period of time
it is believed that the judges on the return to Westminster in London
would discuss the laws or customs they had used, and the decisions
they had made, with each other. Gradually, the judges selected the
best customs and these were then used by all the judges throughout
the country. This had the effect that the law became uniform or
‘common’ through the country, and it is from here that the phrase
‘common law; seems to have developed.

Common law is the basis of English law today: it
is unwritten law that developed from customs and judicial decisions.
The phrase ‘common law’ is still used to distinguish laws that
have been developed by judicial decision, from laws that have been
created by statute or other legislation. For example, murder is a
common law crime while theft
is a statutory crime.
This means that murder has never been defined in any Act of
Parliament, but theft is now defined by the Theft Act 1968.

Common law also has another meaning, in that it is
used to distinguish between rules that were developed by the common
law courts (the King’s courts) and the rules of Equity
which were developed by the Lord Chancellor and the
Chancery courts.

Words and phrases you need to know

1. custom n
(a practice that by its common adoption
and long, unvarying habit has come to have the force of law)

local custom (a
custom that prevails in some defined locality only, such as a city or
county, and constitutes a source of law for that place only)

general custom (a
custom that prevails throughout a country and constitutes one of the
sources of the law of the land)

valid custom
(legally sufficient custom)

customary adj
(usual) customary duty

2. judicial decision
(court decision)

3. common law (
the body of law derived from judicial decisions, rather than from
statues of constitutions)

1. centralize v.
   (to bring under central control) centralized
   government

2. appoint v
   (choose for a position)

3. be entitled to (to
   be granted a legal right to or quality for)

7. enforceable at law

8. theft n
(any act of stealing) Theft
Act 1968

9. statutory crime (a
crime punishable by statute. cf. common-law crime)

10.equity n
(fairness; the system of law or body of
principles originating in the English Court of Chancery )

11. chancery court (
a court of equity)

Reading notes:

Act of Parliament (a
law that has been officially accepted by a parliament, especially the
British Parliament. Before a law becomes an ‘Act”, when it is
still being discussed, it is called a ‘bill’.)

Anglo-Saxon adj
(connected with the Anglo-Saxon people who lived in England from
about 600 AD)

Harold II , King
(? 1022-66) the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, who became king at
the beginning of 1066 but later that year died in battle against
William the Conqueror at Hastings. He is supposed to have been killed
by an arrow that hit him in the eye.

William the Conqueror (1027-1087
the king of England from 1066 until his death, also William I.
William was the Duke of Normandy (in northern France), and became
king of England by defeating King Harold at the Battle Hastings in
1066. His arrival brought great changes in English society, and is
seen as the end of the Anglo-Saxon period and the beginning of the
Middle Ages. He gave a lot of land and power to other Normans, so
that French became the language of the ruling class, and he built
many castles to control the English).

the Normans (
people from Normandy, in N France, who originally came from Norway.
Led by William the Conqueror, they took control of England in the
11^th
century, and had a very important influence on the law, language, and
culture of England)

Norman Conquest (the
period when the Normans led by William the Conqueror, took control of
England after defeating the previous English King Harold II, at the
Battle of Hastings in 1066. Those events had a very great influence
on England’s history, culture, and language, and French became the
main language of the ruling class)

Westminster ( a
part of a city which is responsible for managing its own schools,
roads and etc) which contains a large part of west central London,
including Westminster Abby, the House of Parliament, and Buckingham
Palace)

Exercise 1. Read the following sentences, notice carefully the
active words in bold, and translate the sentences into Russian.

Custom

1. The guide offers information on local
customs.

2. The main stream of English law began with the
unification of local customs
to form the common law and has been developed down to the present day
by the judges as precedent has been built upon precedent.

3. These methods of developing law are usually
referred to as sources of law. Historically, the most important ways
were custom and
decisions of judges.

Customary

1. In some countries it
   is customary for the bride to wear
   white.

2. Barbara answered with her customary
   enthusiasm.

3. For example in Egerton v Harding (1974) the court
   decided that there was a customary duty
   to fence land against cattle straying from the common. Another case
   was New Windsor Corporation v Mellor (1974) where a local authority
   was prevented from building on land because the local people proved
   there was a custom that they had the right to use the land for
   lawful sports.

Common law

1. The different local customs were therefore
   replaced gradually by a body of rules applying throughout, or common
   to, the whole country and known eventually as the
   common law.

2. The formulation of the common law
   took place when there were few statutes or other forms of written
   law.

3. Gradually, the judges selected the best customs
and these were then used by all the judges throughout the country.
This had the effect that the law became uniform or ‘common’
through the country, and it is from here that the phrase ‘common
law; seems to have developed.

Appoint/appointment

1. He’s been
appointed to the State Supreme Court.

2. Today in the US the governor may still make
temporary appointments to fill
vacancies that occur in the Senate from his state, with the state
legislature’s permission.

1. It is thought that following the Norman conquest
   ( as the country was gradually brought under centralized
   government) the judges appointed
   by the kings to travel around the land making decisions in the
   King’s name based at least some of their decisions on the common
   custom

Be entitled to

1. Full-time employees are
   entitled to receive health insurance.

2. I’m entitled to know
   why I wasn’t given a job.

3. ‘Local customs’ is the term used where a
   person claims that he is entitled to
   some local rights,
   such as a right of way or a right to use land in a particular way,
   because this is what has always happened locally.

Equity

1. Equity was never
   a comprehensive system of law as was common law, but was for the
   most part a collection of individual rules or principles.

2. If common law was the book, equity
   was a page of errata.

3. Common law also has another meaning, in that it
   is used to distinguish between rules that were developed by the
   common law courts (the King’s courts) and the rules of Equity
   which were developed by the Lord Chancellor and the Chancery courts.

Exercise 2. Fill the spaces in the following
sentences with a suitable expression from Exercise 1

1. In the English-speaking countries …
   is the principle of justice which may
   be used to correct a law when that law would cause hardship in
   special cases.

2. Only members of the company … … … use the
   facilities.

3. Historically, the most important ways were …
   and decisions of judges.

4. A committee was … to consider the plans.

e. Although
customs may develop, they are not part of the law until recognized by
the courts; it is the judges who decide which customs will be
recognized as…

f. You may … … … compensation or loss of
earnings.

g. … is law made by a body other than
Parliament, but with Parliament’s authority.

h. They have to … … the river for their water.

Exercise 3. Find
in the text English equivalents for the following Russian words and
expressions.

общее право,
справедливость, право справедливости
( правосудие на основе права справедливости),
имеющий исковую силу( могущий быть
принудительно осуществлённым в судебном
порядке), судебное решение, право,
выраженное в законах ( статутное право),
преступление по статутному праву

Exercise 4. Translate the following sentences
into English

a. В период до норманнского
завоевания Англии в стране отсутствовала
централизованная правовая система.

b. Право этого периода
представляло собой лишь местные обычаи
патриархальных англосаксонских племен
и сообществ.

c. Правовые обычаи
англосаксов устарели еще во время
правления Вильгельма Завоевателя.
Поэтому исторически очень скоро
укрепляется новая система права, которая
была введена норманнами в противовес
местным правовым обычаям англосаксов.

d. Норманны весьма гордились
тем, что им удалось ввести общее для
всей территории завоеванной страны
право. Отсюда и пошло название английской
системы права – “ общее право “.

e. Завоеватели стремились
установить такую систему, которая
охватывала бы всю страну. Необходимость
централизации власти и централизованных
органов управления определялась
политическими и финансовыми причинами.

f. Все претензии, которые
предъявлялись старому общему праву,
обусловили появление в Англии нового
права – права справедливости.

Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]

• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #
• #