Unlike
statute law (law enacted by acts of legislature,)
the common law is simple and uncomplicated.
However, the common law's simplicity and
uncomplicated form does not render it weak
or anemic. In fact, the exact opposite is
true. The common law is so powerful because
it is simple to understand and apply, and
because the common law under our system
of law is held to be superior to all other
forms of man's law. The Constitution itself
is a common document and the U.S. Supreme
Court, the highest court in the land, is
a common law court.
The common law came into existence long
before written law or a formalized court
system existed. No earthly ruler handed
the law down to people, or imposed laws
upon them from on high. The people decided
for themselves what was to be the law.
Ages ago people who found themselves in
a lawful dispute over a matter would often
agree to allow an unbiased person to settle
the dispute. Ordinarily this person would
be a mutually respected village elder, community
leader, or spiritual leader. The arbitrator
of the dispute would generally base their
decision upon the religious and moral teachings
of the age and their own common sense.
As a rule, the decisions of these judicial
arbitrators were very much uniform where
the same basic set of circumstances existed.
This was due of course to the judicial arbitrators
having applied the same set of religious
and moral teachings to their decision making
process. After countless times of a particular
matter of dispute having been decided in
the same way by countless judicial arbitrators,
people came to commonly accept those decisions
as being law. People would often say in
regard to commonly accepted judicial decisions
— "that's the law!"
The
common law is truly the law of the people
due to the simple fact that the people themselves
agreed in common upon what the law was to
be. |