Common law and equity

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Common law and equity

Assignment1

To describe the differences between common law and equity, I first have to describe what common law is and were it originated from.

The English legal system is based on Norman law and is a common law system. Before the Norman conquest different areas of England were governed by different systems of law that were made by past rulers or invaders who settled in that area. When William I invaded England in 1066ad he found England to have no single system of law. Law was mainly sets of customary rules, which differed from area to area i.e. Manchester would have different rules to Newcastle. The legal system consisted of local courts known as the BOUROUGH, SHIRE and HUNDRED COURTS; there was no such thing as a nationwide English law. The invasion of William the conqueror in 1066 was to mark the beginning of law system that we know today.

        When William began his law reform he did not get rid of all the customary laws that he found instead he used these as the foundation of his new “ English law” system. He introduced what was known as the feudal system under which all land belonged to the king. As the king owned all the land in the country he could give pieces of his land out to selected barons at his discretion, in return the barons would grant him services. William made himself available to any landholder who had a dispute or problem and who could not get a solution to his problem from his lord. When people took their problems directly to the king it was known as KINGS JUSTICE and was made available to individuals irrespective of were they lived. I the beginning, the king’s justice was administered by the CURIA REGIS or king’s court, which was like a board of councillors. Williams plan for a common law system was finally coming together on a nationwide scale. In the 13th century written records were kept and this put a definitive stamp on any judgement so that no one could argue with the authority of the court. In 1250 the common law system had developed so that in applied to the whole of the country.

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        At first it was thought that the common law system was fair. This soon became not true because people began to think that it was too rigid and fixed.

The problems with the common law system was that a civil action could only be started by way of a writ, this explained why and on what legal basis was the person being sued. The problem with the writ was that it had to fit an existing writ. The only remedy available from the common law system was compensation or money; this was not always what was needed.

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