What is meant by the common law that originated in England during the Middle Ages?

One of the earliest common law works to appear in England was Granville's Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England (1186);

the second was Brackton's Laws and Customs of England (1250);

the third was Littleton's Treatise on the Law of the Land.

Three basic forms of English law were developed in the Middle Ages - common law, equity, and enactment.

(Common law is the foundation and main component of English law, embodying the basic characteristics of English law - therefore, English law is called common law)

(a) Formation of the common law that prevailed throughout the country:

The earliest work on the common law that appeared in England was Granville's Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England (1186), which was the first to appear in England. Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England (1186);

The second was Brackton's Laws and Customs of England (1250);

and the third was Littleton's Treatise on the Laws of the Land.

The above authoritative works are regarded as one of the sources of English law, and are binding to become the basis for court cases.

(ii) The emergence of a unique form of English law ----- Equity:

Reasons for the emergence of Equity:

a. The stereotypical rigidity of the common law litigation program.

b, The content of the common law was not adapted to objective needs.

In English law, a legal system was formed in which two kinds of law, common law and equity, two kinds of courts and two kinds of litigation procedures coexisted.

Equity is to make up for the vacuity of the common law obsolete.

The principle of the primacy of equity - established in the 17th century;

Courts of equity were incorporated into the "Supreme Court" along with the common law courts - at the end of the 18th century. --The end of the rivalry and conflict between the two.

(C) Law-making:

Edward I - legislated a lot - known as the Justinian of England.

Magna Carta (1215) - one of the most important pieces of medieval English lawmaking.

Characteristics of English enactment:

a. In the whole system of English law, enactment plays only a secondary role, and it serves only to supplement, explain, or reaffirm case law.

b.The effect of enactments takes precedence over case law.

c.Enactment can become one of the constituent parts of English law only through its application by judges in trial practice.

English law divides property into "property in rem" and "property in personam".

(C) Trusts

Trusts are a legal system peculiar to English law. P104

The trust system in English law arose in the mid-13th century.

It was only in 1284 that the first Statute of Westminster made it clear in legislative form that an action for breach of contract could be used to bind any agreement or promise.

There were two main forms of contracting in feudal England:

1. Formal contract - no consideration also has legal effect;

2. Informal contract / or short-form contract - no consideration has no legal effect.

(i) Family Law

Marriage was considered a religious sacrament and divorce was generally not allowed.

By the 14th century, a system of crimes of treason, felonies, and misdemeanors had evolved in English criminal law - and remained in use until the capitalist period.

(ii) Henry II made a series of major reforms to the judicial system

Dividing the royal courts into:

a. Courts of Queen's Bench - heard criminal cases

b. Courts of Common Pleas - Hear civil cases

c.The Court of the Chessboard (or Court of the Treasury) - Hear cases concerning the King's finances.

(iii) Creation of the large and small juries

(iv) The institution of magistrates was established in the 14th century under Edward III