Is natural law a type of common law? Is natural law a type of common law?
No, Natural law is not a type or subset of Common Law Natural Law is derived from what some person thinks is a logical and obvious rule, or what some person thinks is God's Law. There are many versions and varieties of natural law, and there is no wide agreement on what it does or does not specify. Common law is derived from the judgements of the Royal Courts in England (later Great Britain, still later the UK) roughly during the period 1250-1850. (After that it continued to develop as case law, but major changes were usually statutory, although not always as a comment by Martin Bonner points out.) It started with a rough distillation of then widespread customary law, ultimately traceable to Germanic and Norman traditional law. Supposedly, common law had been in force &quot;since the memory of man runs not to the contrary&quot; and judges did not create it but merely &quot;discovered&quot; it. Common law was then expanded and altered over the centuries by the decisions of judges of the common-law courts in individual cases, primarily the court of the King's Bench, the court of the Exchequer, and the court of Common Pleas. It also included some rules derived from statutes, particularly early ones, such as those of King Henry II. Later statutes could and did alter the rules of common law. Technically such altered rules became &quot;statutory law&quot; not strictly part of the common law, but where they dealt with matters handled by the common-law courts, they were often considered to be part of the common law in an informal sense, as they were laws taught to the lawyers (barristers) who practiced in the common-law courts. Common law was distinguished from several other kinds of law: Local customary law: the law used in local courts, particularly Hundred courts and Shire courts, but also the courts of local lords. This law varied from place to place, and was largely derived from &quot;ancient local custom&quot; supplemented by Royal and noble charters. Church law: the law used in church courts, which had jurisdiction over wills and land owned by the church, laws on Sunday observance and several other things, as well as the discipline of priests and other clerics. Admiralty law the law of ships and seagoing matters. It covered salvage, disposition of captured enemy ships and cargo (prize law), maritime insurance, mutinies and crimes aboard ships, and other nautical matters. In the seventeenth century Lord Justice Coke fought to reduce its jurisdiction in favor of common-law courts. Justice Story, of the US Marshall Court (1800-1835), fought to reverse Coke's changes on this point in US law. Law Merchant: law specifically for cases between merchants. It dealt with specifically commercial issues, and was eventually merged into the common law. Piepowder law: Special law for the dealings of foot peddlers. (The name comes from a Norman French term meaning &quot;dusty feet&quot;.) It also was eventually merged into the common law. Prerogative law: law derived from the direct authority of the King, particularly as exercised by the Court of the Star Chamber. It was widely regarded as tyrannical and was largely abolished by the English Civil War and its aftermath. Feudal law: Law dealing with the holding and inheritance of land under feudal tenure (largely knight's service, but other kinds too) and with other aspects of feudal rights, privileges, and obligations. It slowly became largely obsolete as less and less land was so held. Equity: Law developed by the Lords Chancellor of England (later Great Britain), intended to modify injustice worked by inflexible parts of the Common Law, but eventually becoming rather stiff itself. It was merged into the common law at different times in the US and the UK, but generally during the 1800s. The modern remedy of injunction is derived from equity. Statute Law Law directly derived from acts of the legislature -- Acts of Parliament in England/Great Britain/the UK. Civil Law: Law largely in force in Europe, partly derived from Roman law or Roman legal concepts, mixed with various local customary laws, and later much influenced by the Napoleonic Code. Modern EU law is considered a part of Civil Law. Civil law varies between different countries, and is at least as large and complex a subject as common law. It is also a subject I know less about. International Law: Law derived from treaties and other intentional agreements, and the traditional customs of dealing between countries (mostly in Europe). None of the above are &quot;natural law&quot; although in some cases natural law concepts influenced legislators and judges. There is some conceptual similarity between natural law and early common law, in that both looked to a supposedly pre-existing but unwritten law But natural law generally attempted to apply over-arching, top-down logical or theological rules, while common law was built up from low-level, decisions on individual cases, and then derived rules from these individual decisions. A version of natural law concepts, derived from Enlightenment philosophers, particularly Locke, influenced the drafters of the Constitution. (See Gary Wills, Explaining America; See also the Wikipedia article on Natural Law, linked above). But that was quite different in style and content from recent versions of natural law, which are usually aimed at imposing theological rules and abolishing secular rights which would hinder this process. (See How acceptable (mainstream/marginal) is the discussion about replacing the human rights with the natural law and to delete human rights chapters? and the link in the question for examples.) Moreover, different authors who advocate natural law do not agree on what that law is or should be. The above is only a very brief summery. Anyone interested should read more widely. I recommend The Law of the Land: The Evolution of Our Legal System by Charles Rembar (1980) e-book version by Open Road Media. It is a history of law written by a once-prominent practicing US lawyer, intended for those who are neither historians nor lawyers. In my view it is particularly well-written. There are, however, quite a few books available on the history of the common law.
You're thinking of legalism. It can have different meanings -- especially in Chinese legal/philosophical history -- but is the best match to the concept you're describing.
The author of a text or essay may cite in whatever order s/he thinks best. It m,ay be that a basic text gives a better and clearer overview than any actual case, and so is worth citing first. It is true that actual case law is often more authoritative than a statute, and cases and statutes are normally more authoritative than any text or essay, but there is no rule binding on an author to cite in any particular order, although citing the actual law first may be the common practice. When writing a brief or a court decision there may be standards of citation that are enforced.
Both Napoleonic and Germanic law are subdivisions of Civil Law and both are inheritors of late empire Roman Law plus ecclesiastical law and traditional law. The main differences between them are their route from the Roman Empire to the modern world. Napoleonic law was codified in 1804 under Napoleon I, unsurprisingly; and drew together the feudal laws of France. Germanic law came through the various Germanic tribes and was codified at various times and in various places. Do these historical distinctions matter? Probably not; they are both code based laws so you must know the code for the particular jurisdiction. However, knowing the origin of the code, while it may not help you draft a contract, will allow you to understand the mode of thought and jurisprudence behind the laws. In a way, it is like the difference between understanding languages and understanding linguistics.
Finding Certainty There is only one way for certain: Do the supposedly unlawful thing Get sued (civil) or prosecuted (criminal) Go to court - if you win it wan't illegal If you lose, appeal to the next appellate court in the chain In one of those courts refuses to hear your appeal - it was illegal Repeat as necessary until you reach the Supreme Court - if you win it wan't illegal If you lose or the Supreme Court refuses to hear your appeal - it was illegal. Of course, this whole cycle will take a few years and quite a lot of money. Not certain but persuasive Consult a lawyer: their area of expertise is knowing what the law is and how it will likely apply to your circumstances. Of course, they can be wrong about this because - see above. Why is this so hard? Common law jurisdictions, of which Florida is an example, do not have a "Code of Laws" where you can look things up and see if they are legal or illegal. The Common Law in Florida is partially enacted law (by the US, Florida, County, City and finally your housing corporation) and partially unenacted law (decisions made by courts about both the enacted and unenacted law). In fact, enacted law is usually quite ambiguous until it has a body of unenacted (or case) law that surrounds it and provides guidance on how the courts will interpret it. Part of a lawyers skill is knowing (within their area of expertise) what the relevant case and statute law is with respect to the specific facts of the case, or knowing how to research them. Publish and be damned! You can always take the Duke of Wellingtons approach. In common law jurisdictions, everything is legal unless there is a law (enacted or unenacted) that makes it otherwise. If you do not believe that the action you wish to take is illegal then advise the other party that you will give them 24 hours to come back with a court injunction to prohibit it, otherwise you will proceed. You can't call a bluff harder than this!
Unless there is a law or regulation against it, it is legal. However in a big government it can be practically impossible to determine whether something is legal. For example, nobody even knows how many criminal statutes have been promulgated by the U.S. federal government. And that's nothing compared to the volume of executive regulation and judicial case-law that determines whether something is illegal. I.e., in practice determining that something is legal is a bit like proving a negative. Furthermore, if you look long enough some argue that you can probably find some law under which almost any action could be considered illegal. Note also that even if it is not against the law, it could be proscribed by contract (read your Terms and Conditions!), and breach of contract is in general &ndash; but with an astonishing number of exceptions! &ndash; illegal.
If you say something twice, eventually they’ll be in conflict Law codes are vast. They deal with many things and sometimes, as here, they deal with the same thing twice. If they duplicated themselves, rather than cross-referencing, every time the law was changed, every single instance would have to be tracked down and changed. Admittedly, that is not as big a problem with digital codes (but still not infallible and definitely time-consuming) but when these would have to be found by hand, it was damn near impossible. Written this way, change it once and it’s changed everywhere. My first boss taught me that. The fired was engineering rather than law but the principle is the same.
It is not the court's function to educate you in the law and civil procedure. If you don't know then the onus is on you to learn at whatever cost that comes at in time and money. You have a right to justice - you don't have a right to zero cost justice. Just like having a right to bear arms doesn't entitle you to a free gun.