What is Common Law

Common law is a law system which prevails in England, U.S., Canada, Australia and many other generally English-speaking countries. Common law is developed from the precedents made by courts or quasi-judicial tribunals.

Common law is different from statutory law. The latter is enacted by a legislature or promulgated by executive branch agencies pursuant to a delegation of rule-making authority from a legislature. Common law is also different from Civil law, many of which descend from the Code of Napoleon in which the weight on judicial precedents is much less. Common law is different from equity too. Equity was developed to soften the harsh effects of judicial precedent or legislature, to establish different procedures to ensure a just result for a particular case, in which the common law remedies were not available.

The main alternative to the common law system is the civil law system, which is used a lot in continental Europe. However, the opposition between the common law and civil law system has become increasingly blurred with the growing importance of jurisprudence in civil law countries and the growing importance of statute law and codes in common law countries. What does a judge do in common law system?

Judges apply inductive legal reasoning, deriving general principles or rules of law from precedents or a series of specific decisions and extracting an applicable rule, which is then applied to a particular case. The role of judges, as the managers of the trial and the referee of the lawyers acting in an adversary role, is secondary. On the contrary, lawyers are the prime players in the process, introducing evidence and cross-examining witnesses. What does a legal professional do in common law system?

The study of the law is almost always post graduate. The law student is exposed to other disciplines prior to the matriculation in a law school. This can perhaps help lead to a greater social consciousness and a better understanding of the purposes and functions of law and its application.

普通法是什么

普通法是一种在英国、美国、加拿大、澳大利亚和许多其他一般讲英语的国家盛行的法律制度。普通法是从法院或准司法法庭的判例发展而来的。

普通法不同于成文法。后者由立法机构颁布，或由行政部门机构根据立法机构授予的制定规则权力颁布。普通法也不同于大陆法系，大陆法系的许多法律源自拿破仑法典，在该法典中，司法判例的分量要小得多。普通法也不同于衡平法。发展公平是为了减轻司法先例或立法机关的严厉影响，确立不同的程序，以确保在没有普通法补救办法的特定案件中取得公正的结果。

大陆法系是英美法系的主要选择，大陆法系在欧洲大陆使用较多。然而，随着大陆法系国家法理学的日益重要性和英美法系国家成文法和法典的日益重要性，英美法系和大陆法系之间的对立日益模糊。

法官在普通法制度下做什么？ 法官运用归纳性法律推理，从先例或一系列具体裁决中得出一般原则或法律规则，并提取适用规则，然后适用于特定案件。法官的作用是次要的，因为法官是审判的管理人员，而律师则是以对抗角色行事的裁判。相反，律师是这一过程的主要参与者，他们介绍证据和盘问证人