common law

¹

[ kom-uhn law ]

noun

1. the system of law originating in England, as distinct from the civil or Roman law and the canon or ecclesiastical law.
2. the unwritten law, especially of England, based on custom or court decision, as distinct from statute law.
3. the law administered through the system of courts established for the purpose, as distinct from equity or admiralty.

common-law

²

[ kom-uhn-law ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or established by common law:

   a common-law spouse.

common law

noun

1. the body of law based on judicial decisions and custom, as distinct from statute law
2. the law of a state that is of general application, as distinct from regional customs
3. common-law modifier denoting a marriage deemed to exist after a couple have cohabited for several years

   common-law wife

   common-law marriage

common law

1. Law developed in the course of time from the rulings of judges, as opposed to law embodied in statutes passed by legislatures ( statutory law ) or law embodied in a written constitution (constitutional law). ( See stare decisis .)

Notes

The importance of common law is particularly stressed in the legal system of Britain , on which the legal system of the United States is based.

Word History and Origins

Origin of common law¹

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Origin of common law²

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Instead, he has a lawyer’s eye for the ways in which legislation and common law have helped shape attitudes about fashion, along with a fan’s sustained curiosity about fashion’s visual language.

From Washington Post

The court rejected the city’s efforts to sue under state nuisance law for damages caused by the companies’ “admittedly legal” production and sale of fossil fuels, and said the city’s federal common law claims were displaced by the Clean Air Act.

From Washington Post

The US and UK often mirror each other because they have a similar common law structure, says Mania.

From MIT Technology Review

Less canonically, “natural marriage” is also at times used as a rough synonym for “common-law marriage.”

From The Daily Beast

Single-parent, same-sex, and common-law families barely penetrated public consciousness, much less the Hebrew lexicon.

From The Daily Beast

Common-law partnerships have their own independent authority and validity.

From The Daily Beast

Common-law partnership makes the couple, and not the government or religious institution, the authority in family life.

From The Daily Beast

Common-law partnership offers privacy and autonomy in a world of increasing intrusion and regulation.

From The Daily Beast

The common law forms much the largest part of the great body of law under which we live.

From Project Gutenberg

Common law means the decisions made by the state and federal courts.

From Project Gutenberg

The common law is therefore always slowly changing like the ocean and is never at rest.

From Project Gutenberg

Again, common law decisions are not binding on the courts that make them like statutes or legislative commands.

From Project Gutenberg

The transfers of property covered by the act are those which the common law regards as fraudulent.

From Project Gutenberg