general Flashcards
three elements of society
- approved by the consent or counsel of the magnates
- approval by the public people
- approval of the king
what is law?
a general command of judicious men, a just sanction ordering virtue and prohibiting its opposite
what is justice?
the constant and unfailing will to give each his right, as under the law
what is jurisprudence?
knowledge of things divine and human, the science of the just and the unjust
science
- science is a principle
science of principles
that from which something comes - drives your actions- principles at a high sense of generality can be examined for application
law and rights
law and rights are complimentary
natural law
that which nature (God) taught all living things
- taught by nature by instinct
- laws of human natures that are accessible to us inherently
- a certain due that nature allows to every man
jus gentium
- the law which men of ALL nations use, which falls short of natural law since it is common to all animate things born on the earth, in the sea, or the air
- a portion of law which applies to rational beings
- from ancient roman legal system - not a body of statute law or legal code, but rather law thought to be held in common by all people
3 main developments for American legal tradition & common law
- development of law as distinct area of study (beginning of specialization)
- found/collects common norms across ppl
- set up a court system (the court of kings bench)
Singer’s “gap fillers”
we cannot write a law for every situation, therefore the common law (gap fillers) fills those holes in the written law
prioritization of common law
if there is no written law, unwritten laws can be used to harmonize the legal system with the natural law.
- implemented through CL principles
prohibitions of the king
- body of law that has been collected and administered by the courts and a king who does not want the disputes to be judged based on the common law collected
- king trying to circumvent the system
coke’s prohibition
- coke issued a prohibition against the high court to prevent the high courts from ruling on the certain class of disputes
- the king does not agree - he states that he thinks the law is based on reason, and that he should be able to rsbly rule on his own
- coke tells king he is not learned in the laws of his realm of england
outcome of coke’s prohibition
coke used the magna carta and Bracton’s philosophy in his argument against the king and was fired
magna carta
- written in favor of free men
- law is built into ppl - evident by ppl seeking to rule themselves and protect themselves
- the king is governed by the same laws as the ppl
magna cartas fundamental norms
- no selling justice
- freedom of the church
- trial by jury of peers
- widows able to keep land and not forced to remarry
- appoint fair and noble judges who know the law (unlike the king)
- Fifth Amendment: law of the land
- venue: accessible courts
- weights and measures
- property rights and inheritance
king james view on parliaments role
king james believed it was parliaments job simply to ratify and create an environment favorable for the collection of revenue James needed to administer and protect the kingdom
coke’s doctrine on parliament
when an act of parliament is against common right or reason, or impossible to be performed, the CL will control and adjudge such act to be void
impartial decision-maker (Bonham case)
coke decided that a person is entitled to an impartial decision-maker
writ of habeas corpus
make a request for the authority by which they are being held prisoner