Comparative Legal System Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Comparative Legal System - Article Example During the early centuries, the judges and justices were responsible for adapting the Writ system to meet everyday needs, and the application of a mixture of common sense and precedent in order to create a body of internally consistent law. For example, the Law Merchant began in the Pie-Powder Courts (a corruption of the French "pieds-poudr's" or "dusty feet", meaning ad hoc marketplace courts). "As Parliament developed in strength, and subject to the doctrine of separation of powers, legislation gradually overtook judicial law making so that, today, judges are only able to innovate in certain very narrowly defined areas. Time before 1189 was defined in 1276 as being time immemorial." (English law English law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_law) According to Mary Ann Glendon, "Reception of a legal system depends upon the fusion of the local culture with that of the settling nation ... Where a cultural assimilation has occurred, the English common law has shown remarkable capaci ty for adaptation." (Mary Ann Glendon et al 1999) During the British Empire, Britain exported its legal system to various countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, including the United States, and many aspects of the British legal system have persisted since the withdrawal of the British. English law before the Independence Wars still has an influence on the law in the United States, and English law provides the basis for some American policies and legal traditions. Many states that were formerly subject to English law (such as Australia) continue to recognise a link to English law - subject, of course, to statutory modification and judicial revision to match the law to local conditions - and decisions from the English law reports continue to be cited from time to time as persuasive authority in present day judicial opinions. For a few states, the British Privy Council remains the ultimate court of appeal (English_law http://www.smso.net/English_law)Similarly, because the UK remains a strong international trading nation, "international consistency of decision making is of vital importance, so the Admiralty is strongly influenced by Public International Law and the modern commercial treaties and conventions regulating shipping" (http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/English-law) As former colonists of Great Britain, the Founding Fathers of the United States tended to adopt much of the British legal system. The United States, Great Britain and Wales all have a law that is made by courts (common law) rather than laws handed down by a monarch or some other central governmental authority such as a legislature. The jury, a panel of ordinary citizens chosen to decide a case, is an integral part of our common-law system. Use of juries to decide cases, is a distinguishing feature of the American legal system. Few other countries in the world use juries as we do in the United States. Over the centuries, many people have believed that juries in most cases reach a fairer and more just result than would be obtained using a judge alone, as many