Some legal commentators have argued that the most important characteristics of the U. legal system are its common law heritage and origins, the role of its written Constitution, and the federal-state division of power. Do you agree or disagree with that view? Based on our reading and discussions, are there other features you think are more important or distinctive? Please explain your reasons.
Most Important Characteristics of Common Law .
To clarify this statement, it is necessary to mention about the characteristics of common law and its origin. Due to Norman Conquest of Britain, the first royal courts were found by virtue of the king council and the first royal judges were usually selected from king's closest advisors who had duties to travel the country to check on local administration and decide disputes in which later their tasks became similarly judicial power that acquired their own jurisdiction and absolutely separated from the council. As a result, royal judges were able to perform their duty as royal courts though the more important case was still judged by the king's court. Having traveling throughout the country, the royal judges gained knowledge of local customary law in each part of the country in which they found that cases of national interest should be decided in according to the same national body of law common to the entire country. In this respect, they had an effort to develop and lay down such body of law by regarding to the local customs that they learned about. Consequently, it can be seen that local law, later, was substituted by common law laid down by royal courts. However, the efforts of the Norman kings to centralize their power over all of England did not go as smoothly as he wished on the ground that he was alleged by the landholders that he used power arbitrality by imposing heavy taxation in which this incident gave rise to eventually force him to sign the Magna Carta.