West European Studies

The Magna Carta was introduced on June 15, 1215 by King John. There is no evidence that it was signed, but after King John approved of it, the royal chancery produced many copies that had his seal. Up to date, only four copies were able to survive. Two of them are in the British library, another in Lincoln Cathedral, and the last one in Salisbury Cathedral. This document was created due to the harsh conditions to which the King subjected his people, making them pay high taxes so that he could finance his campaigns. The opposition was against him and pressed for the peoples right, making the King agree to the Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta states that the King is under the law, placing limits to his powers so that he could not be able to torture people again. It also considers the rights of the people by having a clause which states that a person should not be imprisoned or exiled unless approved by the law of the land after judgment. It also touches on the issue of justice saying that it should not be sold, denied to anyone, or delayed under any circumstances. This document also has rules concerning the treatment of widows and heirs. The Magna Carta also provides for uniform measures as far as wine, ale, and cloth are concerned. It also explains the conditions on how to pay debts. Issues of the church and many cities are also considered in the document. It touches on the conduct of local authorities such as Sheriffs and Constables to ensure that they understand and follow the law.

Since the king had been forced to agree to the document, he did all he could to have it banned. He made the pope disagree to it saying that it was just and unlawful and shameful. The protest escalated, resulting in civil war and making the king suffer from dysentery which was followed by his sudden death.

The document was thereafter reissued and confirmed a number of times. It was then known as Magna Carta, meaning the great charter. This document was approved by Sir Edward Coke the chief Justice at that time, calling it the declaratory of the principle grounds of the fundamental laws of England (Baker). Therefore, it was the basis for the petition of rights in 1628. Its clauses are still used today in the English Statute book. The most important of them all is the clause which protects the rights of people, stating that no free man should be imprisoned or exiled without judgment by the law of the land.

Superior Courts of Common Law
The common law was the law that was generally practiced in England. This law was developed in order to punish those that did any wrongful acts known as torts. These acts could be either international or any acts resulting from ignorance and negligence. The common law uses case-based reasoning and the procedure practiced in the law courts is called adversarial system. This law was developed in England in the period between 12th and 13th century and the decisions were based on tradition and common practices of the people.

Before the Norman conquest of 1066 in England, there were no law courts. County courts which were led by a bishop or sheriff were responsible for administering of justice. In this case, they exercised not only civil but also ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This was also the origin of the trial by jury process. In 1154, Henry who was the King at that time institutionalized the use of common law. He did this by creating a unified system of law, bringing local control to an end, and bringing the jury system where any person responsible for criminal investigations is sworn by oath. The jury also evaluated common knowledge without presentation of effort something which is not practical today.

The King also started a practice where Judges could be sent from the central court and visit many parts of the country to hear several cases. They would then return to London where they discussed the various disputes they had heard and the decisions each had made. The decisions would then be recorded and filed. Later, the rule of precedence came, whereby in the event that similar cases existed, the judge was supposed to follow the judgment done by the previous judge and not make his own decisions. Through this method, the decisions to be made remained constant. As a result, the local customs method was replaced by the common system of law governing the entire country, hence bringing about the name common law.

However, this unified system of law brought about conflicts especially in the Church under the leadership of Thomas Becket who was later murdered, and people believed that the murder was under Henrys rule. This however was debatable but at the time of the murder, the King and Thomas had serious disputes regarding the issue that courts should exercise jurisdiction and not the clergymen. This murder resulted in more conflict, forcing Henry to repeal the laws making the church accountable for all secular crimes. Despite this, common law operated for a long time until statutory law was introduced by the legislative council. Examples of the laws which have been replaced include the criminal law and commercial law.

The Court of Chancery and Equity
The court of chancery was made up of the crowns secretarial department and the Catholic clergy men who were the chancellors. The judicial power of this body began to be recognized in the 15th century .The issue of equity was not yet clearly defined. This is clearly shown when J.C. Holt says Equity as a body of rules varied from chancellor to chancellor, until the end of 17th century. In time, it was only lawyers who could be appointed in the office of chancellor.

Previously, it had been said that in efforts to remove anyone who had forcefully acquired land belonging to another person, one could allege dispossession and pay for the writ of entry. This writ enabled one to repossess his or her land and also get compensation. In order to restrict invention of new writs by judges, the legislature recommended that judges would be given the power to issue only a single writ at a time. This was clearly stated in a package known as form of action. People began to petition the King for relief, and in time, the petitions increased, making the king transfer the task to the Lord Chancellor. The chancellors were then required to pass judgments which were based on morals together with equality. This resulted in diverse decisions since the chosen chancellors had no legal training.

This issue was later solved when Thomas More became the Chancellor. He made sure that all future chancellors were lawyers who had legal training. As a result, all records of the proceedings were kept bringing about equitable doctrines. The law of equity was developed, resulting in conflicts with the common law. Such conflicts would be in cases where Litigants would go jurisdiction shopping and would often seek an equitable injunction prohibiting the enforcement of a common law court order (Holt). Another case was where Sir Edward Coke who was the chief justice by then started issuing writs that required that people who had been imprisoned because of breaking chancery orders be released.

This case was later solved by Sir Francis Bacon who was the attorney general at that time. He said that in cases of conflict between common law and equity, equity would win (Baker). The courts of common law and equity were later fused together forming one system. However, it was only the administration that was combined as there still is a body of rules of equity far much different from that of common law rules. The Judicature act was thereafter established, stating that there would be no different procedures for seeking pardon upon breaking of equitable or common laws. This formed the basis of court structure in England, till today. Despite being implemented by the same courts, a big difference still remains between the two branches and in cases of conflicts, equity is given priority.