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Pros And Cons Of The Common Law System

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The common law systems is a legal system which is founded not on laws created by legislatures but is law that is advanced by judges, courts and similar tribunals. Moreover, common law is based on custom, culture, tradition, and previous judicial pronouncements from all over the world. Their quantified decisions ostensibly decide distinct cases and also have a precedential effect on future cases. Lord Justice Sedley opined; ‘the common law, like the god Janus, is for ever facing both the future and the past…the common law likes to travel back to the future, looking constantly for precedents that will blunt the edge of the anxiety that it is sacrificing stability on the altar of innovation.’ This eloquent comment perfectly describes the considerable durability and fortitude of the common law in being a warehouse of the collective experience and wisdom of a nation’s judiciary over centuries. The primary concern surrounding common law is the tension between the appeal for absolute confidence in judgments and the requirement for versatility. The common law system is also criticised for moving too lackadaisical due to it being reactive to changes in litigation and because judges of late do not see their purpose as bringing extensive reforms. Frederick Schauer, a professor of law at Virginia University, opines that the common law’s infatuation with stare decisis ‘are all located in the vicinity of the related ideas of stability, reliance and proportionality.’ He also goes on to
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