Outline the Development of Common Law and Equity

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Outline the development of Common Law and Equity. Common Law is a mixture of customs and judicial decisions, a series of decisions we are bound to follow. Equity means fairness and it is there to stop Common law from being unfair. There was no national English Legal System before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The laws were made up of customary rules, which are different in each area. These are rules of behaviour which develop in a community without being deliberately invented. The customary rules were made by the previous invaders who had settled there. William I had laid the basis for the development of the Common Law by making an invasion in 1066. He had made himself the owner of all land. He started the ‘King’s Justice’, which meant that people were allowed to apply to him directly to solve any disputes that the local Lords couldn’t solve. The applicants would do this by filling out a ‘writ’ outlining there reason. People got justice from the ‘Curia Regis’. This is where the King’s advisors would help the King reach a decision. The Curia Regis applied a system of rules which applied to the whole country and this became known as the Common Law. To help him, William I appointed Itinerant Justices who travelled around the country to solve disputes, and make decisions in his name. The decisions that were made were based on the local customs of that area. However, not all customs could be accepted as law, so they had a test that they would do and whichever custom was accepted became law. The test was set by four rules: 1. “The custom must have existed since time immemorial”. 2. “The custom must have been exercised peaceably, openly and as of right”. 3. “The custom must be definite as to locality, nature and scope” 4. “the custom must be reasonable” By about 1250 the Common Law had developed that applied to the whole country and in a
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