Abstract
The paper discusses several characteristics of the US legal system that rest upon English legal heritage, brought from England to North America by the first colonists. The author starts from the premise that constant modifications of basic principles of English common law system and legal and judicial practice gave rise to a specific US legal system that has a dual nature, based on common law principles on the one hand and the letter of the written law on the other.1 The paper also analyzes the legacy of the philosophical system of John Locke on natural rights, the status of property and the government on establishing American political and legal thought, embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
Highlights
Legacy of English Common LawThe supremacy of law influenced establishment of the institute of judicial review[7]
The paper discusses several characteristics of the US legal system that rest upon English legal heritage, brought from England to North America by the first colonists
The author starts from the premise that constant modifications of basic principles of English common law system and legal and judicial practice gave rise to a specific US legal system that has a dual nature, based on common law principles on the one hand and the letter of the written law on the other.[1]
Summary
The supremacy of law influenced establishment of the institute of judicial review[7] It remained a fundamental principle in the US legal order as well, but here each individual legal situation required additional observation and conclusions, since the system of written laws developed in parallel with the common law system, especially at the federal level. English doctrine of precedent is a dominant legal practice in the USA, the common law tradition was not taken over in full, due to a number of reasons: colonists resisting English institutions, lack of educated jurists, many procedures and legal practices ill adjusted to the conditions of colonial life, dynamic social and economic development of the colonies, and later of the US as well.
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