Sir Edward Coke & His Contribution to English Jurisprudence

Abstract

Bacon and Shakespeare: what they were to philosophy and literature, Coke was to the common law. Sir Edward Coke was the oracle and ornament of the common law; a lawyer of prodigious learning, untiring industry and singular acumen, with an accurate knowledge of human nature. He was a judge of perfect purity, a patriotic and independent statesman and a man of upright life. And his writings have had more influence upon the law than those of any other law writer - certainly in England - who ever lived. He loved the common law and fought for it against those who would curtail its scope and jurisdiction, including the king himself, but he never denied the truth of their philosophical premises. This paper shall first, briefly discuss the events of Coke’s life; secondly, shall provide an account of his stubborn fight to limit the King’s prerogative powers and eventually the great influence which his writings and career have had on the development of English law and jurisprudence.