ABSTRACT
England's common law is the footing for American law as well, and for all major English-speaking countries—with the interesting exception of Scotland, where the legal system for most part is civil law, Roman in its roots. This chapter discusses the advantages of the common law. Also the common law must be distinguished from the civil law, derived from Roman law, which prevails in the greater part of the European continent. The common law is founded upon the assertion of the supremacy of law: that is, as Bracton and other medieval scholars in the law expressed it, even the king himself was "under the law". Between 1765 and 1769, while North American subjects of George III vehemently were making known their displeasure with the policies of the king's ministers, William Blackstone published the four volumes of his Commentaries on the Laws of England. The Supreme Court of the United States has been America's chief means for giving legal security to rights.
