ABSTRACT
Civil or Roman law was assumed to be more concerned with the rights of the ruler than the liberties of the subject, and it was indeed the case that James, in his published writings, put a great deal of emphasis on his royal authority. Judges were appointed by the King, writs ran in his name, and although the creation of new law was a function of Parliament the statutes it made had no validity until the King had signified his assent to them. Parliament, according to Cowell, was the highest of all courts, but it was subordinate to the King, and although he was well advised to use it for the making of laws, such laws could not possibly bind him. Cowell's offence did not consist simply in opening up topics that were best left obscure. As a civil lawyer he had failed to comprehend the complexity of some of the issues he dealt with.
