ABSTRACT
Edward Coke viewed the common law with its origin and basis in Magna Carta as a restraint on the powers of the monarchy and various other governmental bodies including the Parliament. At various times, he was attorney general for the queen, chief justice both of the Court of Common Pleas and of the King's Bench, and a member and a speaker of the House of Commons. Among other publications, he authored a four-volume commentary on English law entitled Institutes of the Laws of England in which in the Second Institute he interpreted King Henry III's 1225 Magna Carta, elevating it to very high status in English law. The better explanation of Coke's ideology is that he believed, along with many others during his life, in the supremacy of fundamental laws protecting individuals in the rights of life, liberty, and property.
