Henry II of England

Henry II, also known as Henry Curtmantle, Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, ruled as Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, King of England and Lord

Born: March 5, 1133, Le Mans, France

Died: July 6, 1189, Chinon, France

Spouse: Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry II ruled from 1154 to 1189

Personally interested in government and law, Henry made use of juries and re-introduced the sending of justices (judges) on regular tours of the country to try cases for the Crown. His legal reforms have led him to be seen as the founder of English Common Law.

The third criterion

Sources of law

Exercise 6

Sources of common law

As we have seen in common law precedent is one of the primary sources of law. Further you will see what other sources of common law are.

a) You will have to match the title with its definition. Use the dictionary if necessary.

b) Decide which sources are primary and which are secondary in common law countries

1. constitution	a) a rule designed to govern those to whom it is applied
2. work of authority	b) a systematically arranged and comprehensive collection of laws.
3. statute	c) precedents or court binding decisions
4. regulation	d) a law school publication containing both case summaries written by student members and scholarly articles written by law professors, judges, and attorneys.
5. local ordinances	e) a legal writing, research work considered as a source of information
6. case law	f) series of publications that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts
7. act	g) a law enacted by a legislative body and expressed in a formal document.
8. law review	h) a law, statute, or regulation enacted by a municipal body
9. rule	i) the basic law of a state which sets out how that state will be organized, the powers and authorities of government between different political units, and by stating the basic principles of the society
10. law report	j) established standard, guide, or a principle governing conduct, procedure, or action
11. codes	k) a formal decision, law, or the like, by a legislature, ruler, decree; statute; judgment, resolution

Exercise 7

1. The chart below will show the sources of law in the UK and US (federal jurisdiction and state jurisdiction) after you complete it. Some sources from the above may appear in 2 or three columns.

Don’t forget:

UK – no written constitution but Acts of Parliament;

USA – they have: US Constitution and each state has a constitution; federal legislation and state legislation (codes and statutes)

Case law includes law reports

UK	USA
	Federal	State
…………….. EU legislation ………………….

Decide which the primary sources, and which the secondary sources are.