Legal traditions within a country are important to understand because they are directly related to the type of justice system the country will formalize. The United States criminal justice system is known to have derived from the Common Law legal tradition, which is one of the four major families of law (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 42). It should be noted that most legal traditions originated from the type of religion practiced in the region or country. Originally Common Law originated from when William the Conqueror captured England and became its King. He faced difficulty trying to rule his subjects as he was French, and due to some other anticipated obstacles when conquering a country. However, Common Law was truly established when
…show more content…
This practice can be seen today when judges base their rulings upon previous verdicts that had been made in a similar case, and then cite the case law that supports their decision. After a while, these precedents became known to all Englishmen as “common law” (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). Dammer and Albanese go on to explain that rules which all men where expected to abide by, were established based upon the Common Law. Subsequently, “a tradition of judicial independence arose[,]” which will be explained in more depth below (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). However, Common Law based courts did not succeed for long, and “[b]y the fifteenth century, a new set of courts, known as chancery courts, or equity courts, had developed.” (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). Basically, what equity courts were meant to achieve is a fair resolution while not being bound to the complexity of the Common Law system. However, eventually, equity court judges also became judicially independent and the English King needed to come up with a new way of maintaining his power over legal matters (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 50). Nevertheless, after some time, the idea of judicial independence was not so threatening to the Crown, and it became normalized. Subsequently, criminal procedure within Common Law was established as best described
This practice can be seen today when judges base their rulings upon previous verdicts that had been made in a similar case, and then cite the case law that supports their decision. After a while, these precedents became known to all Englishmen as “common law” (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). Dammer and Albanese go on to explain that rules which all men where expected to abide by, were established based upon the Common Law. Subsequently, “a tradition of judicial independence arose[,]” which will be explained in more depth below (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). However, Common Law based courts did not succeed for long, and “[b]y the fifteenth century, a new set of courts, known as chancery courts, or equity courts, had developed.” (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 49). Basically, what equity courts were meant to achieve is a fair resolution while not being bound to the complexity of the Common Law system. However, eventually, equity court judges also became judicially independent and the English King needed to come up with a new way of maintaining his power over legal matters (Dammer and Albanese, 2014, p. 50). Nevertheless, after some time, the idea of judicial independence was not so threatening to the Crown, and it became normalized. Subsequently, criminal procedure within Common Law was established as best described