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Laws that develop through case decisions by judges. Not enacted by legislative bodies.
common law， system of law that prevails in England and in countries colonized by England. The name is derived from the medieval theory that the law administered by the king"s courts represented the common custom of the realm， as opposed to the custom of local jurisdiction that was applied in local or manorial courts. In its early development common law was largely a product of three English courts—King"s Bench， Exchequer， and the Court of Common Pleas—which competed successfully against other courts for jurisdiction and developed a distinctive body of doctrine. The term “common law” is also used to mean the traditional， precedent-based element in the law of any common-law jurisdiction， as opposed to its statutory law or legislation， and also to signify that part of the legal system that did not develop out of equity， maritime law， or other special branches of practice.
【注】 普通法指的是由法官的案例判决发展而来的法律，它不同于立法机关颁布的法律。
『笺』 普通法系是当今世界两大法系之一。关于普通法的历史基础和传统在英国法律史学家S·F·C·密尔松的《普通法的历史基础》和美国法理学家卡尔·N·卢埃林的《普通法的传统》中已经说得十分清楚，而对于普通法之所以有如此强大的生命力的根源以及普通法的精神，美国社会法学学派创始人、美国哈佛大学法学院院长罗斯科·庞德（Roscoe·Pound）则在其《普通法的精神》一书中进行了精辟的阐述。
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