Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
The US is indeed a common law country, and the doctrine of precedent applies. For instance, Exeter University gives its list of common law countries and the requirements for those with a bachelors degree in law from that university to practice in those other countries here:
http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/l...nlawcountries/
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No idea what definition of common law you are using, but the definition of common law that I'm familiar with is
"the part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes. Often contrasted with statutory law."
The US is for the most part a statutory law country, i.e. the law is defined by the legislature, not a common law, i.e. the law is defined by custom and judicial precedent. Judges may decide what a statute means and how to apply it, but in general they don't make it up whole cloth (there are exceptions).
There are some aspects of US law which is common law (tort law as an example), and yes US judges do looks at precedents to decide what a law means. However, it is also common for the legislature to clarify the law when a judge interprets the law in a, shall we say, unexpected manner.