Common law

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/common-law

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the legal system foundation?Primarily based on judicial precedent and case law
2. What is the historical origin?Developed in England following the Norman Conquest, evolving from customary law
3. Why do judges travel and write down their decisions?Judges travel to hear cases and write their decisions so that other courts can use those decisions as examples for future cases.
4. How does a rule become a rule for everyone?When a higher court decides a case, its decision becomes a rule that lower courts must follow if the facts are the same.

Ratio decidendi: The legal principle or rule of law upon which a judicial decision is based.
Obiter dictum: A judge's remark or observation made in passing, not essential to the decision but potentially persuasive.
Binding precedent: A precedent that a court must follow in deciding a case.
Persuasive precedent: A precedent that a court may consider but is not obligated to follow.