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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 (see statute), 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.
All Canada except Quebec and all of the United States except Louisiana follow common law. U.S. state statutes usually provide that the common law, equity, and statutes in effect in England in 1603, the first year of the reign of James I, shall be deemed part of the law of the jurisdiction. Later decisions of English courts have only persuasive authority.
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