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Common law

About: Common law is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 30135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 280701 citations. The topic is also known as: judicial precedent & judge-made law.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In particular, while there is not much evidence that common law countries protect financial investors better than civil law countries, the authors find support for the assumption that financial investors are treated differently across legal families.
Abstract: The 'theory of law and finance' argues that the common law system provides a better framework for financial development and economic growth than the civil law tradition. This paper identifies a number of problems that cast doubt on the soundness of the empirical basis of this literature. However, this analysis supports the idea that the legal tradition is a major factor in shaping corporate law. In particular, while there is not much evidence that common law countries protect financial investors better than civil law countries I find support for the assumption that financial investors are treated differently across legal families.

73 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the theory of the common law, these opinions are the law; they stand in the center of the legal system as mentioned in this paper, and their power is enhanced by common law doctrine that links them in a chain of influence and causation-the doctrine of precedent.
Abstract: Appellate court opinions, carefully indexed and preserved in law libraries, are a tremendous resource for historians and social scientists. In the theory of the common law, these opinions are the law; they stand in the center of the legal system. Their power is enhanced by the common law doctrine that links them in a chain of influence and causation-the doctrine of precedent. Their precedential value means that they are also powerful resources for the practicing lawyer-often the basic material with which he works. But these appellate opinions also are crucial documents for any study of judicial culture. The reasoning of the judges, over the years, reveals judges' notions of law and of the judicial role; it is an essential window into the legal culture of the judges. The style of opinions is as good an indicator as we have of what counts as sound legal reasoning for any given era. Even objective aspects of judicial opinions can be revealing, as Merryman's studies of California citation since 1950 and Goutal's work on opinion length show.' Moreover, a more policy-oriented conception of the judicial role arguably could be re-

73 citations

Book
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, van der Walt et al. argued that regulatory deprivation of property is constitutionally unassailable, without compensation, even when it causes loss of value for the property holder, provided the regulatory action was properly authorized, administrative justice principles were adhered to and the effects of the regulatory actions are not arbitrary, excessive or disproportionately unfair.
Abstract: In constitutional property law, questions about the validity of regulatory control over the use and exploitation of property are decided with reference to the deprivation provision in section 25(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, as interpreted in FNB (First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Commissioner, South African Revenue Service; First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Minister of Finance 2002 (4) SA 768 (CC)). The general policing power or regulatory principle adopted in this decision means that state regulation of the use and exploitation of property (such as land use planning, regulatory control over the development of or building on land, and conservation of the environment) is regarded as a legitimate exercise of state regulatory power that does not require compensation. Accordingly, regulatory deprivation of property is constitutionally unassailable, without compensation, even when it causes loss of value for the property holder, provided the regulatory action was properly authorized, administrative justice principles were adhered to and the effects of the regulatory action are not arbitrary, excessive or disproportionately unfair (see the cases discussed in AJ van der Walt Constitutional Property Law 3 ed (2011) 213-18; more recent case law is discussed below).

73 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that credible but unproven statements may play an important role in satisfying the standard of proof in asylum cases, and that the credibility threshold of a claim can be set much lower than that of a proven claim.
Abstract: Assessing credibility is a legitimate and significant step in determining refugee status, but the term ‘credibility’ is employed with a range of descriptive intentions and legal consequences. It may be used loosely to express the strength of the case, or it may be given a very specific role in relation to the admissibility of the applicant's unsupported statements as evidence. By introducing some basic concepts from the law of evidence, the threshold of ‘credible’ can be set much lower than ‘proven’. It is shown that credible but unproven statements may play an important role in satisfying the standard of proof in asylum cases. This article takes as its starting point the UK's ‘Asylum Policy Instruction’ (API) on credibility. APIs are statements of the government's asylum policy, and are followed by asylum ‘case owners’ and other decision makers. Although well-intentioned, the API runs the risk of confusing credibility and proof. In order to explore the issues of credibility and proof, this article analyses the API itself, the UK's primary legislation, Immigration Rules, and case law, EU law, and guidance provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR).

73 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202358
2022195
2021460
2020774
2019920
2018981