On Common Laws

The term "common law" is typically taken to refer to the system of judge-made law emanating from England. This new study, from the author of Legal Traditions of the World the leading comparative law textbook, examines the influence of different and more widespread forms of common law. These common laws existed as parallel sources of law and legal interpretation alongside the particular laws of European nations (including England, Germany, France and Holland) and regions (Tuscany, Naples, Piedmont and Lombardy). While these common laws originated in Europe they have today become transnational in character and play a major role on all continents, and many countries contribute to their development. They play a major role in all areas of law, from transnational commercial law to international human rights.

H. Patrick Glenn is the Peter M. Laing Professor of Law, McGill University and a former Director of McGill's Institute of Comparative Law. He is a Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has been a Bora Laskin Fellow in Human Rights Research, a Killam Research Fellow, and a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. His book Legal Traditions of the World (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2004) won the Grand Prize of the International Academy of Comparative Law.