Law and Ethics

Law in the western world before the 12th Century consisted of written laws called Civil Laws which were traced backed to Roman law. In many countries and the state of Louisiana this basic system still exists today. Common law started to develop in England in 1066 after the Norman conquest of Britain. Common law is different than civil law. During the rein of Henry II in the 1100s court decisions were written down. They were also catalogued according to what type of cases they were. When the courts were called upon to make a decision on a similar issue later then they would review the earlier decisions. If they did find one then the principle of the earlier decision was applied.

This is the doctrine known as stare decisis which is a Latin word meaning “to stand by the decision.” The principle of stare decisis was a strong one and the judges were reluctant to disregard well-established rules. During the colonial period of America the English common law did not really change and was followed. In 1789, the Constitution became the new foundation of America’s legal system which is based upon the common law inherited from England.

With stare decisis