The Qur'an and the Common Law: Islamic Law Reform and the Theory of Legal Change

This chapter examines the history of case-law, legislation, and equity, with particular reference to legal change. The common law was evidenced by judicial precedent, but single decisions were not binding until the nineteenth century. It was also rooted in professional understanding, the ‘common learning’ acquired in the inns of court. It was based on ‘reason’, operating within a rigid procedural framework. Legal change could be effected by fictions, equity, and legislation, but (except during the Interregnum) there was little systematic reform before the nineteenth century. Legislation was external to the common law, but it had to be interpreted by common-law judges and so there was a symbiotic relationship between statute-law and case-law. Codification has sometimes been proposed, but with limited effect.

19. The doctrine of frustration

Koffman & Macdonald's Law of Contract ◽

10.1093/he/9780198752844.003.0019 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Macdonald ◽

Ruth Atkins ◽

Jens Krebs

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Law Reform ◽

Islamic Republic ◽

Islamic Republic Of Iran ◽

Commercial Purpose ◽

The Common ◽

The Law

This chapter investigates the scope of the doctrine of frustration which was developed to deal with cases where events occur after a contract is made which render the agreement illegal, or impossible to perform, or which fundamentally change the nature of the obligations undertaken by the parties. The doctrine operates within strict limits and its use is restricted in cases where, although the commercial purpose of the contract has been drastically affected by unforeseen events, the performance of the contract is still possible. The position under the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943 and under the common law, including for example, the recent cases of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines v Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association (Bermuda) Ltd and Olympic Airlines SA (in Special Liquidation) v ACG Acquisition XX LLC, are examined, collectively demonstrating how the doctrine currently operates.

The failure of the defence of necessity as a mechanism of legal change on assisted dying in the common law world

The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law ◽

10.1017/cbo9781139104159.013 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 274-295

Author(s):

Penney Lewis

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Assisted Dying ◽

Legal Change ◽

The Common

12. Hearsay admissible by statute in civil proceedings

10.1093/he/9780198811855.003.0012 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Adrian Keane ◽

Paul McKeown

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Law Reform ◽

Civil Justice ◽

Civil Proceedings ◽

The Common ◽

Hearsay Rule ◽

Oral Evidence

Under the common law rule against hearsay, any assertion, other than one made by a person while giving oral evidence in the proceedings, was inadmissible if tendered as evidence of the facts asserted. The Civil Evidence Act 1968 constituted a major assault upon the common law rule in civil proceedings by making provisions for the admissibility of both oral and written hearsay subject to certain conditions. In June 1988 the Civil Justice Review recommended an inquiry by a law reform agency into the usefulness of the hearsay rule in civil proceedings and the machinery for rendering it admissible. The recommendations were put into effect by the Civil Evidence Act 1995. This chapter discusses the admissibility of hearsay under the Civil Evidence Act 1995; safeguards; proof of statements contained in documents; evidence formerly admissible at common law; and Ogden tables.

RELIGIOSITY IN CRIMINAL LAW: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

Diponegoro Law Review ◽

10.14710/dilrev.4.1.2019.1-20 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Abdurrahman Raden Aji Haqqi

Keyword(s):

Criminal Law ◽

Islamic Law ◽

Common Law ◽

The Body ◽

Religious Ritual ◽

Belief Statement ◽

The Family ◽

The Holy Quran ◽

The Common ◽

Human Kind

The fundamental premises of Islamic law are that Allah has revealed His will for human-kind in the Holy Quran and the inspired example of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), and that society's law must conform to Allah's revealed will. The scope of Islamic law is broader than the common law or civil law. In addition to core legal doctrines covering the family, wrongs, procedure, and commercial transactions, Islamic law also includes detailed rules regulating religious ritual and social etiquette. In Islam, religiosity is not asceticism in monasteries nor is it chattering from the pulpits. Instead, it is behaving in a manner that is requested from the Creator under all circumstances, places and times, in belief, statement and actions. Historically, law and religion have never been completely separated. They have never been so independent as to achieve complete autonomy from each other. Religion has essentially been embodied in legal systems, even in those that have aspired to privatize religion. Based on this fact, this paper discusses such fact i.e religiosity on specific theme of Islamic law that is criminal law which means the body of law dealing with wrongs that are punishable in Islamic law with the object of deterrence.

WILLIAM E. NELSON. The Americanization of the Common Law: The Impact of Legal Change on Massachusetts Society, 1760-1830. Pp. viii, 269. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975. $14.00

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/000271627642600148 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 426 (1) ◽

pp. 253-254

Author(s):

Colin Brooks

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Harvard University ◽

Legal Change ◽

The Common ◽

The Impact

Reforming the Law of Evidence in Nigeria

Journal of African Law ◽

10.1017/s0021855300012110 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 128-129

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Law Reform ◽

Technological Advances ◽

The Common ◽

The Law ◽

Law Of Evidence

The Nigerian Law Reform Commission has recently published a Report on the Reform of the Evidence Act. This was in response to a government directive to “review and reform our Evidence Act to ensure that its application more effectively facilitates the dispensation of justice in our courts”. The Report notes that the Evidence Ordinance was based on Stephen's Digest of the Law of Evidence and on the common law of England as it was in 1943. Understandably, the Report recognizes that the law of evidence had become outdated, especially in view of technological advances. As it notes:

Constitutional Mimicry and Common Law Reform in a Rights-Based Post-Colonial Setting: The Case of South Africa and Malawi

Journal of African Law ◽

10.1017/s0021855309000060 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 142-170

Author(s):

Sibo Banda

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Common Law ◽

Law Reform ◽

Bill Of Rights ◽

The South ◽

Post Colonial ◽

The Common

AbstractCompetent courts in Malawi must, as courts have done in South Africa, undertake a radical path in order to enhance the common law position of distinct categories of persons. This article discusses judicial appreciation of the common law-changing function of a bill of rights and its associated values, and judicial understanding as to when such a function may be brought into play. The article examines approaches taken by courts in South Africa in determining the circumstances in which the South African Bill of Rights applies to private relationships, when private parties owe each other duties arising out of the Bill of Rights and the scope of a court's authority to amend the common law in that regard. The article projects the debate, analysis and critique of these approaches onto the Malawian legal landscape through a discussion of the tenant worker contracted on the Malawi private estate.