Christianity and the Common Law: Rediscovering the Christian Roots of the English Legal System 16 University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review 2014

16 U. Notre Dame Austl. L. Rev. 145 (2014)
Christianity and the Common Law: Rediscovering the Christian Roots of the English Legal System

handle is hein.journals/undauslr16 and id is 159 raw text is: CHRISTIANITY AND THE COMMON LAW:
REDISCOVERING THE CHRISTIAN ROOTS OF
THE ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM
AUGUSTO ZIMMERMANN*
Abstract
The English legal system has a rich Christian heritage. This
tradition is embodied, among other things, in the laws of
King Alfred the Great, the creation of the Magna Carta, and
the courts of equity. England's most celebrated jurists -
including the likes of Blackstone, Coke and Fortescue - who
made vast contributions to the English common law, often
drew heavily from their Christian faith when expounding
and developing what are now well established legal
doctrines. This article reveals how the common law was
largely inspired and developed by Christian principles, and
how these principles still remain valid to the application of
the law even to the present day.
I INTRODUCTION
The history of the English common law, from which the American,
Australian and other common-law jurisdictions originated, owes much to
the influence of Christianity in its origins and development. It is indeed
not possible to grasp the full development of the common law without
first exploring its profound religious dimensions, its motivating faith.
Until at least the early nineteenth century, the common law was heavily
influenced by Christian philosophy. This philosophy holds that there is
a natural or divine reason for the existence of basic laws, and that these
laws stand above human-made legislation, thus reflecting universal and
unchangeable principles according to which everyone ought to live. In
tracing the historical development of and the inextricable nexus between
LLB (PUC-Rio), LLM (PUC-Rio), PhD (Monash University); Chair in Legal Theory and
Constitutional Law, Murdoch University; Commissioner, Law Reform Commission of
WesternAustralia; President,The WesternAustralian LegalTheoryAssociation (WALTA).
This Paper is based on a seminar presented at St Thomas More Society, on the subject
of 'Under God and the Law: Christian Roots of the Common Law', Sydney/NSW, 28
August, 2014. The author wishes to thank Mr Frank Gashumba for his comments on
an early draft of this paper.

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