Editing Common law (section)

== Terminology ==
According to ''[[Black's Law Dictionary]],'' common law is "the body of law derived from [[case law|judicial decisions]], rather than from [[statute]]s or [[constitution]]s."<ref name="BlacksLawDict">{{cite book|title=Black's Law Dictionary – Common law|date=2014|edition=10th|page=334}}</ref> Legal systems that rely on common law as [[precedent]] are known as "common law jurisdictions."<ref name="BlacksLawDict" /><ref name="GarnerUsageDef1"/>

Until the early 20th century, common law was widely considered to derive its authority from ancient Anglo-Saxon customs. Well into the 19th century, common law was still defined as "unwritten law" (''lex non scripta'') in legal dictionaries including ''[[Bouvier's Law Dictionary]]'' and ''[[Black's Law Dictionary]]''.<ref name="Blacks10thDefRemoved">{{cite book|title=Black's Law Dictionary – Common law|date=2014|edition=10th|page=334 |quote="the common law comprises the body of those principles and rules of action ... which derive their authority solely from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity, or from the judgments and decrees of the courts recognizing, affirming, and enforcing such usages and customs; and, in this sense, particularly the ancient unwritten law of England"}}</ref> According to [[William Blackstone]]'s declaratory theory the common law reaffirmed pre-existing customs but did not make new law. The term "judge-made law" was introduced by [[Jeremy Bentham]] as a criticism of this pretense of the legal profession.<ref name="CarpenterColumbiaCourtDecisions">{{cite journal |last=Carpenter |first=Charles E. |year=1917 |title=Court Decisions and the Common Law |journal=Columbia Law Review |volume=17 |issue=7 |pages=593–607 |doi=10.2307/1112172 |jstor=1112172}} (common law court "decisions are themselves law, or rather the rules which the courts lay down in making the decisions constitute law.")</ref>

Many notable writers, including [[A. V. Dicey]], [[William Markby]], [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], [[John Austin (legal philosopher)|John Austin]], [[Roscoe Pound]], and [[Ezra Ripley Thayer]], eventually adopted the modern definition of common law as "case law" or ''[[ratio decidendi]],'' which serves as binding [[precedent]].<ref name="CarpenterColumbiaCourtDecisions" />