Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Positivism In The Historiography Of The Common Law, David K. Millon
Positivism In The Historiography Of The Common Law, David K. Millon
David K. Millon
A great deal of important legal historical scholarship is doctrinal in focus, its objective being to chart the history of substantive common law rules. In this Article, Professor Millon suggests that doctrinal legal history is based implicitly on the modern positivist theory of law as a system of state-endorsed rules designed to resolve disputes in a consistent, predictable manner. He questions the validity of efforts to write the history of the premodern common law from this theoretical point of view. Focusing on pre-seventeenth century civil cases, he finds that trial procedure seems to have allowed or even encouraged juries to …
Circumspect Agatis Revisted, David K. Millon
Positivism In The Historiography Of The Common Law, David K. Millon
Positivism In The Historiography Of The Common Law, David K. Millon
David K. Millon
A great deal of important legal historical scholarship is doctrinal in focus, its objective being to chart the history of substantive common law rules. In this Article, Professor Millon suggests that doctrinal legal history is based implicitly on the modern positivist theory of law as a system of state-endorsed rules designed to resolve disputes in a consistent, predictable manner. He questions the validity of efforts to write the history of the premodern common law from this theoretical point of view. Focusing on pre-seventeenth century civil cases, he finds that trial procedure seems to have allowed or even encouraged juries to …