Common Law Commons^™

Estoppel And Crown Privilege In English Administrative Law, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

Perhaps the most anachronistic doctrine in Anglo-American public law is that of sovereign immunity. Under it, the State is placed in a privileged position of immunity from the principles of law which are binding upon the ordinary citizen, unless it expressly consents to be bound by such principles. In Anglo-American law the infallibility attributed to the King in the days when he was personally sovereign has been more recently recognized in the State, which the Crown now merely personifies. Thus, even today, and even in the American democracy, the basic principle of public law is that the King can do …

Wu: Fountain Of Justice, Thomas E. Davitt S.J.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Fountain of Justice. By John C.H. Wu.

Dispositions Of Property To Unincorporated Non-Profit Associations, Harold A.J. Ford

Michigan Law Review

The aim of this article is to examine the ways in which courts in common law countries have given this assistance and the problems they have encountered in regard to property transactions.

Common Law Marriage-A Legal Anachronism

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Martial Deduction And Equalization Under The Federal Estate And Gift Taxes Between Common Law And Community Property States, Paul E. Anderson

Michigan Law Review

In 1948, as the culmination of much dissatisfaction with the treatment of community property under the federal estate and gift tax laws, Congress adopted a new formula for the treatment of gifts and bequests between spouses; this formula was known as the marital deduction. It has remained practically unchanged since its adoption and still stands as an integral part of our federal estate and gift tax structure.

The basic purpose of the deduction was to provide equalization in estate and gift tax treatment between spouses residing in community property states and those residing in common law property states. The plan …

Support Rights And Duties Between Husband And Wife, Monrad G. Paulsen

Vanderbilt Law Review

According to the common law a husband was entitled to his wife's earnings and most of her personal property in addition to the pleasure of her company and services in the home. These advantages have been considered the quid pro quo for the man's duty of support. Today, because of legislation, most of a husband's legal control over the income and means of his wife is gone. If a husband's duty to support is to be grounded in a reciprocal benefit to him, that benefit is derived almost wholly from the wife's obligation to be a wife and to live …

"Appropriate And Just": Section 24 Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms And The Question Of Judicial Legitimacy, W A. Bogart

Dalhousie Law Journal

At the heart of procedural law lie questions concerning the role of courts in a liberal democratic state. What is the essence of their function? What is the proper relationship between the judiciary and other governmental institutions? What is the well-spring for values with which courts can make law? The questions are perennials and will be asked so long as there is interest in the workings and malfunctions of all aspects of government. Courts, like all institutions of government, are continually being assessed on their own terms and in relation to other branches. In Canada this examination has received a …

Developments In Legal Education, Faculty Of Law, Civil Law Section, University Of Ottawa, Raymond A. Landry

Dalhousie Law Journal

The present Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa was inaugurated in 1953, although law had been taught at the Institution from 1887 to shortly before the First World War. This first venture in the teaching of the law was addressed to students both from Ontario and Quebec and the objective of the Faculty, at that time, was to teach both legal systems and to prepare students for the practice of law in both provinces. We will endeavour to present the developments in legal education from the perspective of the Civil Law Section although, unavoidably, the presence of the …

The Law Of Infants' Marriages, Robert Kingsley

Vanderbilt Law Review

Just as the law requires, for ordinary contracts, that a party thereto must have reached an age sufficient to give him reasonable discretion, so, in connection with the contract of marriage, the law has required that the parties be not too immature. It must be remembered, however, that the word "infant" is not one of fixed meaning: when used with reference to ordinary contracts, and without further qualification, it usually means a person under twenty-one years of age; but in the field of criminal law the dividing line between "infancy" and "adult" responsibility is fixed at a lesser age (14 …

Lawson: A Common Lawyer Looks At The Civil Law, F. S. C. Northrop

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Common Lawyer Looks at the Civil Law. By F. H. Lawson.

Conflict Of Laws - Torts - Proper Party Plaintiff In Wrongful Death Actions, John M. Webb

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine the differing solutions and determine the vitality of the common law rule in wrongful death actions.

Creation Of Joint Rights Between Husband And Wife In Personal Property: I, R. Bruce Townsend

Michigan Law Review

Joint ownership of personal property in recent years has become a common practice--one to which husband and wife are especially addicted. The topic is worthy of more than academic concern as demonstrated by the public use of joint titles in the acquisition of all kinds of personal assets, particularly investment securities. A casual conversation with almost any banker would disclose that a very high percentage of accounts owned by married people are held jointly with their spouses. The current popularity of dual ownership, for example, is reflected in the marketing policy of the United States Treasury in the sale of …

Legal History-Joseph Story's Anonymous Law Article, John C. Hogan

Michigan Law Review

The first edition of the Encyclopedia Americana (1829-1833) contains numerous articles on a wide variety of legal subjects, including such topics as Common Law, Jury, Equity, etc. The identity of the author of these articles is not disclosed. There is an occasional footnote, however, which declares: "this article prepared by an eminent American jurist." This suggested the possibility of a lively and interesting manhunt--a search for the "eminent American jurist" who agreed to submit articles on law for the Encyclopedia, but who preferred to remain anonymous.

The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to examine the history and origin of the wills branch of the worthier title doctrine, to ascertain the extent of its application and the manner of its application, to determine the legal consequences flowing therefrom, and to consider the desirability of its continued existence.

Simes: Public Policy And The Dead Hand, W. Barton Leach, John H.C. Morris

Michigan Law Review

A Review of PPublic Policy and the Dead Hand. The Thomas M. Cooley Lectures, Sixth Series. By Lewis M. Simes.

Justice Story On The Common Law Of Evidence, John C. Hogan

Vanderbilt Law Review

In our system of jurisprudence it is the province of the jury to decide all matters of fact. The trial is held and the verdict of the jury is delivered in the presence of a judge who is bound to decide matters of law which arise in the course of the trial. Whenever a thing offered as proof is questioned as not proper to go before the jury as evidence, that question is to be resolved by the judge, and unless he permits it to be introduced as evidence at the trial, it can not legally come to the consideration …

Real Property - Elimination Of The Straw Man In The Creation Of Joint Estates In Michigan, Edward H. Hoenicke S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

That joint ownership is a popular form of holding title to real property is undeniable. A husband and wife are especially likely to consider this form of ownership as "natural" and desirable because it emphasizes the concept of marriage as a partnership and gives both partners control over and ownership in the family property. In addition to these factors, joint ownership is popular because of the right of survivorship which is incident to it. In this feature the layman sees, or thinks he sees, the opportunity to avoid a probate proceeding, the estate tax, and the lawyer's fee. It is …

Procedure And Evidence -- 1955 Tennessee Survey, Edmund M. Morgan

Vanderbilt Law Review

Demurrer: Demurrers are not favored in Tennessee. The pleading to which a demurrer is interposed is construed most favorably to the pleader. For the purpose of determining the sufficiency of a pleading all properly pleaded allegations are upon demurrer taken to be true; in the usual phrasing, they are said to be admitted. Although Tennessee courts, like all others, declare that a demurrer does not admit a conclusion of law, they sometimes let it come perilously close to doing so. Thus, in an action by a bailee against his bailor for failure to return chattels in the condition in which …

Husband And Wife -- Personal Tort Actions Between Spouses -- Statutory Construction, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following an interlocutory divorce decree, and while the parties were living apart from one another, defendant allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. The trial court dismissed her complaint on the ground that no action could be brought by one spouse against the other for personal torts committed during coverture. On appeal, held, reversed, three judges dissenting and one concurring. The Judicial Code and the Husband and Wife Statutes of Utah, when considered together, entitle a married woman to maintain an action against her husband for injuries intentionally inflicted upon her. Taylor v. Patten, 2 Utah (2d) 404, 275 P. (2d) …

Air Pollution: Its Control And Abatement, Harold W. Kennedy, Andrew O. Porter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law has been concerned with air pollution for centuries. Smoke and fumes were considered a nuisance at common law, but not a nuisance per se. Thus, each case stood on its own facts. Very early in our history special statutes were enacted to give more adequate protection from air contaminants. As early as 1306 the use of "sea-coal" (as distinguished from charcoal) was forbidden on penalty of death. Queen Elizabeth is said to have forbade the burning of coal in London during sessions of Parliament. In 1661 John Evelyn wrote a book on air pollution; his plan was to …

Federal Procedure - Availability Of Coram Nobis In Federal Cases Involving Right Of Counsel, John Leddy S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

ln 1939 Robert Morgan pleaded guilty to a charge of mail theft and was sentenced by a federal district court to four years imprisonment. He served the term and was released. In 1950 he was convicted of a crime in New York state and sentenced as a second offender because of his previous federal conviction. In 1952 he made application to the district court of original sentence for a common law writ of coram nobis, seeking an order vacating and setting aside his conviction by that court on the ground that he was not given assistance of counsel and had …

Annual Survey Of Tennessee Law Administrative Law -- 1954 Tennessee Survey, Paul H. Sanders

Vanderbilt Law Review

Administrative Law consists of those legal principles, whether of constitutional, statutory or common law derivation, which are generally concerned with the organization, relationships, powers and procedures of administrative agencies.' These are the agencies of government, other than the regular courts and legislatures, which can determine private rights through adjudication or affect these rights through the making of rules having the status of law. It will be noted that the definition excludes the substantive rules of law applied and developed through such agencies. Procedural in nature, it is an area of law in which the institution of judicial review of administrative …

Amendments To The Federal Rules: The Function Of A Continuing Rules Committee, Charles A. Wright

Vanderbilt Law Review

No development in American procedural history in the last century has exceeded in importance the adoption by the United States Supreme Court in 1938 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. These rules, the product of a distinguished Advisory Committee, introduced a system and a philosophy differing as markedly from the code pleading then in vogue as code pleading, in its day, had differed from common-law pleading. This new system has worked well in the federal courts, so well indeed as to stimulate a reexamination of procedure in many of the states, with nearly a dozen jurisdiction shaving already adopted …

The Elimination Of Surprise In Federal Practice, Alexander Holtzoff

Vanderbilt Law Review

There are occasions when in the interest of clarity of thought it behooves us to get back to first principles. When brought back to mind, these principles appear simple and obvious, but so much of our life's work is devoted to details that the tendency is for the trees to obscure the view of the forest, unless we stop at intervals and refresh ourselves by recalling fundamentals.

The courts exist for the purpose of administering justice. The objective of a law suit is to determine a controversy between man and man by ascertaining the facts, finding the governing principles of …

Evidence-Privilege-Right Of Third Person To Assert Privilege As To Accident Report Made Confidential By Statute, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries sustained when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with that operated by the defendant. Defendant questioned a police officer, who had filed the accident report, concerning statements made to him by the driver of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The trial court permitted this testimony over the plaintiff's objection that these statements were privileged under an Iowa statute purporting to make written accident reports confidential and inadmissible in evidence. On appeal after a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant, held, reversed. The statute can …

Divorce For Temperamental Incompatibility, Lester B. Orfield

Michigan Law Review

One not acquainted with American or Continental legal history might conclude that temperamental incompatibility as a ground for divorce is a novel and radical innovation. In fact, such divorces have been possible from the beginning of our history. Legislatures granted divorces until the last quarter of the nineteenth century. 'We are told that the legislature was appealed to in cases that were too flimsy or too whimsical for the courts."

About a century ago and for more than a generation later at least nine states had "omnibus clauses in their divorce statutes broad enough to include incompatibility of temper." No …

Legislation-Statutory Construction-Validity Of Canon That Statutes In Derogation Of The Common Law Should Be Strictly Construed, Alan Reeve Hunt S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs brought suit to recover damages for the death of their adopted son under the Mississippi wrongful death act, which provides that an action may be brought by "the parent for the death of the child." The defendants incorporated in their answer a special plea that the statute does not vest a cause of action in adoptive parents. On appeal from a judgment sustaining this plea, without prejudice to the rights of the deceased's natural parents to bring another action, held, affirmed. The Mississippi wrongful death statute gives a right of action to natural parents only. Boroughs v. Oliver …

Some Possible New Fields In A Narrowing Act, Ross O'Donoghue

Vanderbilt Law Review

Both Congress and the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, have increasingly tended to narrow the scope of the Tort Claims Act, but within these confines there are certain classes of torts, well-recognized in the common law, which have been little used or totally neglected as the basis for suits. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest some of these and to consider their availability. Of course, such speculation may prove faulty in some cases and overlook others actually available. Prediction in law is a very risky business, so that some of these suggestions will very likely not stand. …

Constitutional Law - Censorship Of Obscence Literature, Donald M. Wilkinson, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The right to a free expression of ideas, without interference from governmental authorities, is inherent in the very nature of a democracy. On the other hand, it is also clear that the greater interests of the state at large will conflict with certain forms of expression, and in such circumstances obviously the former must prevail. It is the purpose of this comment to discuss the constitutional limitations on the governmental suppression of literature on grounds of obscenity.

Perpetuities And Other Restraints: A Study Of The Michigan Statutes And Decisions Relating To Perpetuities And Other Devices Which Fetter The Alienability Of Property, Against The Background Of The Laws Of England And Other American Jurisdictions, William F. Frachter

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The central theme of this study comprises the judicial and legislative rules developed to restrict attempts by men of property to endow their families in perpetuity, usually with land, in such manner that each successive living generation can neither part with the property nor prevent unborn generations from succeeding to it. Part One deals with attempts to accomplish this object by bestowing the whole title on each living generation but denying each such generation the power to dispose of the property or to prevent its· descent to the next generation. In this part the principal restrictive rules are judicial, the …