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Legal Hierarchy: Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts

Common Law
Civil Law
Primary Authority
Mandatory Authority
Persuasive Authority
Secondary Authority
Precedent
Stare Decisis
Ratio Decidendi
Obiter Dictum

The Common Law

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. Image by Yale Law Library available online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29570076@N06/6190260756.

Additional Reading

A Concise History of the Common Law
Theodore F. T. Plucknett (1956 edition)
The Common Law (online)
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1887), available online through The Making of Modern Law.
The Common Law in the United States
Harlan F. Stone, available from JSTOR.
Common Law and Legislation
Roscoe Pound (1908). Available online from JSTOR.