The History of the Common Law of England
The History of the Common Law of England by Matthew Hale
1713
I. Concerning the Distribution of the Law of England into Common
Law, and Statute Law. And First, concerning the Statute Law, or
Acts of Parliament
The Laws of England may aptly enough be divided into two
Kinds, viz. Lex Scripta, the written Law: and Lex non Scripta, the unwritten Law: For although (as shall be shewn hereafter) all the Laws of this Kingdom have some Monuments or Memorials thereof in Writing, yet all of them have not their Original in Writing; for some of those Laws have obtain'd their Force by immemorial
Usage or Custom, and such Laws are properly call'd Leges non
Scriptae, or unwritten Laws or Customs. Those Laws therefore, that I call Leges Scriptae, or written
Laws, are such as are usually called Statute Laws, or Acts of
Parliament, which are originally reduced into Writing before they are enacted, or receive any binding Power, every such Law being in the first Instance formally drawn up in Writing, and made, as it were, a Tripartite lndenture, between the King, the Lords and the Commons; for without the concurrent Consent of all those
Three Parts of the Legislature, no such Law is, or can be made:
But the Kings of this Realm, with the Advice and Consent of both
Houses of Parliament, have Power to make New Laws, or to alter, repeal, or enforce the Old. And this has been done in all
Succession of Ages. Now, Statute Laws, or Acts of Parliament, are of Two Kinds, viz. First, Those Statutes which were made before Time of Memory; and, Secondly, Those Statutes which were made within or since
Time of Memory; wherein observe, That according to a juridical
Account and legal Signification, Time within Memory is the Time of Limitation in a Writ of Right; which by the Statute of
Westminster 1. cap. 38. was settled, and reduced to the Beginning of the Reign of King Richard I or Ex prima Coronatione Regis
Richardi Primi, who began his Reign the 6th
1713
I. Concerning the Distribution of the Law of England into Common
Law, and Statute Law. And First, concerning the Statute Law, or
Acts of Parliament
The Laws of England may aptly enough be divided into two
Kinds, viz. Lex Scripta, the written Law: and Lex non Scripta, the unwritten Law: For although (as shall be shewn hereafter) all the Laws of this Kingdom have some Monuments or Memorials thereof in Writing, yet all of them have not their Original in Writing; for some of those Laws have obtain'd their Force by immemorial
Usage or Custom, and such Laws are properly call'd Leges non
Scriptae, or unwritten Laws or Customs. Those Laws therefore, that I call Leges Scriptae, or written
Laws, are such as are usually called Statute Laws, or Acts of
Parliament, which are originally reduced into Writing before they are enacted, or receive any binding Power, every such Law being in the first Instance formally drawn up in Writing, and made, as it were, a Tripartite lndenture, between the King, the Lords and the Commons; for without the concurrent Consent of all those
Three Parts of the Legislature, no such Law is, or can be made:
But the Kings of this Realm, with the Advice and Consent of both
Houses of Parliament, have Power to make New Laws, or to alter, repeal, or enforce the Old. And this has been done in all
Succession of Ages. Now, Statute Laws, or Acts of Parliament, are of Two Kinds, viz. First, Those Statutes which were made before Time of Memory; and, Secondly, Those Statutes which were made within or since
Time of Memory; wherein observe, That according to a juridical
Account and legal Signification, Time within Memory is the Time of Limitation in a Writ of Right; which by the Statute of
Westminster 1. cap. 38. was settled, and reduced to the Beginning of the Reign of King Richard I or Ex prima Coronatione Regis
Richardi Primi, who began his Reign the 6th