14/03/2013
Know the Greats
Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780):
England’s most celebrated and respected jurist, Sir William Blackstone, was also a judge and a politician. His Commentaries on the Laws of England is perhaps the most seminal and exhaustive piece on ever written on Common Law. The Commentaries, which were published in four volumes through 1765-1769, and they contained a complete overview of English Laws and remains, till date, the most revered source of authority on Common Law for jurists, lawyers, judges, students and academicians alike. His other notable works include An Analysis of the Laws of England (1756) and A Discourse on the Study of Law (1758). It must be borne in mind that Common Law, in the state in which it existed in those days, were based on customs and judicial pronouncements instead of legislation. The Commentaries were the first legal work where all the existent Common Laws were brought under one umbrella and a cogent idea on the nature of Common Laws develop. This was of immense help not only to the English legal system but also to law education. Law schools and legal education gained respectability in England largely as an impact of the Commentaries and there is hardly any law school in any Common Law country even to this day where the curriculum does not refer to his seminal work. Thus, the Commentaries are regarded as the single most impactful book on law ever written and Blackstone is deservedly credited as the scholar whose work led to the development of Common Law as a legal system, not only in England but also to all the erstwhile British colonies where Common Laws are in force even after their independence. Even American jurisprudence, as it started developing since the independence of America, drew heavily from Blackstone’s magnum opus.
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