Common law

The system of jurisprudence which originated in England and waslater applied in the United States, that is based on judicial precedent (courtdecisions) rather than legislative enactment (statutes) and is thereforederived from principles rather than rules. In the absence of statutory lawregarding a particular subject, the judge-made rules of common law are the lawon that subject. Thus the traditional phrase "at common law" refers to thestate of the law in a particular field prior to the enactment of legislation inthat field.