COMMON LAW

Western Philosophies of Law: the Common Law

Ordinary Administrative Law as Constitutional Common Law

Henry Monaghan famously argued that much of constitutional interpretation takes the form of what he termed constitutional common law, a body of doctrines and rules that are constitutionally inspired but not constitutionally required and that can be altered or reversed by Congress. This Essay argues that a fair amount of ordinary administrative law qualifies as constitutional common law: Constit...

Common Mistake in Contract Law

English Contract Law has long struggled to understand the effect of a fundamental common mistake in contract formation. Bell v. Lever Brothers Ltd. [1932] A.C. 161 recognises that a common mistake which totally undermines a contract renders it void. Solle v. Butcher [1950] 1 K.B. 671 recognises a doctrine of ‘mistake in equity’ under which a serious common mistake in contract formation falling ...

Americanization of the Common Law

Code Versus the Common Law

Lawrence Lessig called the most recent battle ‘‘Hollywood v. Silicon Valley,’’1 but one could just as well dub it ‘‘Code v. The Common Law.’’ The content industries’ latest efforts to re-calibrate the balance of copyright2 imply that the United States copyright system has reached a crisis that cannot be resolved under existing law. In particular, bills such as the Consumer Broadband & Digital T...