11 May 2018

What is Common Law?

The common law is beautifully simple, easy to understand and can be communicated adequately on a single sheet of paper, in plain English.

Common law is an evolved ancient collective agreement between the People regarding what conduct is deemed to be honourable, acceptable and in keeping with their inherent and inalienable rights to life, liberty and property.  These rights were not granted to the People by a government, they are natural birthrights. The common law exists to protect those rights.


Britain is a common law country where we are administratively governed and policed by consent.  There are very distinct differences between legislative Statutes created by Parliament and the laws of the land known as common laws.  In a true democracy the laws are created and controlled by the People, whereas in a dictatorship the government creates and controls the laws.

Everyone is accountable for their actions, provided that a moral choice is open to them.  Common law is common in the sense that it is common to all men and women; people everywhere share it in common; it applies to and emancipates everyone equally without exception: all men and women are subject to it and it is the timeless duty of all people to recognise, constitutionally emplace and uphold the supremacy of common law.  The jurisdiction of common law encompasses all of the British land mass and the Commonwealth. 

It is law based upon moral principles.  The people make the law through their acceptance and validation by jury decisions in a properly convened common law Court de Jure. This means the full, un-abridged Trial-by-Jury; not the watered-down version we have today. The full system of Trial-by-Jury that we did have at one time and are still supposed to have now, has much sharper teeth and a far greater scope.

Common law can be summarized quite simply as:
  1. Do no intentional harm
  2. Cause no loss
  3. Keep the peace
  4. Be honourable in agreements 
There is a compulsion to obey laws. Laws defend our freedoms and liberties and through them we live in peace and harmony with our neighbours. Failure to comply with laws would render an individual an outlaw. If you do not respect the law then it can afford you no protection.

The common law is egalitarian, it aims to protect our most basic human rights, our inherent natural rights.  Some say it protects our “God given rights”, this may be so but common law is and needs to remain secular for obvious reasons in today’s mixed communities.  The controversies of theism, religions and spiritualism, which have created sociological divisions over many centuries have no place in the secular common law courtroom of equal justice.  We all have the basic right to live freely without suffering deliberate loss, harm or fraud by another, regardless of others’ spiritual beliefs.  Equal justice is pure and uncompromising.  There is no place in the common law judicial process for taqiyya, kitman, sharia or any other thesis which prescribes or advocates protection of its religion or members from honest justice.  Adherents of these practices self-disqualify from jury-service in a common law trial by jury process.

For anyone new to exploring their common law rights, the first point of reference should always be their own common sense and capacity for critical thinking.  People are too often found looking for sources and references, such as the 1100 Charter of Liberties or the 1215 Magna Carta, to prove the existence or validity of the common law and lawful rights.   

It is vitally important to recognise that these charters were not creating new rights, they were merely recognising the lawful rights which already existed, rights which you don't need to ask for.  You may need to defend them but should never need to ask for what is already yours.  They are yours by birthright. The reason for the overwhelming lack of awareness of the truth and power of common law dates back to the turn of the 13th century. During the 12th century the law was taught in the City of London, mainly by priests. However, a papal bull of 1207 prohibited the clergy from teaching the common law.

The 1215 Magna Carta, was an important and timely reassertion of the common laws of the 1100 Charter of Liberties, which was itself a reissue of the common laws of William I, which was a reissue of the common laws of Edward the Confessor, which were themselves a reissue of the first book of English Constitutional Law, the Dome promulgated by King Alfred the Great in 886.  

It is worth repeating that none of these documents granted anything new, they were simply restating and reasserting the pre-existing common laws of the land.  We were all born with the natural equal rights to life, self-determination and freedom from any deliberate harm, theft or fraud by others.  You do not need to approach anyone with your cap in hand to ask for these inalienable rights, they are already yours.  If any individual has a need to ask for these rights from another individual or organisation, including the government, serious questions must be asked regarding the health of that particular relationship.

The earliest records that I have been able to trace of our British common laws date back to the 9th century.  Saxon King Alfred the Great (871-899) was known for many great attributes and accomplishments, not least for his famous Law Code.  In 1892, the famous German Church Historian Rev. Professor Dr J.H. Kurtz called King Alfred the greatest and noblest of all the monarchs England has ever had.  The roots of King Alfred’s Book of Laws, the Dome, came forth from his travels to all the old kingdoms where he collected and compiled the peoples’ ancient laws and customs.  These included the, as then already long-established, laws of Kent, Mercia and Wessex.  Customs are behaviours or practices which have existed for a very considerable length of time in society and met unanimously with the approval of the People.  By its very nature a custom cannot be repealed, as it is the rule of the land and its people. 

King Alfred the Great was not only the first leader to codify the common laws, he was an elected King who united England, a great peacemaker, a statesman, he instituted the Witan administrative council, he reaffirmed the sovereignty of the juror in deciding the law (Unanimity), reaffirmed the judicial role of the jurors in Trail-by-Jury, returned ‘convenors’ to their correct non-judicial role of court administration (today miscalled judges), and also personally translated several literary classics from Latin for the English to read.  Alfred’s principle of ‘Unanimity’ demanded that for a guilty verdict to be passed, the jury must pass a unanimous verdict where all twelve jurors found the defendant guilty, beyond all reasonable doubt.  Alfred established that when there is a doubt, it is in the interests of all people that justice should save rather than condemn.

The British Constitution; which can be simplified as being comprised primarily of the common laws, the 1215 Magna Carta and the Coronation Oath of the Sovereign to protect those laws; is the foundation of our law.  Most in the legal profession don’t appear to be properly educated about our constitution – that should tell you all you need to know about what the State desires, especially considering that it controls and regulates the education system. 

In common law, any attempt to undermine the Constitution of Great Britain is unlawful, contrary to R v Thistlewood (1820) which states that any attempt to undermine or destroy the constitution would be an act of Treason.

All of our rights are absolute.  King Alfred the Great hanged forty judges who conducted unfair trials.  Our right to a fair trial, freedom of expression and assembly cannot be withdrawn.  Kings who have tried this have been punished with death - William II (Rufus), Edward II Charles I and James II who was forced to flee the Kingdom.

The power of the common law lies within the consciousness of the People.  It hasn't gone anywhere but, in its most powerful and complete form it does appear to have been deliberately airbrushed out of awareness behind the vast expanse of smoke and mirrors that are today’s parliamentary Statutes and Acts.  All our common laws, rights and customs predate the Government.  The State did not give us these rights nor can it lawfully take them from us, unless we willingly allow it through our consent, apathy or ignorance.