Common Law (Praetonia)

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Revolution-era jurist and soldier Samuel Fox was the first to document the Common Law as it existed in his time, and argued that it was for the Common Law over absolutism that the Praetonian Revolution was being and ought to be fought.

The Common Law of Praetonia is the supreme law of the land. Questions of law and of fact are decided by lay jurors. No person or body has it in his power to amend or create Common Law. The Common Law as it exists today emerged first from ad hoc tribunals set up to settle disputes between the new yeoman peasantry in 14th century Senland. Over time it has developed into an established and authoritative body of law, but its underlying principle is the same as it was in Fox's time:

Common Law concerns those things which civilised man may not inflict upon his neighbours, and the redress that must be made when he does. It does not seek to mould society; to bend one man's actions to the will of another. Quite the opposite: it seeks to establish the fullest independence which nature has allowed for each man, such that he may conclude his dealings with his fellows on the basis of mutual consent and respect. Its domain is the protection of person and property, be it from the mindless avarice of a petty bandit, or the calculated violence of a King.

—Samuel Fox, Iustitia, 1607

The Common Law has survived numerous existential threats in its seven centuries of existence, and has frequently proved to be the most powerful impediment to the sustenance or establishment of government in Praetonia. It is often regarded in Praetonia itself as the defining feature of Praetonian civilisation, and a large movement has grown up around the notion of spreading the Common Law revolution overseas. While it is believed at present to be the only 'pure' Common Law jurisdiction in Haven, it has strongly influenced numerous of the more liberal Havenic countries.