[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/british-legal-system-influence-united-states\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/british-legal-system-influence-united-states\/","headline":"The British Legal System and Its Influence on the United States","name":"The British Legal System and Its Influence on the United States","description":"Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s death has given focus to the rich traditions of the British monarchy. These traditions date back to 1066 and perhaps even earlier. The British throne has influenced dozens of nations around the world that are part of its commonwealth. Although the United States is not part of...","datePublished":"2022-10-06","dateModified":"2026-04-24","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/#Person","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/author\/dsslaw\/","identifier":12,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645d493126a7be6f90be911a6e7d4382c0cd63874673097832081394c8bcf8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/bg-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":90}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSS-Blog-FT-Image-Template.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSS-Blog-FT-Image-Template.jpg","height":500,"width":700},"url":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/british-legal-system-influence-united-states\/","about":["Community"],"wordCount":819,"articleBody":"Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s death has given focus to the rich traditions of the British monarchy. These traditions date back to 1066 and perhaps even earlier. The British throne has influenced dozens of nations around the world that are part of its commonwealth. Although the United States is not part of the British Commonwealth, many of our customs and practices relate back to England.\u00a0 Apart from English being the official language of the United States, our legal system is fashioned after the British legal system.\u00a0 In fact, many of the fundamental principles of injury law, or \u201cTort Law\u201d, come to us directly from England. Originally, it was the British Monarch that stood at the top of the legal system, and the King or Queen controlled the appointment of the Judges. Today, the appointment process involves the Lord Chancellor, an independent selection commission, senior politicians, current judges, and many more parties. Clearly, the process has developed to be much more democratic.Because Britain has no codified constitution, its rule of law is founded in statute law and common law. Statute law is created by Britain\u2019s legislative bodies or Parliament, while common law is founded on judicial decisions. \u00a0The principle of stare decisis, which is Latin for \u201cto stand by things decided\u201d, is a key aspect of Britain\u2019s common law. Stare decisis applies when two cases have similar fact patterns that should lead to the same ruling. Stare decisis encompasses vertical stare decisis\u2013which means lower courts should abide by the decisions of higher courts\u2013and horizontal stare decisis, which means all courts should adhere to their own previous rulings. This principle ensures uniformity and makes a common law more consistent. \u00a0Following suit, the United States has its own common law and asks its courts to adhere to stare decisis.What Impact Did the English Common Law Have on the United States?American jury trials are also fashioned after British jury trials. While the names may differ, our jury trials share several key elements, such as a presiding judge, prosecutor, defense counsel, witnesses, and a court stenographer. Like the British Commonwealth, the United States only requires that an individual be granted a jury trial if they may be faced with a punishment of over six months imprisonment. Britain\u2019s Human Rights Act of 1998 defines the rights and freedoms that afforded to defendants. Article 6, Section 2, states that \u201cEveryone charged with a criminal offense shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law\u201d. Sound familiar? The United States\u2019 criminal justice system is founded on the presumption of innocence, and guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt for an individual to be convicted. The United States has incorporated Britain\u2019s version of \u2018innocent until proven guilty\u2019, and it forms the basis of our system today. For civil trials, the United States and Britain also have the same evidentiary standard, which is preponderance of the evidence. Preponderance of evidence is a much lower burden of proof than beyond a reasonable doubt, the criminal standard, which means that the fact in dispute is more likely than not to have occurred.The British legal system has influenced the United States\u2019 tort system beyond the evidentiary standard. One example is a citizen\u2019s ability to sue a public entity. Even today\u2019s restrictions limiting the right to sue the State of New Jersey, a county, city or any public entity for that matter, date back to prohibitions against suing the sovereign or the King. In today\u2019s context, in New Jersey one cannot sue the \u201csovereign\u201d state without its permission. New Jersey\u2019s Tort Claims Act, known as Title 59, lays out the preconditions to suing a public entity, such as a governmental entity (and even New Jersey Transit!). The preconditions include:Written notice must be given within 90 days with few exceptions on a special form.Medical bills must exceed $3,600Injuries must be of a permanent nature.After such notice, a person must wait six months to file suit.Our legal system may not be perfect, but it\u2019s the best legal system in the world. Today, there are over 1.1 million members of the bar and 30,000 judges in the US. The legal system employs almost 1.2 million people, not including law enforcement and administrative agencies. We owe the Brits our gratitude and appreciation for the historical ties that built much of our legal system.About the AuthorGarry Salomon\u00a0is a founding partner of Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. and serves as the managing partner. He is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, an honor held by less than 2% of attorneys. Garry Salomon\u2019s main areas of concentration include all areas of\u00a0personal injury law. He is also the author of the book \u201cThe Consumer\u2019s Guide to New Jersey Personal Injury Claims.\u201d To receive a free copy, please email\u00a0community@dsslaw.com\u00a0or fill out our\u00a0online form."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The British Legal System and Its Influence on the United States","item":"https:\/\/www.dsslaw.com\/blog\/british-legal-system-influence-united-states\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]