The Ius Commune in England: Four Studies.(Book Review)

By R. H. HELMHOLZ (Oxford: Oxford U.P., 2001; pp. xvi+270. 41.99 [pounds sterling]).

THE ius commune and the common law, similar in name, are two very different systems of law, the first an amalgam of Roman and canon law and the second the domestic law of England. On the Continent, the ius commune underpinned both secular and ecclesiastical legal systems. In England, the ius commune extended only to the church and its courts with an overflow into the chancery and admiralty courts. Richard Helmholz in this important book examines four areas where the two laws overlapped in England and, in examining the interrelationships of these two systems, has made a notable contribution to comparative legal history; he also sheds much light on the general history of the church in England. In a sense, this is really four books joined together by a single theme: how two legal systems grappled with similar …