US LEGAL SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF ENGLISH LEGAL HERITAGE AND THEORY OF THE NATURAL RIGHTS OF JOHN LOCKE

Gordana Bekčić Pješčić

doi:10.5937/spz0-20548

Authors

Gordana Bekčić Pješčić, PhD Independent PR and communications consultant

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5937/spz0-20548

Keywords:

US legal system, legal heritage, US Constitution, common law, natural rights, judicial review, precedent

Abstract

The paper discusses several characteristics of the US legal system that rest upon English legal heritage, brought from England to North America by the first colonists. The author starts from the premise that constant modifications of basic principles of English common law system and legal and judicial practice gave rise to a specific US legal system that has a dual nature, based on common law principles on the one hand and the letter of the written law on the other.1 The paper also analyzes the legacy of the philosophical system of John Locke on natural rights, the status of property and the government on establishing American political and legal thought, embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

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