Common law
The common lawso named because it was "common" to all the king's courts across Englandoriginated in the practices of the courts of the English kings in the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. The British Empire spread the English legal system to its historical colonies, many of which retain the common law system today. These "common law systems" are legal systems that give great precedential weight to common law, and to the style of reasoning inherited from the English legal system.
Brocard (law)
Although the Romans first came to Britain in 55 BC, Roman Law has had negligible influence on English common law. Latin legal phrases are used in English only because Latin was the "lingua franca" of the Medieval era. Although some of these phrases are in common use in law, such as "res ipsa loquitur", "novus actus interveniens", "talem qualem", "de minimis non curat lex", and "consensus ad idem", the common law is not premised on the principles of civil law, and their use is being replaced by that of vernacular substitutes. For example, "Black's Law Dictionary" previously included numerous brocards among its entries.