NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW Volume 77 | Number 5 Article 2 6-1-1999 The slI amic Origins of the Common Law John A. Makdisi Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation John A. Makdisi, The Islamic Origins of the Common Law, 77 N.C. L. Rev. 1635 (1999). Available at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr/vol77/iss5/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in North Carolina Law Review by an authorized administrator of Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ISLAMIC ORIGINS OF THE COMMON LAW JOHN A. MAKDISI* Henry II created the common law in the twelfth century, which resulted in revolutionary changes in the English legal system, chief among which were the action of debt, the assize of novel disseisin, and trial by jury. The sources of these three institutions have long been ascribed to influences from other legal systems such as Roman law. Professor Makdisi has uncovered new evidence which suggests that these institutions may trace their origins directly to Islamic legal institutions. The evidence lies in the unique identity of characteristics of these three institutions with those of their Islamic counterparts, the similarity of function and structure between Islamic and common law, and the historic opportunityfor transplantsfrom Islam through Sicily. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1637 I. CONTRACT IN THE AcTiON OF DEBT ...................................... 1640 A. Glanvill's Definition of Contract....................................... 1641 B. Glanvill Interpretedin an Incomplete Historical Context .................................................................................. 1645 C. The Islamic cA qd ................................................................. 1650 H. PROPERTY IN THE ASSIZE OF NOVEL DISSEISN ................... 1658 A. A Speedy Remedy for Loss of Ownership........................ 1658 B. The Islamic Istihqaq ............................................................ 1665 C. PrescriptionVersus Limitation .......................................... 1669 1. English Law .................................................................... 1671 a. Defendant Had No Title ......................................... 1671 * Dean and Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. B.A., Harvard College, 1971; J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1974; S.J.D., Harvard Law School, 1985. This Article develops a thesis on the origins of the common law that was first explored in my article entitled An Inquiry into Islamic Influences During the Formative Periodof the Common Law, in ISLAMIC LAW AND JURISPRUDENCE 135 (Nicholas Heer ed., 1990). The thesis in its present form was the topic of lectures at Duke University (Feb. 19, 1997), Loyola University New Orleans (Apr. 4, 1997), and the American Oriental Society (Apr. 6, 1998). It is dedicated to my father, George, whose work and encouragement inspired me on this venture, and to my wife, Junicka, whose love and support carried me through its storms. 1636 NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 77 b. Defendant Had Color of Title ............................... 1672 c. Defendant Had Title ............................................... 1673 2. Islamic Law .................................................................... 1674 a. Defendant Had No Title ......................................... 1674 b. Defendant Had Color of Title ............................... 1674 c. Defendant Had Title ............................................... 1675 III. PROCEDURE IN TRIAL BY JURY ............................................... 1676 A. Methods of ProofBefore the Creationof the Jury ........... 1676 B. The English Jury .................................................................. 1679 1. The Jury Is a Body of Twelve Sworn People Drawn from the Neighborhood ................................................ 1681 2. Who Must Give an Answer .......................................... 1682 3. Unanimously .................................................................. 1682 4. About a Matter that They Have Personally Seen or H eard ..............................................................................1682 5. Binding on the Judge .................................................... 1683 6. To Settle the Truth Concerning Facts in a Case ........ 1683 7. Between Ordinary People ............................................ 1684 8. Submitted to a Jury upon a Judicial Writ ................... 1684 9. Obtained as of Right by the Plaintiff .......................... 1684 C. The Royal Inquest and the PopularRecognition ............. 1685 D. The Islamic Lafif ................................................................. 1687 1. Case Between Ordinary People, Obtained as of Right by the Plaintiff ..................................................... 1687 2. Witnesses Form a Body of Twelve People from the Neighborhood ................................................................ 1688 3. Witnesses Sworn to Tell the Truth About a Matter They Had Seen or Heard ............................................. 1690 4. Witnesses Must Give an Answer ................................. 1691 5. Testimony Binding on the Judge ................................. 1691 6. Unanimous Verdict ....................................................... 1693 7. Case Submitted to a Jury upon a Judicial Writ .......... 1694 IV. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEGAL SYSTEMS ...................... 1696 A. Differences Between the Common and Civil Law ........... 1696 1. Function: Activist v. Reactive ..................................... 1696 2. Structure: Hierarchical vs. Coordinate ...................... 1700 B.' The Function of Islamic Law ............................................. 1703 1. Individual Self-Definition ............................................ 1703 2. Justice, Not Morality ..................................................... 1704 3. Law Above the State .................................................... 1704 4. Individualism ................................................................. 1706 5. Freedom of Contract ..................................................... 1706 1999] ISLAMIC ORIGINS OF THE COMMON LAW 1637 6. Im partial Judge ..............................................................1707 7. R es Judicata ...................................................................1708 8. Judge as Blank Slate .....................................................1709 9. Passive Judge .................................................................1710 10. Privilege Against Self-Incrimination ...........................1710 11. Fairness over Truth .......................................................1710 12. Individual Autonomy ....................................................1711 C. The Structure of Islamic Law .............................................1712 1. Untrained and Transitory Decisionmakers ................1712 2. Overlap in Testimonial and Adjudicative Tasks .......1712 3. Judge as Moderator, Supervisor, Announcer, and Enforcer-not Adjudicator ..........................................1713 4. N o Appeal ......................................................................1713 5. D issent ............................................................................1715 6. D ay in Court ..................................................................1716 7. Prosecution for Perjury ........................1716 8. Oral Testim ony ..............................................................1716 V. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSPLANTS THROUGH SICILY ..........................................................................1717 A. The Maliki School of Law in Islam ...................................1718 B. The Influence of Islam on Roger II in Sicily .....................1720 C. The Influence of Sicily on Henry 11 of England............... 1727 CONCLUSION .........................................................................................1731 APPENDIX: THE LAFIF ........................................................................1731 1 Louis MILLIOT, RECUEIL DE JURISPRUDENCE CHERIFIENNE, 116-24 (1920) ...............................................................................1732 Louis MILLIOT, INTRODUCTION A L'ETUDE DU DROIT MUSULMAN 737-38 (1953) ........................................................1738 INTRODUCrION The origins of the common law are shrouded in mystery. Created over seven centuries ago during the reign of King Henry II of England,' to this day we do not know how some of its most distinctive 1. See, e.g., HAROLD J. BERMAN, LAW AND REVOLUTION: THE FORMATION OF THE WESTERN LEGAL TRADITION 457 (1983) (affirming that "Henry II created the English common law by legislation establishing judicial remedies in the royal courts"); PAUL BRAND, 'Multis Vigiliis Excogitatam et Inventam" Henry II and the Creationof the English Common Law, in THE MAKING OF THE COMMON LAW 77, 78 (1992) (stating that Henry II "has most claim to be regarded as the founder of the English Common Law"); CHARLES HOMER HASKINS, THE RENAISSANCE OF THE TWELFrH CENTURY 220 (1927) (remarking that "[t]he age of Henry II is an epoch of the first importance in the history of the common law"); SELECr CHARTERS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY FROM THE EARLIEST