[extropy-chat] Re: Common law without govt?

[David Lubkin]

Brett wrote:

>But forms of government from monarchies to republics did produce
>the common law (by appointing judges). The notion of their being
>a common wealth, some common ground to which all had a minimal
>stake, minimal rights, goes back at least as far as Hobbes Leviathan.
>Without government of some form how would you maintain or further
>develop a common law system? Where would the judges come from
>and from where would their authority derive ?

The judges who began common law were not appointed, and existed 
independent of any government. They were chosen by the parties or by 
the community to judge disputes because of their personal reputations.

Equivalents still exist today. The pattern has recurred throughout 
history. The Jews, for instance, would choose a wise and learned man 
to decide or to arbitrate. Even after a couple of thousand years, it 
is still the practice in some communities to go ask the rebbe.

It is a spontaneous order.


-- David.