Edward Coke was a prominent legal figure and statesman during his time, serving as Attorney General and Chief Justice under Elizabeth I and James I. His work and decisions significantly shaped English law, leaving a lasting legacy within the legal system. He was known for his emphasis on precedent and traditional common law principles. His influence continues to be evident in legal scholarship and practice today.
These volumes contain the most important works of the great English jurist-politician who set out to codify English common law. In his Reports and his Institutes, Coke set down a view of English law that has had a powerful influence on lawyers, judges, and politicians through the present day
The new Liberty Fund edition of The Selected Writings of Sir Edward Coke includes selections from the four volumes of the Institutes and cases from the Reports, and several of Coke’s speeches in Parliament. Taken together, these writings delineate the origin and nature of the modern common law and indicate the profound interrelationship in the English tradition of custom, common law, authority (of both Crown and Commons), and individual liberty. Coke’s great law books and speeches are well represented on Magna Carta, citizenship, habeas corpus, freedom from wrongful search and arrest, the origins of law, judicial review, administrative law, judging, criminal law, the moral obligations of officials, the powers of King, Parliament, church, and the law, property and rights, and the profession and study of law. The Selected Writings of Sir Edward Coke is the first anthology of his works ever published.Steve Sheppard is a professor at the School of Law, University of Arkansas. He writes on constitutional history and theory, legal history, property law, and general jurisprudence, and he has edited The History of Legal Education (Salem Press, 1998).Click here for a pdf of the Selected Writings of Sir Edward Coke brochure
In this fascinating collection of legal reports, Sir Edward Coke conveys the intricacies of the law through compelling verse, making even the driest legal material accessible and memorable. Featuring detailed analysis of landmark cases and essential principles of English law, this volume is an essential resource for lawyers, scholars, and anyone interested in the history of legal systems.