Law Atlas

How The Law Decides
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Legal System

Reception statute

Common Law Family

A reception statute is a type of statutory law by which a newly independent former British colony adopts, or receives, English common law as its foundational legal framework, treating pre-independence English common law and its precedents as authoritative to the extent not explicitly rejected by the new nation's own legislature or constitution. This gives a newly formed state an established, predictable body of law to regulate citizen conduct and business activity rather than starting with no legal system in place. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Sources
Reception statute (Wikipedia)
Lead section
Quote, Lead section
A reception statute is a statutory law adopted as a former British colony becomes independent by which the new nation adopts, or receives, the English common law (and in some cases the statute law) before its independence to the extent not explicitly rejected by the legislative body or constitution of the new nation.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.