The Rise Of The English Law Of The Occupational Hierarchy

The English legal profession is made up of the professional lawyers and the professional judges. Compared with that of other countries, it not only emerged much more earlier, but also owned more characteristic features from its emergence, such as unique professional activity and legal educational model. So its emergence affected deeply the English Legal System. The origin of the English legal profession is in the feudal society of the Middle Age, exactly at 13th century. This was a response to the changed legal environment created by a number of separate but linked developments in the English legal system which took place in and after the reign of Henry II. The process of the judge professionalism was very long and slow. In the reign of Henry II and Richard I was the beginning period, in the reign of King John was the development period. In Henry III, the group of justices finally became professional, consisting of full time justices. They not only were conferred the greater status than ever, but also won more wealth primarily through judicial activity. Acting as a judge was a popular job at that time so that the legal educational system which met the need of people抯 studying law began to take shape. With the growth of the professional justices, the English lawyers experienced the same process as the justices. At the Middle Age, the English lawyers were divided into two branches, the attorney and the serjeant, who traced to the solicitor and the barrister of the modem English legal profession. Before the middle of 12th century, England was 3 a country without professional lawyers. In the reign of King John, some lawyers appeared in the early plea-roll and were considered as precusors of the professional lawyer. During the time of Henry III ~s reign, a recognizable group of professional lawyers practiced in the court, but it was a fairly small one which limited in the Common Bench. Not Until Edward I were the lawyers treated as members of a legal profession group, whose number increased greatly, practicing in all the royal courts and in the London city court. The professional lawyers in this period were called 搒uit designers? deputing or helping suitors engaged in the litigation. However, in their action, they not only made an agreement with suitors in advance and had formal appointment, but also obeyed to the special rules in the court. Although professional lawyers and justices made different functions in the court, they kept in touch with each other at the emergence and then composed a closed and exclusive corp. The emergence of the English legal profession affected profoundly the development of English legal system. Its emergence founded the unique English legal educational system, promoted the science of English law, preserved the common law as a separate legal system and helped to bring about the English thought and tradition of the rule by law.