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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 before its independence to the extent not explicitly rejected by the legislative body or constitution of the new nation. Reception statutes generally consider the English common law dating prior to independence, as well as the precedents originating from it, as the default law because of the importance of using an extensive and predictable body of law to govern the conduct of citizens and businesses in a new state.
All US states have either implemented reception statutes or adopted the common law by judicial opinion, but there is a special case of partial reception for Louisiana.[1]
Initial reception of English common law into new colonies and adoption of common law on decolonization
In Commentaries on the Laws of England, Sir William Blackstone described the process by which English common law followed English colonization:
Plantations or colonies, in distant countries, are either such where the lands are claimed by right of occupancy only, by finding them desert and uncultivated, and peopling them from the mother-country; or where, when already cultivated, they have been either gained by conquest, or ceded to us by treaties. And both these rights are founded upon the law of nature, or at least upon that of nations. But there is a difference between these two species of colonies, with respect to the laws by which they are bound. For it hath been held, that if an uninhabited country be discovered and planted by English subjects, all the English laws then in being, which are the birthright of every subject, are immediately there in force.... But in conquered or ceded countries, that have already laws of their own, the king may indeed alter and change those laws; but, till he does actually change them, the ancient laws of the country remain, unless such as are against the law of God, as in the case of an infidel country.
In other words, if an "uninhabited" or "infidel" territory is colonised by Britain, the English law automatically applies in the territory from the moment of colonisation, but if the colonised territory has a pre-existing legal system, the native law would apply (effectively, a form of indirect rule) until it is formally superseded by the English law by Royal Prerogative, subjected to the Westminster Parliament.
As colonies gained independence from Britain, the newly-independent countries usually adopted English common law precedent as of the date of independence as the default law to carry forward into the new nation, to the extent that was not explicitly rejected by the founding documents or government.
In some cases, the carry-forward was simply understood, with no express provision in either the new independence constitution or legislation. In other cases, the new legislature preferred to state redundantly but safely that common law had been received during the colonial period. Examples of both patterns are described below.
https://www.iuslaw.org/common-law-reception-statutes/United States
After the 1776 American Revolution, one of the first legislative acts undertaken by each of the newly-independent states was to adopt a "reception statute" that gave legal effect to the existing body of English common law to the extent that the legislation or the constitution had not explicitly rejected English law.[2] Some states enacted reception statutes as legislative statutes, but other states received the English common law by provisions of their constitution or by court decision. British traditions such as the monarchy were rejected by the US Constitution, but many English common law traditions such as habeas corpus, jury trials, and various other civil liberties were adopted in the United States. Significant elements of English common law prior to 1776 still remain in effect in many jurisdictions in the United States because they have never been rejected by American courts or legislatures.[3]
State Statutes Adopting the Common Law of England
Soon after declaring independence from England, the various former colonies — now emerging states — passed statutes adopting most of the common law of England. They then began independently adding to this common law. Below are sample reception statutes from some of the states.
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