Somersett's Case,The Constitution and Common Law Rights: A Re-Appraisal

This article sets out to show that the popular view of the slave case of James Somersett as epitomising the common law's tenderness for individual liberty is mistaken, and through discussion of that case, this article seeks to shed light on the efficacy of the common law as a vehicle for the protection of pluralist individual rights in the modern world. The integrity of the common law is questioned when it gives primacy to economic rights. In this context, there is a discussion of the infamous Yorke and Talbot Opinion. The use of human rights instruments to redress the shortcomings of private-right based law is advocated.