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The Strange Case of the Law

Harry Potter

John Das

Michael Poole

The Strange Case of the Law: Episode 1: Laying Down the Law

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Factual: Crime & Justice

Laying Down the Law

Episode 1

Episode 1: Laying Down the Law

BBC Four - The Strange Case of the Law, Laying Down the Law

Harry Potter looks at the development of English law from Anglo-Saxon times to jury trial.

Harry Potter traces English law back to the compensation culture of Anglo-Saxon Kent, explores the rise of trial by ordeal and its replacement by jury trial.

English common law, with its emphasis on the role of the jury, set a standard of fairness that has influenced legal systems across the world. Many of the features that characterise today's courts were in place by as early as the 14th century. How did England come to have such a distinctive and enduring system? 

Barrister Harry Potter traces English law back to the simple compensation culture of early Anglo-Saxon Kent. He explores the rise of trial by ordeal, where painful and dangerous physical tests were used to determine guilt or innocence. He shows how this system of religious 'proof' came to be replaced by jury trial, explains why Henry II's attempt to unify law in England led to murder in Canterbury Cathedral and takes a revealing look at the most famous legal document in history, Magna Carta.

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Barrister Harry Potter tells the remarkable story of English justice

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Episode 1: Laying Down the Law

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