Judges have an important role within the English legal system. William the Conqueror, after he gained the English throne in 1066, was the first person to begin the long process of standardising the law. Before this law was mainly based on local custom, and so obviously varied a great deal from place to place, and throughout this time the king would have had hardly any control over the country as a whole. During William the Conquerors …showed first 75 words of 1363 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1363 total…might be treated quite differently. Because of these reasons the principle of stare decisis was established. Bibliography Darbyshire, P. (1997) 'An Essay on the Importance and Neglect of the Magistry', in The Criminal Law Review, 32 (2): 627-643. Elliot, C. and Quinn, F. (1996) English Legal System London and New York: Longman Freestone, D. and Richardson, J.C. (1980) 'The Making Of English Law', in The Criminal Law Review, 10 (1): 1-72 Seago, P. (1993) Criminal Law 3rd edition. London: Sweet and Maxwell