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sion (case law) in contrast to the law made by Parliament (statute law). The expression distinguishes the common law legal systems based on precedents from civil law jurisdictions which are based on civil codes. It comprises the rules developed by the common law courts in contrast to the rules developed by the court of equity. 2. What are the basic characteristics of English law? It is based on the common law tradition, e. g. a system of judge made law continuously developed over the years through the decisions of judges in cases decided by them. These decisions are called judicial precedents and they form an important preliminary source of law in the English legal system. English judges have an important role in developing case law; by judicial precedents as well as by interpreting Acts of Parliament they legislate. The judges are independent of both the government and the people appearing before them. They are free to make impartial decisions. Court procedure is accusatorial which means that judges do not investigate the cases but reach a decision based only on the evidence presented to them by the parties to the dispute. Such a system is called adversarial. 3. How does the Polish civil law system differ from the common law system? In Poland the civil law system has been codified or systematically collected to form a consistent body of legal rules. Thus, it can be said that the rules of the common law system evolved inductively from decision to decisions involving similar facts, so that they are firmly grounded upon the actualities of litigation and the reality of human conduct. New cases lead onwards to reach forward new rules. Its principles are to employ a popular phrase "open ended"; they are not firm and inflexible decrees. On the other hand, the task of the court in the civil law systems based on codes is deductive; to subsume the present case under the generalized and codified rule. 4. What is the inquisitorial court procedure? In the inquisitorial court procedure it is the function of the judges to investigate the case and to collect evidence. 5. What is a disadvantage of the adversarial system of justice? In the adversarial system of justice the case is decided on the evidence presented to the court by the parties to the action. This evidence is subjective in that it is in favour of the party presenting it: there is no independent body to investigate the case objectively. This can result in important evidence being ignored and not being heard by the court. 6. What is the law of Equity? Equity is a special area of English law which was first created by the Lord Chancellor, then developed by the Court of Chancery (now called the Chancery Division of the High Court). It consists of rules and remedies which supplement the common law when this is necessary for justice in a particular case. 7. What are equitable maxims? The purpose of Equity is to achieve justice and fairness. To do this the courts have developed a set of rules to govern the application of equity. These are called the maxims of equity. They are different from the rules which apply in common law. There are many equitable maxims of which the following are just brief examples: Equity will not suffer wrong to be without remedy. Equity will only intervene when there is no adequate common law remedy. Equity follows the law. Equity recognizes legal rights and does not take the place of the common law. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. A litigant who has behaved unfairly in the dispute will be denied an equitable remedy. Equitable remedies are discretionary. Litigants do not have a right to an equitable remedy. The court will decide whether to grant a remedy after considering the individual circumstances of each case. 8. Why is the law of Equity distinct from common law? The maxims of equity are the reason why we continue to distinguish between common law and equity. They are different from the rules that apply in common law, and one of the most important features of equity which distinguishes it from common law is the maxim that equitable remedies are discretionary. 9. What are law reports? The judgments in higher courts are published in the series of law reports because they form an important part of the law. They have to be available to lawyers and the public. The most common series of law reports are: All England Law Reports, Weekly Law Reports, Queens Bench, Kings Bench, Appeal Cases, Chancery, Criminal Law Reports. 10. What should be understood by the word "case"? The word "case" in the legal context means the legal action or dispute which has been brought to the court for resolution. The judges decision is the law - hence, the English system of law is often referred to as "case" law. 11. What does the standard reference of the report of an individual case contain? A standard reference tells the reader where the report of an individual case may be found. It contains the year in which the c