This presentation examines the career of William Blackstone as it had a major influence on the shape of English law and its evolution as well as on the question of English legal reform in the late eighteenth century. The presentation aims at clearly answering all the major questions such as what was the underlying philosophy of Blackstone regarding the law, why did his lectures not continue after his death, and whether his Commentaries were good.

1. GEORGE P. KYPRIANIDES
Barrister-At-Law [Inner Temple]
LLB(Hons), LLM (Distinction),
Advocate-Legal Consultant

2. -
Why did I choose this title for my dissertation?
1. Blackstone was an intriguing figure.
2. Major influence in the direction of the Common Law.
3. Popular Exam Question.

4. • University of Reading Library.
• Public Library at Reading.
• British Library –London.
 Inns of Court Library- Inner Temple.
 Royal Court of Justice.
 The Supreme Court.

9.  Attempted to provide a sense of the period at the time
throughout the essay.
 Background to Blackstone’s lecture, writings, and reforms.
 Are Blackstone’s commentaries good? What can be found in
the commentaries?
 The underlying philosophy of Blackstone’s depiction of the
law.
 Did Blackstone’s role lead to an improvement in legal
education?
 Blackstone’s lectures are significant, but why didn’t they
continue after his death?
 Added “Discuss”, in order to provide a detail discussion
about the subject matter, provide arguments for and against,
give a balanced conclusion.

10.  I realized that there were various ways to answer this
question. X could be For or Against it and find numerous
arguments. E.g. the way you see the Commentaries : map of
law Vs inaccuracy.
 Don’t create a ‘big messy salad’ be selective, more reflective
than any other time.
 Since my endeavor was to give a balanced set of arguments I
had to keep my mind focused on the ‘Big Picture’.
 Talent Vs Character.
 Passion for order and efficiency Vs Hostility.
 Ambition Vs Purpose.
 The main disadvantages of B, lack of 2 imperative qualities:
“natural diffidence” and No powerful legal connections.
 UK Vs USA Blackstone’s reputation e.g. USA Supreme
Court still cites Commentaries around a dozen times each
year compared to Shannon v Shannon were Lord Redesdale
said he was always sorry to hear lawyers citing the
Commentaries as an authority. Judges never use them as
authority.

11.  My endeavor was to provide a sense of the period
e.g. lack of knowledge of he law amongst the
general population. So the need to improve the
general understanding of the law was a key
element within the lectures Blackstone conducted
as Vinerian Professor in Oxford.
 The era was one where there was a general
background of the need for reform e.g. Milsom
says that in the 18th c no text books it was only a
“great body of intricate substantive rules for which
Blackstone’s task was indeed to summarize and
simplify.”

12.  Followed Blackstone’s previous work the Analysis of
the Laws of England, build upon ideas from Hale.
W.Prest described the Analysis as being a landmark in
the introduction of English law.
 Structure of the Commentaries: divided into 4 separate
sections each dealing with the elucidation of different
aspects of the law such as the rights of persons, the
rights of things, private wrongs, and public wrongs.
Their historical development is evident through a
series of subdivisions and explanations.
 The paradox.
 The main aim of B was to create a map of law and
increase knowledge.
 A balance between historical and contemporaneous
was a central element within the Commentaries.

13.  Mixed one.
 On the one hand, B created novel approaches
to law, e.g. lectures, Commentaries were
elegantly written provided a “map” of the law.
 Barrister, Judge, Tory MP, writer, 1st Vinerian
Professor of Law at Oxford. All these have to
be seen in the light of an overall contribution.

14.  The approach taken by B in his commentaries was rendered
paradoxical by the very nature of English common law and
its heavy reliance on precedent. E.g. the Monarch can not
err without being led astray by malicious advisers.
 This of course was due to the conservative nature of B’s
view which had the effect of making him hugely significant
in the USA. Boorstin’s view:
 “ In the history of American institutions, no other book-
except the Bible- has played so great role” and “In the first
century of the American Independence, the Commentaries
were not merely an approach to the study of law; for most
lawyers they constituted all there was of the law.”
 Holdsworth, and Abraham Lincoln.
 Thus there were a lot of paradoxes in terms of the work of B
and also the way it was understood by others.

15.  Character. Very antagonistic, arrogant, hostile,
conflicts with leading figures such as Bentham
and T.Randolph.
 His approach, was arguably, fundamentally
academic.
 The period was one of constant state of
evolution thus the work of B needed to be
updated by interpreters of the law in order to
adapt to the transitions.

16.  Knowledge on Blackstone and English Law
Reform.
 Better appreciation of Common law system.
 Research skills.
 Got out of my “comfort zone”.
 Confidence: Learned to expect difficulties and
overcome them.
 Visited a lot of new places e.g. Supreme Court,
British Library, Royal Court of Justice, Inns of
Court. All of these contributed towards the
development of my personality.

17.  So indeed…
 “Knowledge is of two kinds. We either know a
subject ourselves. Or we know where to find
it.”