[giotto]

no one is sure where the quote came from...Some attorneys believed the quote is pulled or adapted from the writing of Sir William Blackstone...But other Department of Justice employees say the quote originates from British lawyer, C. Wilfred Jenks, who back in the late 1930s and after World War II was a leading figure in the "international law" movement, which sought to impose a global, common law, and advocated for global workers rights

The thing is, there is really nothing to back up this assertion. I'm surprised that The Spectator published a whole article on so slim a premise, with no solid attribution of the quote to Wilfred Jenks.

[Enchante]

re: "The common law is the will of mankind issuing from the life of the people"

Whatever the origin of this quotation it is a stupid and highly misleading item to have at the top of our DOJ home page. The USA does NOT depend upon the "will of mankind" to determine our laws, and our constitutional law tradition is not the same as "common law" at all. Of course our legal systems have relied extensively upon the common law tradition, fusing US and UK legal precedents in many areas, but our CONSTITUTION is primary and is (supposed to be) the will of "We the People" in the USA, not the "will of mankind"

The "will of mankind" ought to be influence by US constitutional law but the idea that US laws are nothing more than the "will of mankind" is pernicious, completely inaccurate (to date anyway), and subversive of our constitutional tradition.