John Bull and the raptures of Europe

The civil law tradition (of Romanist inspiration) remained marginal in the history of English law. The professional "niches" for university-educated lawyers were restricted: neither in the upper echelons of government, nor in the main courts of justice, were law graduates able to play a decisive role (in contrast to the situation on the Continent). This marginalization became even more pronounced after the civil war and in the wake of the Glorious Revolution. The common law 's occasional borrowings from the ius commune tradition did not structurally alter common lawyers' ways of thinking. England's commercial, economic and political successes in the ^18th and 19th^centuries reinforced a sense of national superiority(self-consciousness) in relation to continental systems. Systematic dialogue and interface with Western European legal traditions only developed - perhaps only temporarily - during the decades of the UK's membership of the European Communities (and subsequently, the European Union). The English legal tradition, however, has resisted a profound transformation of the common law and the "spirit" of English law, even in the field of human rights.