The origins of this prohibition are in English common law. [[Sir William Blackstone]] declared in his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' that it was a "universal maxim of the common law of England, that no man is to be brought into jeopardy more than once of the same offense." The principle also existed in Greek, Roman and canon law. | The origins of this prohibition are in English common law. [[Sir William Blackstone]] declared in his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' that it was a "universal maxim of the common law of England, that no man is to be brought into jeopardy more than once of the same offense." The principle also existed in Greek, Roman and canon law. |