The great Victorian jurist A. V. Dicey saw it as a virtue of the rule of law in England that our constitutional law fundamentally consisted of the principles of private law’ which have with us been by the action of the courts and Parliament so extended as to determine the position of the Crown and of its servants.’2 The twentieth century development of public law guaranteed that Dicey’s view long ago ceased to present an accurate picture. But it is still worth considering the features of private law that contribute to its significance, whether or not they played a part within Dicey’s own outlook.