Distinction between Civil Law And Common Law

The legal system of a country can be identified as either following Common LawCommon law The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on court decisions rather than statutes passed by the legislature. system or a Civil law system.

A rough estimation that around Eighty countries follows common Law system, they prefer judges opinionOpinion A judge's written explanation of a decision of the court. In an appeal, multiple opinions may be written. The court’s ruling comes from a majority of judges and forms the majority opinion. A dissenting opinion disagrees with the majority because of the reasoning and/or the principles of law on which the decision is based. A concurring opinion agrees with the end result of the court but offers further comment possibly because they disagree with how the court reached its conclusion. over the statutes.

Common Law Countries based on English Common Law[stare decisis /precedent by courts are binding) 

• The United States
• EnglandEngland In England, the Parliament was originally an advisory body summoned to consult with the monarch, and the courts exercised delegated royal powers, as “lions beneath the throne”.
• Canada
• Australia

Civil LawLaw Positive command of sovereign or divine. One can be ruled either by a Statute, a Statue, or a Statement. Legislation is the rule-making process by a political or religious organisation. Physics governs natural law. Logical thinking is a sign of a healthy brain function. Dharma is eternal for Sanatanis. Countries[Only legislative enactments are considered legally binding]

• China
• Japan
• Germany
• France
• Spain

Other Legal systems are  :

1. Sharia system
2. Halakha  system
3. Canon Law system
4. Hybrid legal system [IndiaIndia Bharat Varsha (Jambu Dvipa) is the name of this land mass. The people of this land are Sanatan Dharmin and they always defeated invaders. Indra (10000 yrs) was the oldest deified King of this land. Manu's jurisprudence enlitened this land. Vedas have been the civilizational literature of this land. Guiding principles of this land are : सत्यं वद । धर्मं चर । स्वाध्यायान्मा प्रमदः । Read more]
5. Adat or Customary/ Cultural Law [  Indonesia ]
6. The Kanun (The Code of Lekë Dukagjini of Albenia and kosovo]

• The European Union Court of Justice mixes Civil Law (based on the treaties), attaching importance of Case Law.

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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

CIVIL LAW SYSTEMS

AGUILAR GUTIERREZ, A. y DERBEZ MURO, J., Panorama de la legislación civil , Mexico, UNAM, 1960.

ATIAS, C., Le droit civil , Paris, PUF, 1985.

BERMAN, HJ, Law and Revolution; The Formation of Western Legal Tradition , Cambridge, MA & London, Harvard University Press, 1983.

BOUINEAU, J. and ROUX, J., 200 years of civil code, Paris, ADPF-éditions, 2004.

BREDIN, J.-D., French Civil Code . Bicentenary 1804–2004 , Paris, Dalloz, 2004.

CARNIO, P., Saggi sulla storia della codificazione , Milan, 1998.

CASTAN TOBENAS, J., Derecho español común y foral, Madrid, Reus, 2005.

CHENGUANG, W. and XIANCHU, Z., Introduction to Chinese Law, China Law Series, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweet & Maxwell AsiaAsia Central Asia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Eastern Asia China China–Hong Kong China–Macao China–Taiwan Japan Mongolia North Korea South Korea Southern Asia Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan British Indian Ocean Territory India Iran Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka South-Eastern Asia Brunei Cambodia East Timor Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam Western Asia Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Cyprus Georgia Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen, 1997.

DAINOW, J., (ed.), The Role of Judicial Decision and Doctrine in Civil Law and in Mixed Jurisdictions , Baton Rouge, LSUP, 1974.

EMINESCU, Y, and POPESCU, T., Civil codes of socialist countries , Paris, LGDJ, 1980.

FAUVARQUE – COSSON, B. and PATRIS – GODECHOT, S., Le code civil face à son destin , La documentation française, Paris, 2006 .

FRECKMANN, A. and WEGERISH, T., The German Legal System , London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1999.

HALPÉRIN, J.-L., Histoire des droits en EuropeEurope Once the word came to be peculiarly associated with the transalpine formations of Latin Christianity, it became a cultural term as well as a geographic one. The word “European” merged with the word “Western” and there was a supposed “Western civilization” occupying the Atlantic region, colonizing the two continents and making contact with the Pacific. EU is a “union of states which lies between confederation and federation. Read more. , Paris, Flammarion, 2004.

HAMZA, G., The development of European private law, Bouchal KFT, Budapest, 2005.

JOHN, M., Politics and the Law in Late Nineteenth Century Germany: The Origins of the Civil Code , Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989.

LE ROY, Y. and SHOENENBERGER, B., General Introduction to Swiss Law , Brussels, Bruylant, 2002.

LEVY, J.-P. and CASTALDO, A., Histoire du droit civil , Paris, Dalloz, 2002, XIII + 1554 p.

LEWIS, ADE and IBBETSON, DJ, The Roman Law Tradition , Cambridge UniversityPress, 2004.

MARIANI, N. and PERRET, DL, Legal bibliography on the Québec Civil Law Published in English (1866-1997) , Montréal, Wilson and Lafleur, 1999.

MEDINA DE LENUS, M., El derecho civil español en los últimos 50 ańos , Madrid, Centro de Estudios Registrales, DL, 2000.

MERRYMAN, JH, CLARK, DS and O. HALEY, J., The Civil Law Tradition: Europe, Latin America and East Asia , Charlottesville, Va., Michie Co., 1994.

OBRA COLECTIVA, Un siglo de derecho civil mexicano , Mexico, UNAM, 1985.

COLLECTIVE BOOK, 1804-2004, the civil code, a past a present a future, Panthéon-Assas University, Paris II, Paris, Dalloz, 2004.

COLLECTIVE BOOK, Le code civil 1804-2004, livre du Bicentenaire, Paris, Dalloz, Litec, 2004.

COLLECTIVE BOOK, From the Civil Code of Quebec, contribution to the immediate history of a successful codification , Montreal, Editions Thémis, Department of Justice Canada, 2005.

PORTALIS, J.É.M., Preliminary speech to the first draft of the Civil Code , pref. by MICHEL MASSENET, col. “Voice of the city”, Editions Confluences, 1993.

ROGOWSKI, R., (ed.), Civil Law , New York, New York University Press, 1996.

SANCHEZ – CORDERO DAVILA, J., Derecho civil, Mexico, UNAM, 1981.

STEINER, E., French Legal Method, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002.

TOMAS Y VALIENTE, F., Manuel de historia del Derecho Español , Madrid, Tecnos, 1986.

VANDERLINDEN, J., The concept of code in Western Europe from the 13th to the 19th century , Brussels, Editions of the Institute of Sociology, 1967.

VON MEHREN, AT and JAMES RG, The Civil Law System: An Introduction to the Comparative Study of Law , Boston, MA, Little Brown, 1977.

WILLIAMS, Y., The Sources of Law in the Swiss Civil Code , Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1923.

YIANNOPOULOS, AN, (ed.), Civil Law in the Modern World , LSU

COMMON LAW SYSTEMS

BELANGER-HARDY, L., and GRENON, A., Elements of common law and comparative overview of Quebec civil law, Scarborough, Carswell, 1997.

BULLIER, A., La common law , knowledge du droit, Paris, Dalloz, 2002.

CAPPALLI, RB, The American Common Law Method, New York, Transnational Publisher Inc., 1996.

LA COMMON LAW EN POCHE COLLECTION, Cowansville, Editions Yvon Blais, 1996.

COWNIE, F. and BRADNEY, A. , English Legal System in Context , London, Butterworths, 1996.

DAVID, R., English law, coll. What do i know no. 1162, Paris, PUF, 1965.

DUPONT, J., The Common Law Abroad, Constitutional and Legal Legacy of the British Empire (An Annotated Bibliography of Titles Relating to the Colonial Dependencies of Great Britain held by Twelve Great Law Libraries), Colorado, Fred B. Rothman Publications, 2001.

FARNSWORTH, EA, Introduction to the legal system of the United States , Paris, LGDJ, 1986.

FINE, TM, American Legal Systems: a Resource and Referencee Guide, Cincinnati, Anderson Publishing Co., 1997.

GILMORE, G., The Age of American Law , New Haven, Ct, Yale University Press, 1977.

HOGUE, AR, Origins of the Common Law , Hamden, Conn., Archon Books, 1974, c1966.

HOLDSWORTH, WS, A History of English Law , London, Methuen, Sweet and Maxwell, 1956-1966.

HOLMES, OW, The Common Law , London, Macmillan, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963.

JENKS, E and al., A Digest of English Civil Law, London, Butterworths & Co., l912.

KINDER-GEST, P., Droit anglais, Paris, LGDJ, 1993.

LASKIN, B., The British Tradition in Canadian Law , London, Stevens, 1969.

PARTINGTON, M., Introduction to the English Legal System, New York, Oxford University Press, 2000.

PLUCKNETT, F., Concise History of the Common Law , London, Butterworths, 1956.

POIRIER, D., and DEBRUCHE, AF, General introduction to the common law, Cowansville, Éditions Yvon Blais, 2005.

POTTER, H., Historical Introduction to English Law and Its Institutions , London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1958.

SEROUSSI, R., Introduction to English and American Law, 2nd ed., Paris, Dunod, 1999.

SERVIDIO-DELABRE, E., Common Law, Introduction to the English and American Legal Systems, Paris, Dalloz, 2004.

SIMPSON, AWB, Biographical Dictionary of the Common Law, London, Butterworths, 1984.

VAN CAENEGEM, RC, The Birth of the English Common Law , Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988.

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