Distinction between Civil Law And Common Law

The legal system of a country can be identified as either following Common Law system or a Civil law system.

A rough estimation that around Eighty countries follows common Law system, they prefer judges opinion over the statutes.

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

• The United States
• England
• Canada
• Australia

Civil Law 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 [India]
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.

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 Asia, 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 Europe , 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.