Systems of Law

Task 1. Read the text “Systems of Law” and try to understand its contents.

Systems of Law

Every independent country has its own legal system. The systems vary according to each country's social traditions and form of government. But most systems can be classed as either (1) a common-law system or (2) a civil-law system. Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Great Britain (except Scotland), the United States, and other English-speaking countries have a common-law system. Most other countries have a civil-law system. Many countries combine features of both systems.

Common-law systems are based largely on case law – that is, on court decisions. The common-law system began in England many hundreds of years ago. The English called their system the common law because it applied throughout the land.

English common law developed from the rules and principles that judges traditionally followed in deciding court cases. Judges based their decision on legal precedents that is, on earlier court rulings in similar cases. But judges could expand precedents to make them suit particular cases. They could also overrule (reject) any precedents that they considered to be an error or outdated. In this way, judges changed many laws over the years. The common law thus came to be law made by judges.

Case law is still important in common-law countries. However, the lawmaking role of legislatures in these countries has increased greatly during the 1900s. The changes have dealt with such matters as employee management relations, workers' wages and hours, and environmental protection. Nevertheless, common-law countries have kept the basic feature of the English legal system, which is the power of judges to make laws. In addition, constitutional law in these countries continues the common-law tradition of defending the people's rights and liberties.

Civil-law systems are based mainly on statutes (legislative acts). The majority of civil-law countries have assembled their statutes into one or more carefully organized collections called codes. Most modern law codes can be traced back to the famous code commissioned by the Roman emperor Justinian I in the A.D. 500s. Justinian’s code updated and summarized the whole of Roman law. It was called the Corpus Juris Civilis, meaning Body of Civil Law. For this reason, legal systems that are based on the Roman system of statute and code law are known as civil-law systems. This use of the term civil law should not be confused with its use as an alternative term for criminal law.

In civil law countries, such as France, Germany, and Mexico, the statutes, not the courts, provide the final answer to any question of law. Judges may refer to precedents in making their decisions. But they must base every decision on a particular statute and not on precedent alone.

Other systems. Many countries have patterned their legal system after both civil law and common law. For example, Japan and most Latin-American nations have assembled all their private law into a code. But public law in these countries has been greatly influenced by common-law principles, especially those that guarantee the rights and liberties of the people.