1 | Legal system |
2 | This entry provides the description of a country 's legal system ; it also includes information on acceptance of International Court of Justice ( ICJ ) jurisdiction . |
3 | The legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types : civil law ( including French law , the Napoleonic Code , Roman law , Roman_-_Dutch law , and Spanish law ) ; common law ( including United State law ) ; customary law ; mixed or pluralistic law ; and religious law ( including Islamic law ) . |
4 | An additional type of legal system - international law , which governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another - is also addressed below . |
5 | The following list describes these legal systems , the countries or world regions where these systems are enforced , and a brief statement on the origins and major features of each . |
6 | Civil Law - The most widespread type of legal system in the world , applied in various forms in approximately 150 countries . Also referred to as European continental law , the civil law system is derived mainly from the Roman Corpus Juris Civilus , ( Body of Civil Law ) , a collection of laws and legal interpretations compiled under the East Roman ( Byzantine ) Emperor Justinian I between A.D. 528 and 565 . The major feature of civil law systems is that the laws are organized into systematic written codes . In civil law the sources recognized as authoritative are principally legislation - especially codifications in constitutions or statutes enacted by governments - and secondarily , custom . The civil law systems in some countries are based on more than one code . |
7 | Common Law - A type of legal system , often synonymous with English common law , which is the system of England and Wales in the UK , and is also in force in approximately 80 countries formerly part of or influenced by the former British Empire . English common law reflects Biblical influences as_well_as remnants of law systems imposed by early conquerors including the Romans , Anglo_-_Saxons , and Normans . Some legal scholars attribute the formation of the English common law system to King Henry II ( r.1154_-_1189 ) . Until the time of his reign , laws customary among England 's various manorial and ecclesiastical ( church ) jurisdictions were administered locally . Henry II established the king 's court and designated that laws were common to the entire English realm . The foundation of English common law is legal precedent - referred to as stare decisis , meaning to stand by things decided . In the English common law system , court judges are bound in their decisions in large part by the rules and other doctrines developed - and supplemented over time - by the judges of earlier English courts . |
8 | Customary Law - A type of legal system that serves as the basis of , or has influenced , the present_-_day laws in approximately 40 countries - mostly in Africa , but some in the Pacific islands , Europe , and the Near East . Customary law is also referred to as primitive law , unwritten law , indigenous law , and folk law . There is no single history of customary law such_as that found in Roman civil law , English common law , Islamic law , or the Napoleonic Civil Code . The earliest systems of law in human society were customary , and usually developed in small agrarian and hunter_-_gatherer communities . As the term implies , customary law is based upon the customs of a community . Common attributes of customary legal systems are that they are seldom written down , they embody an organized set of rules regulating social relations , and they are agreed upon by members of the community . Although such law systems include sanctions for law infractions , resolution tends to be reconciliatory rather than punitive . A number of African states practiced customary law many centuries prior to colonial influences . Following colonization , such laws were written down and incorporated to varying extents into the legal systems imposed by their colonial powers . |
9 | European Union Law - A sub_-_discipline of international law known as supranational law in which the rights of sovereign nations are limited in relation to one another . Also referred to as the Law of the European Union or Community Law , it is the unique and complex legal system that operates in tandem with the laws of the 27 member states of the European Union ( EU ) . Similar to federal states , the EU legal system ensures compliance from the member states because_of the Union 's decentralized political nature . The European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) , established in 1952 by the Treaty of Paris , has been largely responsible for the development of EU law . Fundamental principles of European Union law include : subsidiarity - the notion that issues be handled by the smallest , lowest , or least centralized competent authority ; proportionality - the EU may only act to the extent needed to achieve its objectives ; conferral - the EU is a union of member states , and all its authorities are voluntarily granted by its members ; legal certainty - requires that legal rules be clear and precise ; and precautionary principle - a moral and political principle stating that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment , in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue , the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action . |
10 | French Law - A type of civil law that is the legal system of France . The French system also serves as the basis for , or is mixed with , other legal systems in approximately 50 countries , notably in North Africa , the Near East , and the French territories and dependencies . French law is primarily codified or systematic written civil law . Prior to the French Revolution ( 1789_-_1799 ) , France had no single national legal system . Laws in the northern areas of present_-_day France were mostly local customs based on privileges and exemptions granted by kings and feudal lords , while in the southern areas Roman law predominated . The introduction of the Napoleonic Civil Code during the reign of Napoleon I in the first decade of the 19th century brought major reforms to the French legal system , many of which remain part of France 's current legal structure , though all have been extensively amended or redrafted to address a modern nation . French law distinguishes between public law and private law . Public law relates to government , the French Constitution , public administration , and criminal law . Private law covers issues between private citizens or corporations . The most recent changes to the French legal system - introduced in the 1980s - were the decentralization laws , which transferred authority from centrally appointed government representatives to locally elected representatives of the people . |
11 | International Law - The law of the international community , or the body of customary rules and treaty rules accepted as legally binding by states in their relations with each_other . International law differs from other legal systems in_that it primarily concerns sovereign political entities . There are three separate disciplines of international law : public international law , which governs the relationship between provinces and international entities and includes treaty law , law of the sea , international criminal law , and international humanitarian law ; private international law , which addresses legal jurisdiction ; and supranational law - a legal framework wherein countries are bound by regional agreements in which the laws of the member countries are held inapplicable when_in conflict with supranational laws . At present the European Union is the only entity under a supranational legal system . The term international law was coined by Jeremy Bentham in 1780 in his Principles of Morals and Legislation , though laws governing relations between states have been recognized from very early times ( many centuries B.C. ) . Modern international law developed alongside the emergence and growth of the European nation_-_states beginning in the early 16th century . Other factors that influenced the development of international law included the revival of legal studies , the growth of international trade , and the practice of exchanging emissaries and establishing legations . The sources of International law are set out in Article 38_-_1 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice within the UN Charter . |
12 | Islamic Law - The most widespread type of religious law , it is the legal system enforced in over 30 countries , particularly in the Near East , but also in Central and South Asia , Africa , and Indonesia . In many countries Islamic law operates in tandem with a civil law system . Islamic law is embodied in the sharia , an Arabic word meaning the right path . Sharia covers all aspects of public and private life and organizes them into five categories : obligatory , recommended , permitted , disliked , and forbidden . The primary sources of sharia law are the Qur'an , believed by Muslims to be the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel , and the Sunnah , the teachings of the Prophet and his works . In addition to these two primary sources , traditional Sunni Muslims recognize the consensus of Muhammad 's companions and Islamic jurists on certain issues , called ijmas , and various forms of reasoning , including analogy by legal scholars , referred to as qiyas . Shia Muslims reject ijmas and qiyas as sources of sharia law . |
13 | Mixed Law - Also referred to as pluralistic law , mixed law consists of elements of some or all of the other main types of legal systems - civil , common , customary , and religious . The mixed legal systems of a number of countries came about when colonial powers overlaid their own legal systems upon colonized regions but retained elements of the colonies ' existing legal systems . |
14 | Napoleonic Civil Code - A type of civil law , referred to as the Civil Code or Code Civil des Francais , forms part of the legal system of France , and underpins the legal systems of Bolivia , Egypt , Lebanon , Poland , and the US state of Louisiana . The Civil Code was established under Napoleon I , enacted in 1804 , and officially designated the Code Napoleon in 1807 . This legal system combined the Teutonic civil law tradition of the northern provinces of France with the Roman law tradition of the southern and eastern regions of the country . The Civil Code bears similarities in its arrangement to the Roman Body of Civil Law ( see Civil Law above ) . As enacted in 1804 , the Code addressed personal status , property , and the acquisition of property . Codes added over the following six years included civil procedures , commercial law , criminal law and procedures , and a penal code . |
15 | Religious Law - A legal system which stems from the sacred texts of religious traditions and in most cases professes to cover all aspects of life as a seamless part of devotional obligations to a transcendent , imminent , or deep philosophical reality . Implied as the basis of religious law is the concept of unalterability , because the word of God can not be amended or legislated against by judges or governments . However , a detailed legal system generally requires human elaboration . The main types of religious law are sharia in Islam , halakha in Judaism , and canon law in some Christian groups . Sharia is the most widespread religious legal system ( see Islamic Law ) , and is the sole system of law for countries including Iran , the Maldives , and Saudi Arabia . No country is fully governed by halakha , but Jewish people may decide to settle disputes through Jewish courts and be bound by their rulings . |
16 | Canon law is not a divine law as such because it is not found in revelation . It is viewed instead as human law inspired by the word of God and applying the demands of that revelation to the actual situation of the church . Canon law regulates the internal ordering of the Roman Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the Anglican Communion . |
17 | Roman Law - A type of civil law developed in ancient Rome and practiced from the time of the city 's founding ( traditionally 753 B.C. ) until the fall of the Western Empire in the 5th century A.D. . Roman law remained the legal system of the Byzantine ( Eastern Empire ) until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 . Preserved fragments of the first legal text , known as the Law of the Twelve Tables , dating from the 5th century B.C. , contained specific provisions designed to change the prevailing customary law . Early Roman law was drawn from custom and statutes ; later , during the time of the empire , emperors asserted their authority as the ultimate source of law . The basis for Roman laws was the idea that the exact form - not the intention - of words or of actions produced legal consequences . It was only in the late 6th century A.D. that a comprehensive Roman code of laws was published ( see Civil Law above ) . Roman law served as the basis of law systems developed in a number of continental European countries . |
18 | Roman_-_Dutch Law - A type of civil law based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands . Roman_-_Dutch law serves as the basis for legal systems in seven African countries , as_well_as Guyana , Indonesia , and Sri Lanka . This law system , which originated in the province of Holland and expanded throughout the Netherlands ( to be replaced by the French Civil Code in 1809 ) , was instituted in a number of sub_-_Saharan African countries during the Dutch colonial period . The Dutch jurist <sol> philosopher Hugo Grotius was the first to attempt to reduce Roman_-_Dutch civil law into a system in his Jurisprudence of Holland ( written 1619_-_20 , commentary published 1621 ) . The Dutch historian <sol> lawyer Simon van Leeuwen coined the term Roman_-_Dutch law in 1652 . |
19 | Spanish Law - A type of civil law , often referred to as the Spanish Civil Code , it is the present legal system of Spain and is the basis of legal systems in 12 countries mostly in Central and South America , but also in southwestern Europe , northern and western Africa , and southeastern Asia . The Spanish Civil Code reflects a complex mixture of customary , Roman , Napoleonic , local , and modern codified law . The laws of the Visigoth invaders of Spain in the 5th_to_7th centuries had the earliest major influence on Spanish legal system development . The Christian Reconquest of Spain in the 11th through 15th centuries witnessed the development of customary law , which combined canon ( religious ) and Roman law . During several centuries of Hapsburg and Bourbon rule , systematic recompilations of the existing national legal system were attempted , but these often conflicted with local and regional customary civil laws . Legal system development for most of the 19th century concentrated on formulating a national civil law system , which was finally enacted in 1889 as the Spanish Civil Code . Several sections of the code have been revised , the most recent of which are the penal code in 1989 and the judiciary code in 2001 . The Spanish Civil Code separates public and private law . |
20 | Public law includes constitutional law , administrative law , criminal law , process law , financial and tax law , and international public law . Private law includes civil law , commercial law , labor law , and international private law . |
21 | United States Law - A type of common law , which is the basis of the legal system of the United States and that of its island possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific . This legal system has several layers , more possibly than in most other countries , and is due in part to the division between federal and state law . |
22 | The United States was founded not as one nation but as a union of 13 colonies , each claiming independence from the British Crown . |
23 | The US Constitution , implemented in 1789 , began shifting power away_from the states and toward the federal government , though the states today retain substantial legal authority . |
24 | US law draws its authority from four sources : constitutional law , statutory law , administrative regulations , and case law . Constitutional law is based on the US Constitution and serves as the supreme federal law . Taken together with those of the state constitutions , these documents outline the general structure of the federal and state governments and provide the rules and limits of power . |
25 | US statutory law is legislation enacted by the US Congress and is codified in the United States Code . |
26 | The 50 state legislatures have similar authority to enact state statutes . |
27 | Administrative law is the authority delegated to federal and state executive agencies . |
28 | Case law , also referred to as common law , covers areas where constitutional or statutory law is lacking . Case law is a collection of judicial decisions , customs , and general principles that began in England centuries ago , that were adopted in America at the time of the Revolution , and that continue to develop today . |