Civil Law Legal System

Introduction

A civil law country, typically, has a civil law legal system as opposed to common law system. Civil law stems from the Roman law of Justinian’s Corpus Juris Civilis, proceeding from broad legal principles and the interpretation of doctrinal writings.

Researching a civil law country law, therefore, follows a different methodology from that used for researching comon law countries law. In a civil law country, the focus is usually on codified law rather than on civil case law and precedent. It is important to note that although many civil law countries system are based on civil law, case law does still play an important role in practice in those countries. Although a civil law country case law may not officially recognized as an authoritative source of law, it is still crucial to the development of the law.

Civil Law Legal System Definition

The civil law legal system is a collection of a few distinct elements or subtraditions, with distinct origins and developments in various periods of history.

Civil law Legal Systems and Mixed Systems with a Civil law Tradition

According to the University of Ottawa:

“In this category you will find (states) that, apart from other sources, have drawn their inspiration largely from the Roman law heritage and which, by giving precedence to written law, have resolutely opted for a systematic codification of their general law. However, you will also find political entities, generally with mixed legal systems, which may not have resorted to the technique of codification but which have retained, to varying degrees, a sufficient number of elements of Roman law as “Raison écrite” to warrant their affiliation to the civilian tradition (e.g. Scotland). On the other hand, this category also includes (countries) less influenced by Roman law but whose law, whether codified or not, is founded on a perception of the role of statute law which, in many regards, approaches that of countries with a “pure” civilian tradition (e.g. Scandinavian countries, which occupy an original position in the Civil law, or sometimes called “Romano-Germanic”, family).”

CIVIL LAW MONOSYSTEMS

ALBANIA
ANGOLA
ARGENTINA
ARMENIA
ARUBA (NL)
AUSTRIA
AZERBAIJAN
AZORES (PG)
BELARUS
BELGIUM
BENIN
BOLIVIA
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
BRAZIL
BULGARIA
CAMBODIA
CANARY ISLANDS (SP)
CAPE VERDE
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
CHILE
COLOMBIA
COSTA RICA
CROATIA
CUBA
CZECH REPUBLIC
DENMARK (DK)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
ECUADOR
EL SALVADOR
ESTONIA
FAROE ISLANDS (DK)
FINLAND
FRANCE (FR)
FRENCH GUYANA (FR)
FRENCH POLYNESIA (FR)
FRENCH SOUTHERN AND ANTARCTIC LANDS (FR)
GEORGIA
GERMANY
GREECE
GREENLAND (DK)
GUADELOUPE (FR)
GUATEMALA
HAITI
HONDURAS
HUNGARY
ICELAND
ITALY
KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
LAOS
LATVIA
LIECHTENSTEIN
LITHUANIA
LUXEMBOURG
MACAU (CN)
MACEDONIA (FYROM)
MADEIRA (PG)
MARTINIQUE (FR)
MAYOTTE ISLAND (FR)
MEXICO
MOLDOVA
MONACO
MONTENEGRO
NETHERLANDS (NL)
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES (NL)
NICARAGUA
NEW CALEDONIA (FR)
NORWAY
PANAMA
PARAGUAY
PERU
POLAND
PORTUGAL (PG)
REUNION ISLAND (FR)
ROMANIA
RUSSIA
SAINT-BARTHELEMY (FR)
SAINT-MAARTEN (FR)
SAN MARINO
SAINT PIERRE AND MIQUELON (FR)
SERBIA
SLOVAKIA
SLOVENIA
SPAIN (SP)
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
SURINAME
TAJIKISTAN
THAILAND
TURKEY
TURKMENISTAN
UKRAINE
URUGUAY
UZBEKISTAN
VATICAN
VENEZUELA
VIETNAM
WALLIS AND FUTUNA (FR)

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW AND COMMON LAW

SOUTH AFRICA
BOTSWANA
CYPRUS
SCOTLAND (UK)
GUYANA
LOUISIANA (USA)
MALTA
MAURITIUS
NAMIBIA
PHILIPPINES
PORTO RICO (ASS. USA)
QUEBEC (CD)
SAINT LUCIA
SEYCHELLES

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW AND CUSTOMARY LAW

BURKINA FASO
BURUNDI
CHAD
CHINA (CN) (minus H-K and MACAU)
CONGO
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
COTE D’IVOIRE
ETHIOPIA
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
GABON
GUINEA
GUINEA-BISSAU
JAPAN
KOREA SOUTH
KOREA NORTH
MADAGASCAR
MALI
MONGOLIA
MOZAMBIQUE
NIGER
RWANDA
SAO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE
SENEGAL
SWAZILAND
TAIWAN
TOGO

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW AND MUSLIM LAW

ALGERIA
COMOROS ISLANDS
EGYPT
IRAN
IRAQ
LEBANON
LIBYA
MAURITANIA
MOROCCO
PALESTINE
SYRIA
TUNISIA

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW, MUSLIM LAW AND CUSTOMARY LAW

DJIBOUTI
ERITREA
INDONESIA
JORDAN
KUWAIT
OMAN
TIMOR LESTE

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW, COMMON LAW AND CUSTOMARY LAW

CAMEROUN
LESOTHO
SRI LANKA
VANUATU
ZIMBABWE

MIXED SYSTEMS OF CIVIL LAW,COMMON LAW, MUSLIM LAW AND CUSTOMARY LAW

BAHRAIN
QATAR
SOMALIA
YEMEN

MIXED SYSTEM OF CIVIL LAW, COMMON LAW, JEWISH LAW AND MUSLIM LAW

ISRAEL

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

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YIANNOPOULOS, A.N., (ed.), Civil law in the Modern World, L.S.U.