Civil Law

Civil lawWhereas the criminal legal systems of most English-speaking countries are based on English common law, those of most European and Latin American countries, as well as many countries in Africa and Asia, are based on civil law. The civil-law tradition originated in the Law of the Twelve Tables (451–450 BC), a legal code that was posted in the Roman Forum. In civil law the legislature, as the representative of the public, is viewed as the only valid source of law. It attempts to provide a complete, detailed, and written legal code that is understandable to the common citizen and applies in virtually all situations. Therefore, legal codes in civil-law countries tend to be much lengthier than those in common-law countries, if indeed those countries have them at all. The typical pattern in civil law includes a definition of an offense, various relevant legal principles, and a list of specific applications of the law and specific exceptions. Judges are expected to apply the law as it is written and generally are prohibited from engaging in the type of interpretation that regularly occurs in common-law systems. If more than one law applies to a case, or if the circumstances are such that the law’s application is unclear, then judges refer to the legal principles that are contained in the law. Owing to the central role of the legislature in developing the legal code, civil-law systems also generally lack the type of judicial review that in common-law countries results in what is called case law (i.e., law that derives from judicial interpretations of legislative statutes or the constitution).