Similarities Between Common Law And Civil Law

Vanessa Covarrubias

Dr. Kopp

CRJU 360

26 November 2017

Common and Civil Law Traditions

Every nation has their own set of legal strategies they use to guide them in making important decisions. Each nation has its traditions and policies they follow. Through the world, there are two main types of legal systems that are used; most nations follow either common or civil law. Both the common law system and the civil law system share similarities in having courts, judges, and comparing cases to laws. While both systems share similarities, they also contain many differences, making them two very divergent legal systems.

The common law legal traditions emerged from Northern Europe during the middle ages. It was later spread throughout England (Kopp,2017), especially in areas settled and colonized by the English (UnNatrual Vids, 2017). Common law started when French invaders took over England in 1066, in hopes of having a centralized political system (Kopp, 2017). The French however, faced a series of

Glenn’s book inserts that civil law emerged from the re-discovery of Roman law as it first emerged in Rome. Civil law is now used in nearly all of Europe (UnNatrual Vids, 2017) and Kopp’s (2017) map shows Asia, Central America, Europe, and some of Africa as nations who use civil law. The past of civil law comes from a history of two periods: Roman and modern continental law (Glenn, 2014). Civil law also consists of substantive laws which are complete, comprehensively written, and systematic. Civil law is highly systematized and structured. Civil law also possesses many traditions. These traditions include: code of law, large resident judiciaries, procedures controlled by the judge, denial of judicial lawmaking, and historical prestige of law professors (Glenn, 2014). Civil law is also known as the oldest legal