Legal Environment

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
A ROMANO-GERMANIC LEGAL ENVIRONMENT AND
A COMMON LAW ENVIRONMENT

In order for us to understand the difference between a ROMANO-GERMAN legal environment and a COMMON LAW environment, it is important for us to examine each system separately and then to present the main differences of the two legal systems.

ROMANO-GERMANIC LAW (CIVIL LAW)
Civil law is the main legal system used in the world today. It originates from the Roman law and is based on written legal codes which are applied and interpreted by judges. This codification system is useful as it limits the law enforcers by making it available to the general public. The laws are made by legislators in response to specific issues and the decision of one legislator is not compulsory on the next. This may have an unstable effect on economy and politics. Judgment is passed by applying the stipulation of the specific code or relevant law.
Examples of countries applying ROMANO-GERMANIC (CIVIL LAW) today are;
Continental Europe, Asia and South America.

COMMON LAW
Common law is found mainly in countries with a history as British territories. An important factor of common law is ‘limiting’ governmental power. Common law relies mainly on customs and precedent (‘model’ or previous cases), thus making the decisions made by judges today binding on future legal decisions. This makes it harder to change laws, thus promoting a sense of security for the people.
Examples of countries applying COMMON LAW today are; Canada, Australia, United States (except Louisiana) and United Kingdom.

MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ROMANIC-GERMANIC LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE COMMON LAW SYSTEM

- The first difference between common law and civil law is that common law was initially based on customs and began before there was any written laws and continued to be applied even after the introduction of written laws whereas written law was developed out of the ROMAN LAW OF JUSTINIAN’S “CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS” and was later codified as customary law through the collection of legal principles which were considered the ‘norm’.
- Besides the difference of the actual ‘codes’ found in civil law, another differentiating factor is the systematic approach to the codes and statutes used in civil law. Cases are resolved by applying general rules and principles and legislation is seen as the main source of law.
In common law systems, cases are the main source of law with statutes considered as ‘intrusions’ to common law

- The ‘separation of powers’ is also considered from a different perspective between the two legal systems; In some common law countries, for example the United States, judges balance the power of the other sectors of government, whereas in France (civil law), this principle was originally applied by appointing different roles to legislation and judges with the judges only applying the law – this shows that many civil law countries refuse the idea of model cases (precedent) even though they may take them into consideration in the decision process and that certain civil law systems are based on the “inquisitorial system” not the “adversarial systems”.

- In the common law system, opinions or views are usually much longer and more complicated, usually discussing previous cases, whereas civil law legal views are usually short and formal and to the point, not referring to previous cases (which once again we must note they may take into consideration in their decision)

-There are also sociological differences between the two legal systems; civil law judges are usually trained and promoted separately from advocates whereas common law judges are usually chosen from successful and highly regarded advocates.
Also, articles written by “legal academics” on case law, are found to be more persuasive in civil law countries.

To conclude, in today’s’ society we find an increased use of case law in civil law countries and the increasing need for statute law and codes in common law countries, for example in matters of criminal law and commercial law. Certain countries are using a ‘mixed legal system’ (a combination of both legal systems), for example Quebec and South Africa and the state of Louisiana.

The above information has been accumulated through extensive reading on the internet.