Legal systems of the world

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The four major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, common law, customary law, and religious law. However, each country often develops variations on each system or incorporates many other features into the system.

1 Civil law
2 Common law
3 Customary law
4 Religious law
5 Mixed (or pluralistic) systems
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Civil law

Civil law is the most widespread system of law in the world. It is also known as European Continental law. Its principal characteristic is that private law has been based on Roman law.

Countries that base their legal system on a codified civil law include:

Country	Description
Image:Flag of Albania.svg Albania	The Civil Code of the Republic of Albania, 1991 really[1]
Image:Flag of Angola.svg Angola	Based on Portuguese civil law
Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina	The Spanish legal tradition had a great influence on the Civil Code of Argentina, basically a work of the Argentinean jurist Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, who dedicated five years of his life on this task. The Civil Code came into effect on January 1, 1871. Beyond the influence of the Spanish legal tradition, the Argentinian Civil Code was also inspired by the Draft of the Brazilian Civil Code, the Draft of the Spanish Civil Code of 1851, the Napoleonic code, and the Chilean Civil Code. The sources of this Civil Code also include various theoretical legal works, mainly of the great French jurists of the 19th century. It was the first Civil Law that consciously adopted as its cornerstone the distinction between i. rights from obligations and ii. real property rights, thus distancing itself from the French model. The Argentinian Civil Code is also in effect in Paraguay, as per a Paraguayan law of 1880. During the second half of the 20th century, the German legal theory became increasingly influential in Argentina.
Image:Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia
Image:Flag of Aruba.svg Aruba	Based on Dutch civil law
Image:Flag of Austria.svg Austria	The Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) of 1811
Image:Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Azerbaijan
Image:Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus
Image:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Benin.svg Benin
Image:Flag of Bolivia.svg Bolivia	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina
Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	Derived from the Portuguese civil law
Image:Flag of Bulgaria (bordered).svg Bulgaria
Image:Flag of Cambodia.svg Cambodia
Image:Flag of Cape Verde.svg Cape Verde	Based on Portuguese civil law
Image:Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Central African Republic
Image:Flag of Chile (bordered).svg Chile	The Spanish legal tradition exercised an especially great influence on the civil code of Chile. On its turn, the Chilean civil code influenced to a large degree the drafting of the civil codes of other Latin-American states. For instance, the codes of Ecuador (1861) and Colombia (1873) constituted faithful reproductions of the Chilean code, but for very few exceptions. The compiler of the Civil Code of Chile, Andrés Bello, worked for its completion for almost thirty (30) years (!), using elements, of the Spanish law on the other hand, and of other Western laws, especially of the French one, on the other. Indeed, it is noted that he consulted and used all of the codes that had been issued till then, starting from the era of Justinian. The Civil Code came into effect on January 1, 1857. Its technique is regarded as perfect; it is distinguished for the clarity, logic, and cohesiveness of its provisions. As mentioned by Arminjon, Nolde, and Wolff ('Traite de droit comparé', Paris, 1950-1952) Andrés Bello may be regarded as one of the great legislators of mankind. The influence of the Napoleonic code is great; it is observed however that e.g. in many provisions of property law, the solutions of the French code civil were put aside in favor of pure Roman law.
Image:Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia	Civil code introduced in 1873. Nearly faithful reproduction of the Chilean civil code
Image:Flag of Costa Rica (state).svg Costa Rica	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia
Image:Flag of Cuba.svg Cuba
Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg Czech Republic
Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark
Image:Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic
Image:Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador	Civil code introduced in 1861. Nearly faithful reproduction of the Chilean civil code
Image:Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador
Image:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
Image:Flag of Finland (bordered).svg Finland
Image:Flag of France.svg France	Based on the Napoleonic code (code civil of 1804)
Image:Flag of Georgia (bordered).svg Georgia
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany	The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch of 1900
Image:Flag of Greece.svg Greece	The Greek civil code of 1946, highly influenced by the German civil code of 1900 (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch); the Greek civil code replaced the Byzantine-Roman civil law in effect in Greece since its independence (Νομική Διάταξη της Ανατολικής Χέρσου Ελλάδος, Legal Provision of Eastern Mainland Greece, November 1821: 'Οι Κοινωνικοί Νόμοι των Αειμνήστων Χριστιανών Αυτοκρατόρων της Ελλάδος μόνοι ισχύουσι κατά το παρόν εις την Ανατολικήν Χέρσον Ελλάδα', 'The Social [i.e. Civil] Laws of the Dear Departed Christian Emperors of Greece [referring to the Byzantine Emperors] alone are in effect at present in Eastern Mainland Greece')
Image:Flag of Guatemala.svg Guatemala
Image:Flag of Haiti.svg Haiti	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Honduras.svg Honduras
Image:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary
Image:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland
Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	Based on codified Roman law, with elements of the Napoleonic civil code; civil code of 1942 replaced the original one of 1865
Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Japan	Modeled after European (primarily German) civil law system. Japanese civil code of 1895.
Image:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia	Largely influenced by Germany, medium influences from Russian and Soviet law.
Image:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania	Modeled after Dutch civil law
Image:Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Macau.svg Macau Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg (China)	Based on the Portuguese strand of the continental tradition, itself much influenced by Germany; also influenced by the law of the PRC
Image:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway
Image:Flag of Panama (bordered).svg Panama
Image:Flag of Paraguay.svg Paraguay	The Argentinean Civil Code is also in effect in Paraguay, as per a Paraguayan law of 1880.
Image:Flag of Peru.svg Peru
Image:Flag of Poland (bordered).svg Poland	The Polish Civil Code in force since 1965.
Image:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Romania	Based on the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg Russia
Image:Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia
Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	As all Scandinavian legal systems, it is distinguished for its traditional character and as well as for the fact that it did not adopt elements of Roman law. It is indeed worth mentioning that it assimilated very few elements of foreign laws whatsoever. It is also interesting that the Napoleonic code had no influence in codification of law in Scandinavia. The historical basis of the law of Sweden, just as for all Nordic countries, is the Old German law. Codification of the law started in Sweden during the 18th century, preceding the codifications of most other European countries. However, neither Sweden, nor any other Nordic state created a civil code of the kind of the code civil or the BGB
Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland	The Zivilgesetzbuch of 1908 and 1912 (obligations; fifth book)
Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey	Modeled after the Swiss civil law (Zivilgesetzbuch) of 1907; this has been a conscious choice of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish state, in order to abolish the Islamic law (Sharia), aiming at westernizing the country
Image:Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia
Image:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay
Image:Flag of the Vatican City.svg Vatican City
Image:Flag of Vietnam.svg Vietnam	Communist legal theory and French civil law

[edit] Common law

Main article: Common law

Country	Description
Image:Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg Antigua and Barbuda	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	based on English common law
Image:Flag of the Bahamas.svg Bahamas	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Barbados.svg Barbados	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Belize.svg Belize	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada	based on English common law, except in Image:Flag of Quebec.svg Quebec, where civil law system based on French law prevails
Image:Flag of Dominica.svg Dominica	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Grenada.svg Grenada	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Republic of Ireland	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Kiribati.svg Kiribati	based on English common law
Image:Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg Marshall Islands	based on U.S. Law
Image:Flag of Nauru.svg Nauru	based on English common law
Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Palau.svg Palau	based on U.S. Law
Image:Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.svg Saint Kitts and Nevis	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Tonga.svg Tonga	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Trinidad and Tobago	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Tuvalu.svg Tuvalu	based on English common law
Image:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda	based on English common law
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom	Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg English law (also includes Image:Flag of Wales (bordered).svg Wales) and Image:Flag of Northern Ireland (bordered).svg Northern Irish law is primarily common law, with early Roman and some modern continental influences. Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland has its own unique system, Scots law, based on civil law, and generally regarded as mixed
Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States	Federal court system based on English common law; each state has its own unique legal system, of which all but one (Image:Flag of Louisiana.svg Louisiana's, which is based on the Napoleonic Code) is based on English common law