Civil legal systems: introductory comments
What is this topic about and why are we looking at it
• The module looks at European law
• Most European states have a civil legal system: this is characteristically different to the common law
• This enables us to look beyond the tenets and features of the English legal system
• Legal systems can influence each other
• The value to looking at how others ‘do’ their law
• There is weakness to learning law in focusing exclusively on one legal system
• Studying another type of legal system can gains us a critical approach to learning
, Key learning points
• We are learning about the predominant type of legal system in
Europe
• Civil legal system
• As a system it has to function for the same reasons we have the ELS,
but it has particular characteristics than distinguish it
• We will consider these characteristics
• We will also note change, evolution and modernization
• We will note similarities, differences and points of convergence with
ELS
, Recap: meanings of Common Law
• Three meanings
• Common law versus equity
• The Common law began as the law decided in the Royal Courts, applied to the
whole country – ie a system common to the whole country
• Equity - developed by the Court of Chancery to temper the rigidity of the
Common law
• Common law versus statute law
• Common Law means the law contained in the decisions of the courts; it is
contrasted with statute law, which is enacted by Parliament
• Common Law system versus other types of legal system
• Here common law is a term to identify national legal systems that share
common roots/origins, eg as well as ELS, the Republic of Ireland, some
commonwealth counties and the USA have a common law system
• In contrast the vast majority of European (national) legal systems are
differentiated as civil law systems.
What is this topic about and why are we looking at it
• The module looks at European law
• Most European states have a civil legal system: this is characteristically different to the common law
• This enables us to look beyond the tenets and features of the English legal system
• Legal systems can influence each other
• The value to looking at how others ‘do’ their law
• There is weakness to learning law in focusing exclusively on one legal system
• Studying another type of legal system can gains us a critical approach to learning
, Key learning points
• We are learning about the predominant type of legal system in
Europe
• Civil legal system
• As a system it has to function for the same reasons we have the ELS,
but it has particular characteristics than distinguish it
• We will consider these characteristics
• We will also note change, evolution and modernization
• We will note similarities, differences and points of convergence with
ELS
, Recap: meanings of Common Law
• Three meanings
• Common law versus equity
• The Common law began as the law decided in the Royal Courts, applied to the
whole country – ie a system common to the whole country
• Equity - developed by the Court of Chancery to temper the rigidity of the
Common law
• Common law versus statute law
• Common Law means the law contained in the decisions of the courts; it is
contrasted with statute law, which is enacted by Parliament
• Common Law system versus other types of legal system
• Here common law is a term to identify national legal systems that share
common roots/origins, eg as well as ELS, the Republic of Ireland, some
commonwealth counties and the USA have a common law system
• In contrast the vast majority of European (national) legal systems are
differentiated as civil law systems.
