Common law and Civil law - Essay Example

The merging of these courts with the common law courts is thus what laid a framework for the present-day judicial system in America. The common laws subject all citizens to similar laws, regardless of their official ranks, or lack of. At the same time, the extent to which the government exercises its powers is dependent on the limitations of the common laws. Thus, the common law can be viewed at as a legal system development of the Anglo-Saxon people (Laeuchli, 2007). On the other hand, the civil system of law is dominant in the European countries that were former French or Spanish colonies.

One of the contrasting differences between the common law and the civil law is that the former has a historical basis; they are a development of the custom. As such, they were in use even before they were put in writing, and people continued using them even after they became written laws (Dainow, 1967). In line with this, civil laws attempts to interpret doctrinal writings, as opposed to the application of facts, while dealing with legal fictions. At the same time, civil laws are based on detailed legal principles.

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