As a very rough description, civil law is a legal structure where the written legal codes take complete supremacy over any case law. Legal precedent has little value and, in many cases, can’t be used as part of a legal argument. Judges have relatively little power in the interpretation of the law.
Common law, in contrast, is based on a series of previous legal decisions which can end up having the same affect as law. Previous rulings can carry the same weight as law, especially when laws are vague and need clarification.
Most of the countries that follow common law today were remnants of the British Empire. While civil law in its modern form came from Napoleonic France and its codification of Roman Law into the Napoleonic Code, other countries continued the practice and modified the code based on internal practices.
The only other major legal system in the world is Islamic law, which is its own thing.
As a very rough description, civil law is a legal structure where the written legal codes take complete supremacy over any case law. Legal precedent has little value and, in many cases, can’t be used as part of a legal argument. Judges have relatively little power in the interpretation of the law.
Common law, in contrast, is based on a series of previous legal decisions which can end up having the same affect as law. Previous rulings can carry the same weight as law, especially when laws are vague and need clarification.
Most of the countries that follow common law today were remnants of the British Empire. While civil law in its modern form came from Napoleonic France and its codification of Roman Law into the Napoleonic Code, other countries continued the practice and modified the code based on internal practices.
The only other major legal system in the world is Islamic law, which is its own thing.