Learning More about Civil Law
Understanding civil law is deeply rooted on its contrasting branch of law – the common law. Although they can cover the same areas of the laws of the land, their basis are very different. In common law, judges base their decisions on the past. More often than not, judges base their decisions on past cases with similar problems or settings. Common law is also called “case law” because the decision is based on past cases. Judges see the precedent of past cases because a specific law should not be interpreted in a different manner to preserve justice.
Civil law, on the other hand, focuses on the law itself. Judges base their decisions on cases based on what is actually written. But this doesn’t mean that judges can’t conclude based on the past cases. Usually, civil law coincides with the case law as judges make sure that they interpret specific decisions in the same manner.
However, civil law is not all-encompassing. Its coverage is limited to individual relationships. It is very important to consider this fact because individual relationship is part of private law. The difference between civil and private law is that the latter also covers extensive relationship such as commercial law, labor laws and even laws to determine the hierarchy of two conflicting laws.
The Necessity of Civil Codes
As already indicated, civil law is interpreted based on what is written as a law. This means something has to be written first as a basis for the decision. The rules, laws and regulations written as basis for the civil law are referred to as the civil codes. Through civil codes decisions on civil laws is swiftly handed over.
The roots of the creation of civil codes are from the Roman law. They were the basis for legal system in most countries and their framework has been followed to effectively create laws for the land. Part of the laws created is the civil code that could be implemented or used as basis for the civil law.
Although Roman law is very popular in its adoption, it should be noted that England did not follow the framework of the Roman law. The reason for this is that England had already formulated an extensive legal framework almost the same time as the increasing popularity of the Roman law. This means adoption of Roman law would be redundant as they already have a system in place. They already have a civil code in place that they can follow or basis for their civil law.
Areas of Civil Law
- Contract Laws – civil law examines the agreement made by two parties. Aside from the code created to deal with contract laws, the agreement created by two parties is also used as basis on who to favor. This can be extended to oral agreement while many of the contract laws deals with the actual written contract.
- Tort – this is basically an act that ultimately ends in offending a person or disregard to civil responsibility. This should not be mistaken as a criminal act as this is defined as an act against a society. Tort usually deals with accidents that results to injury, libel, slander or even products that resulted to accidents. Tort is also used for companies who pollute nature with physical effects on the people surrounding the manufacturing facility.
- Property – civil law that deals with disputes on the ownership of land and other forms of property.
- Family law – this is a type of civil law that deals with disputes on marriage and problems arising from the relationship. Civil law is also used for termination of the said relationship and other provisions related to the termination of marriage.
- Inheritance – refers to the passing of property from one person to the other after death. Civil law can be used in case there are disputes in inheritance.
Trusts
While the different between civil and common law is on the existence of a civil code, its difference with some of the major parts of law is that it doesn’t usually admit trusts. A trust is basically giving someone an authority in handling properties or specific transactions. This usually does not exist in a civil law because it focuses on individual relationships. The relationship or transaction particular to individuals is naturally broken when there is a trust or a representative. Trust is one of the biggest contributions of the English legal system as it focuses on the common law.
The increasing importance of trusts and use of the common law as basis for various decisions has compelled some countries to use trusts as part of their civil code. Two countries: Switzerland and Liechtenstein have incorporated trusts in civil code. However, this is only admitted through statute. A statute is basically a form of declaration that would recognize something, ban certain processes or products. In this case, a statute can be used to declare the existence of trust.
Private Law vs. Civil Law
Another key to understanding civil law is to differentiate it with private law. While civil law is used to deal with individual relationships, private law also deals with relationships (including those covered by civil law) between businesses, employee to employer and even relationships of two laws.
By differentiating civil law with other forms of law of the land, a conclusion could be made on how it should be implemented and used. By following the civil law, an orderly society could be created and lawlessness is prevented.