The European Court of Justice (ECJ), established in 1952 by the Treaty of Paris, has been largely responsible for the development of EU law. Similar to federal states, the EU legal system ensures compliance from the member states because of the Union's decentralized political nature. Also referred to as the Law of the European Union or Community Law, it is the unique and complex legal system that operates in tandem with the laws of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). Following colonization, such laws were written down and incorporated to varying extents into the legal systems imposed by their colonial powers.Įuropean Union Law - A sub-discipline of international law known as "supranational law" in which the rights of sovereign nations are limited in relation to one another. A number of African states practiced customary law many centuries prior to colonial influences. Although such law systems include sanctions for law infractions, resolution tends to be reconciliatory rather than punitive. Common attributes of customary legal systems are that they are seldom written down, they embody an organized set of rules regulating social relations, and they are agreed upon by members of the community. As the term implies, customary law is based upon the customs of a community. The earliest systems of law in human society were customary, and usually developed in small agrarian and hunter-gatherer communities. Customary law is also referred to as "primitive law," "unwritten law," "indigenous law," and "folk law." There is no single history of customary law such as that found in Roman civil law, English common law, Islamic law, or the Napoleonic Civil Code. The foundation of English common law is "legal precedent" - referred to as stare decisis, meaning "to stand by things decided." In the English common law system, court judges are bound in their decisions in large part by the rules and other doctrines developed - and supplemented over time - by the judges of earlier English courts.Ĭustomary Law - A type of legal system that serves as the basis of, or has influenced, the present-day laws in approximately 40 countries - mostly in Africa, but some in the Pacific islands, Europe, and the Near East. Henry II established the king's court and designated that laws were "common" to the entire English realm. Until the time of his reign, laws customary among England's various manorial and ecclesiastical (church) jurisdictions were administered locally. Some legal scholars attribute the formation of the English common law system to King Henry II (r.1154-1189). English common law reflects Biblical influences as well as remnants of law systems imposed by early conquerors including the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Normans. The civil law systems in some countries are based on more than one code.Ĭommon Law - A type of legal system, often synonymous with "English common law," which is the system of England and Wales in the UK, and is also in force in approximately 80 countries formerly part of or influenced by the former British Empire. In civil law the sources recognized as authoritative are principally legislation - especially codifications in constitutions or statutes enacted by governments - and secondarily, custom. The major feature of civil law systems is that the laws are organized into systematic written codes. Also referred to as European continental law, the civil law system is derived mainly from the Roman Corpus Juris Civilus, (Body of Civil Law), a collection of laws and legal interpretations compiled under the East Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian I between A.D. The following list describes these legal systems, the countries or world regions where these systems are enforced, and a brief statement on the origins and major features of each.Ĭivil Law - The most widespread type of legal system in the world, applied in various forms in approximately 150 countries. An additional type of legal system - international law, which governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another - is also addressed below. The legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types: civil law (including French law, the Napoleonic Code, Roman law, Roman-Dutch law, and Spanish law) common law (including United State law) customary law mixed or pluralistic law and religious law (including Islamic law). ![]() A statement on judicial review of legislative acts is also included for a number of countries. This entry provides the description of a country's legal system.
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