Common and Civil Law Legal Systems

Imagine you are the director of health information services for a medium-sized health care facility. Like many of your peers, you have contracted with an outside copying service to handle all requests for release of patient health information at your facility. You have learned that a lobbying organization for trial attorneys in your state is promoting legislation to place a cap on photocopying costs, which is significantly below the actual costs incurred as part of the contract. (Case Study, p. 20)

The civil legal system is one in which plaintiff feels that they have been wronged in someway and seek compensation and not punishment through a civil suit. This usually happens in the form of property or monetary damages. In these cases civil law governs relationship between and among people, business, organizations, and governmental entities. For example the case of Rodriguez v. Firestone (2001) civil law contained the rules for the manufacturing and sales of consumer goods with hidden hazards for the user.

A Civil court is as the name implies a court system based on disputes between average citizens which are far different from a criminal court where you are dealing with convicts. Just like a criminal court, a civil court also has a set of procedures listed by the judicial system in 1937 with over 86 different rules. Civil cases usually involve disputes between people or organizations. The court case Fenton v. Dudley in 2014. Fenton V. Dudley is “A lawsuit against lawyers who had filed a Fair Housing Act lawsuit against the plaintiff, which is the person who filed the lawsuit, and it later made its way from federal court to state court” (“Civil Rights -- federal court jurisdiction”). Both Civil and Criminal court both have the privilege of a trial by jury, depending on the circumstance.

Under the Civil Law system, the laws are written and codified that the judges have to follow verbatium. Whereas, under the common law system that is followed by Australia, India and the United Kingdom, the laws are codified, doctrine of precedents is followed but the higher courts have the power to over-rule old judgements and existing law in cases where the law breaches the basic structure. (Peterson)

Common law is the system of laws, which originated and were developed in England, that are “based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws” (Melvin, 2011). In other words, common law is law that is made by judges not by the legislature. It is law that is based on court precedent and it evolves over time. Statutory law, which is also referred to as statute law “is written law established by enactments

The civil courts deal with standard lawsuits between people over torts contracts family law issues, juvenile issues, and issues involving rights of the people. They handle probate cases and guardianships. The civil courts deal with rules and regulations.

Domitus Ulpian said, “Justice is the constant and perpetual will to allot to every man his due.” Justice is what allows a society to operate and function. It is upheld and enforced by a system of rules known simply as the law which are officially recognised and imposed on states to govern behavior. Some form of law has always existed in human history whether it be in an unwritten customary form or in a written format like a constitution (Milgate P, 2013). The law and legal system around the world has developed throughout history to the point that there are many different categories and sub categories of law. In modern day Australia, the legal system has been modelled after the English system. This is a combination of statute and common

This paper will cover topics such as; what a court is and what the purpose of the court is. This paper will define the dual court system. In addition this paper will describe the role that early legal codes, the common law and the precedent played in the development of courts. And lastly this paper will identify the role of the courts in the criminal justice system today.

The differences between legal rules and other kinds of rules is that criminal law refers to the consequences associated with breaking them. As the substantive law meaning that it is the law of crimes, referring that Criminal law is the code conduct that all in the society need to follow the rule, and the prohibitions on murder, assault, and burglary. Meaning that if an individual violates or commits these crimes they are going to be treated as a criminal by punishing act from the state. Civil law is refers to procedural law to follow the rule of the state from someone that has committed a crime. Which it is divided into 5 categories, for example torts, property, contract, family, and juvenile law.

Common law is law originating from use and custom rather than from written statutes. The term refers to non-statutory customs, traditions, and precedents that help guide judicial decision making (Schmalleger). The judge

Human civilization marked the beginning of modern day legal systems. The advancements in societies resulted in maintaining certain rules and regulations to continue this progress. Every society has its own set of laws which are in some ways distinct from others. Many of these laws have common sections and underlying guidelines. This could be because some societies decide to retain certain aspects of their customs after breaking out of another society. It could also be the case that over time different societies through trade and other intercultural activities developed together, which caused them to have agreements in their laws. For many others, it is the case that they share a common colonial master. The law and legal systems operating today are derivatives of the forms listed above.

As mentioned in the text “Law is a body of rules established by government officials that bind government, individuals, and nongovernment organization.” These rules were established to maintain stability and justice. The five sources of law are common law, constitutional law, legislation, executive orders and administrative law. Common law is judge made and is grounded in tradition and previous judicial decisions, instead of in written laws. It was a tradition beginning in England as the United States had former ties to England, they were influenced by it. Constitutional law is the body of law that comes out of the courts in cases involving the interpretation of the constitution. The highest court is the Supreme Court.

Common law - that part of the English law not embodied in legislation. It consists of rules of law based on common custom and usage and on judicial court decisions. English common law became the basis of law in the USA and many other English-speaking countries.

The rule of law is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of various social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law differ quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simple one.

Nowadays every legal system wants to achieve justice. Different legal traditions in the world have given a different meaning of this concept by following one of the two legal systems: a civil law system and a common law system. The civil law system emerged from Roman law and throughout many centuries has been developed in continental Europe and often is called a “continental legal system”, achieving its prominence through development of aqui communitare in Europe. The common law system emerged in England during the Anglo-Saxon period and was developed by British colonies, reaching its peak in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.