Text 3. Common and Continental law

Each country in the world has its own system of law. There are two main traditions of law in the world. One is based on English Common law¹. The other tradition is known as Continental, or Roman law.

Common law, or case law system, differs from Continental law as it has developed gradually throughout history. It is not the result of government attempts to codify every legal relation. Customs and court rulings have been as important as statutes (government legislation). Judges do not merely apply the law, in some cases they make law, and their, interpretations may become precendents for other courts.

Before William of Normandy invaded England in 1066 no law was common to the whole kingdom. The Norman Kings sent travelling judges around the country and gradually a “common law” developed. Uniform application of the law throughout the country was promoted by the gradual development of the doctrine of precedent.

The doctrine of precedent is still a central feature of modern common law systems.

Even when governments make new laws – statutes, they are interpreted by the courts in order to fit particular cases, and these interpretations become new precedents.

Continental systems, codified legal systems, have resulted from attempts by governments to produce a set of codes so that the state could govern every legal aspect of a citizen’s life.

When the lawmakers were codifying their legal systems, they looked to the example of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, whose legislators wanted to break with previous case law.

The lawmakers were also influenced by the model of the Canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, but the most important models were the codes produced in the seventh century under the direction of the Roman Emperor Justinian.

Versions of Roman law had long influenced many parts of Europe but had little impact on English law.