Major legal systems By Avv: Zakaria

Three major legal systems The three major legal systems of the world today consist of Continental legal system (civil law) Anglo-American legal system (common law) Religious legal systems Each country often develops variations on each system or incorporates many other features into the system.

Continental legal system It is a legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not determined, as in common law, by judges. The principle of this system is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow. It is the most prevalent and oldest surviving legal system in the world. Continental legal system is sometimes inappropriately referred to as Roman law or otherwise called Romano-Germanic law, especially by people under its jurisdiction.

Subgroups However, since continental European traditions are by no means uniform, scholars of comparative law usually subdivide civil law into four distinct groups: French civil law – in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Quebec (Canada), Louisiana (USA), Italy, Spain and former colonies of those countries German civil law – in Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, China Austrian civil law – in Austria, Czech republic, Slovakia, Greece, Serbia, Romania Scandinavian civil law – in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway

Anglo-American legal system Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals (called case law), rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law. Common law legal systems are in widespread use, particularly in England where it originated in the Middle Ages, and in nations that trace their legal heritage to England as former colonies of the British Empire, including the United States, Singapore, Pakistan, India, Ghana, Cameroon, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Australia

Interaction of statutory and case law In almost all areas of the law (even those where there is a statutory framework, such as contracts for the sale of goods or the criminal law), legislature-enacted statutes generally give only terse statements of general principle, and the fine boundaries and definitions exist only in the common law In common law jurisdictions, legislatures operate under the assumption that statutes will be interpreted against the backdrop of the pre-existing common law and custom

Religious legal systems Religious law refers to the notion of a religious system or document being used as a legal source The main kinds of religious law are Sharia in Islam, Halakha in Judaism, and Canon law in some Christian groups

Islamic law The Islamic legal system of Sharia (Islamic law) and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is the most widely used religious law, and one of the three most common legal systems in the world alongside common law and civil law. Mainstream Islam distinguishes between fiqh (deep understanding, discernment), which refers to the inferences drawn by scholars, and sharia, which refers to the principles that lie behind the fiqh.

Origins of Islamic law Sharia Law is founded on the teachings of Allah and the acts and sayings of Muhammad as found in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Sharia was not fully developed at the time of Muhammad's death, but rather it evolved around the Muslim community Before the 19th century, legal theory was considered the domain of the traditional legal schools of thought. The legal schools followed by most Sunni Muslims were Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki or Shafi`i. Most Shia Muslims followed the Ja'fari school of thought

Socialist law Socialist law is the official name of the legal system used in Communist states. It is based on the civil law system, with major modifications and additions from Marxist-Leninist ideology Prior to the end of the Cold War, Socialist law was generally ranked among the major legal systems of the world However, many contemporary observers no longer consider it to be such, due to similarities with the civil law system and the fact that it is no longer in widespread use following the dismantling of most communist states.

Mixed legal systems Mixed legal systems are mostly defined as the combination of civil law and common law Examples - South Africa, Louisiana, Israel Israel's legal system combines English common law, civil law, and Jewish law Legal enclaves – territories surrounded by different legal culture