Kara Sears
The oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West is Canon law, the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church. Canon law has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, and judges. The two most widespread legal systems in the world are civil law and common law. Civil law, also known as Roman law, is the most widespread by landmass and population. Common law, on the other hand, is employed by the greatest number of people compared to any single civil law system. It is based on precedent, with previous cases and judicial opinions determining how new cases are resolved.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Most common law system | Civil law, also known as Roman law |
| Common law | |
| Oldest law system | Canon law of the Catholic Church |
| Common law | |
| Islamic law |
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What You'll Learn
Civil law
The concept of codification in civil law dates back to the Code of Hammurabi in Babylon around 1790 BC. However, civil law systems as we know them today derive from the Roman Empire and, more specifically, the Corpus Juris Civilis issued by Emperor Justinian around AD 529. This was a comprehensive reform of the law in the Byzantine Empire, bringing it together into codified documents. The foundation of Roman law was the Twelve Tablets, which contained an established set of laws.
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Common law
In a common law jurisdiction, several stages of research and analysis are required to determine "what the law is" in a given situation. First, one must ascertain the facts. Then, one must locate any relevant statutes and cases, as well as extract the principles, analogies, and statements by various courts. One must then integrate all the lines drawn and reasons given and determine "what the law is", before applying that law to the facts. Common law systems are considerably more complicated in practice than this simplified system description.
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Religious law
Sharia law, or Islamic law, is the most widely used religious law system and is one of the three most common legal systems in the world, alongside common and civil law. It is based on divine law, derived from the Quran and Sunnah, and the rulings of ulema (jurists). It deals with many topics addressed by secular law, including crime, politics, economics, and personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, inheritance, and fasting. In some Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, sharia is the primary legal system. In other countries, it is used only as a supplement to national law.
Halakha is followed by Orthodox and Conservative Jews in both ecclesiastical and civil relations. While no country is fully governed by halakha, Jewish people may choose to have a dispute heard by a Jewish court and be bound by its rulings.
Within Christianity, there are several possible definitions of religious law. One is the Mosaic Law, or the Law of Moses, from the Old Testament, which includes the famous example of the Ten Commandments. Another is the Law of Christ, or the New Commandment, from the instructions of Jesus of Nazareth to his disciples in the Gospel. The Apostolic Decree of Acts 15 is observed by the Greek Orthodox Church, while canon law is followed by the Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches. Canon law is more similar to civil law in its use of codes.
In the Church of England, ecclesiastical courts still have jurisdiction over certain church-related matters, such as the discipline of clergy and issues related to church property and churchyards.
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Islamic law
Sharia is concerned with both ethical standards and legal rules, indicating what an individual is entitled or bound to do in law and what one ought to do or refrain from doing in conscience. Certain acts are classified as praiseworthy (mandūb), which means that performing them brings divine favour, while others are considered blameworthy (makrūh), which implies the opposite. However, neither classification carries legal sanctions of punishment or reward, nullity, or validity. Thus, Sharia is not merely a system of law but also a comprehensive code of behaviour that embraces both private and public activities.
The Islamic legal system, consisting of Sharia and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), is the most widely used religious law system and one of the three most common legal systems globally, alongside common law and civil law. About half of the world's Muslim-majority countries have Sharia-based laws, and most Muslims worldwide follow aspects of Sharia in their private religious practices. However, the role and interpretation of Sharia in the modern world have become increasingly debated topics in Islam. While fundamentalists advocate for the complete implementation of "pure Sharia", modernists argue for its compatibility with human rights, democracy, minority rights, freedom of thought, women's rights, and banking.
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Canon law
The canon law of the Catholic Church includes the internal ecclesiastical law, or operational policy, governing the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the individual national churches within the Anglican Communion. The way that such church law is legislated, interpreted, and at times adjudicated varies widely among these four bodies of churches.
In the fourth century, the First Council of Nicaea (325) referred to canons as the disciplinary measures of the church, distinguishing between the rules enacted by the church and the legislative measures taken by the state. In the Catholic Church, canon law is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the church's hierarchical authorities to regulate its external organisation and government and to direct the activities of Catholics toward the church's mission.
The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the jus antiquum, the jus novum, the jus novissimum, and the Code of Canon Law. In relation to the Code, history can be further divided into the jus vetus (all law before the Code) and the jus novum (the law of the Code, or jus codicis). The canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which developed some distinct disciplines and practices, underwent its own process of codification, resulting in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II.
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Frequently asked questions
The oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West is the canon law of the Catholic Church. Canon law originates much later than Roman law but predates the evolution of modern European civil law traditions.
Civil law, also known as Roman law, is the most widespread legal system by landmass and population. Common law is employed by the greatest number of people compared to any single civil law system.
Civil law is based on complying with enacted laws. Common law is based on precedent, meaning that previous cases and judicial opinions determine how new cases are resolved.
Common law is practiced in Canada (excluding Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), South Africa, Ireland, India (excluding Goa and Puducherry), Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United States, Hong Kong, and many other places.
