A Comparison Of The Legal System

A Comparison Of The Legal System

JuriGlobe World Legal Systems is a free resource containing different quick reference tools, which include Civil law systems, Common law systems, Islamic law systems, customary law systems, and Mixed legal systems. The civil laws originated from the Roman legal tradition and the most common legal system across the world. Its legal authority organized in written codes, which acts like the distinguishing feature of the civil law. Common laws originated from English common law. The law has statutes, depend on precedents and judicial decisions that previously made. They are more adversarial than investigatory, with the judge moderating between two opposing parties. The customary legal systems are grounded on the customs of a given community. The significant features of the customary law include traditions that govern social relations; they may be unwritten and mainly accepted by the community members. The religious laws, on the other hand, are based on religious beliefs or texts. Islamic religious law is the most common, and it governs both private and public life. Finally, the mixed legal system refers to a combination of two or more legal systems elements, as described above.

The mixed law is used in the state of Louisiana, which has a combination of common and civil law. The religious laws, mostly the Islamic law systems, are widespread in Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, and found among Muslim countries. The customary laws in Africa and the pacific islands. Additionally, civil laws are found in Central America, Continental Europe, South America, and other regions. Lastly, the common law is mostly used in English speaking countries, which include Canada, the United States, Australia, and England. Comparing the court system of Canada and the United States, there are some significant differences. The supreme court of Canada has eight associate judges and one chief justice, whereas the United States court has a maximum of nine judges, and they vote one to act as the chief justice. In the United States, the majority ruling of five can decide while in Canada is five through seven or nine judges must hear the case. However, the significant difference lies in the appointment process, whereby in the United States, it has become a political battle, while in Canada, the appointment has little or no political influence.

The primary legal systems across the world include Common law, civil law, customary law, Religious law, and a Hybrid legal system. Nevertheless, the legal system of each country is determined by the history of a particular country. However, some countries employ more than one legal system to make their system more capable and complex. In the common law legal system, the general principles applied include; prosecutors and defense attorneys have an active role, and the system is adversarial, where the judges moderate between two opposing parties. Moreover, cases are governed by both legal precedents created by judges and statutory laws created by the legislatures. The judges make most of the laws in this system, and precedent decisions are used, meaning that if a case had been solved in the court and a similar situation arises, then the court is allowed to follow prior decision to determine the matter. In the local legal systems, most of the statutory laws are created by the legislatures and not the judges. Besides, the system is inquisitorial, whereby an investigating judge is actively involved in investigating the facts of the case.

In the Religious legal law system, the law is  based on religious beliefs and texts. The Religious Legal system includes Islamic law, canon law, and Jewish law. The customary legal system is mostly used by countries that do not have a strong formal justice system. It is mainly in the villages, counties, local level in districts and tribal. The practices of the customary law differ from community to community. The traditional obligations and rights are based on a particular society and culture. It is unwritten and does not involve any formal trial, is based on informal arbitration or mediation. Finally, the hybrid legal system refers to where a country has more than one legal system. For example, Religious law in most countries operates alongside other laws such as civil or customary laws.

In my opinion, civil law, it the best legal system because it is more detailed than the statutes under the common law, and it contains legal codes that are continuously updated. They outline all the matters that may be brought to court, the procedure to be followed, and suitable punishment. Additionally, the system relies more on academic experts to make interpretations other than the judges as compared to the common law the role of the judge is different in the civil law. The judges are obligated to look for the facts of the case, do analysis, and apply the legislature written laws. Finally, the civil system relies on pretrial investigations and hearings to determine the factors, unlike the customary law that focuses on trial to establish facts.