CIVIL LAW AND

COMMON LAW
V. Selvie Sinaga, PhD 1

03/06/2022
LEGAL SYSTEMS IN THE
WORLD
COMMON
CIVIL LAW
LAW
Mixed
System

Customary
Islamic
Law
Law

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 Common Law

The origin:
Anglo-Saxon law.
Originated from the reign of Henry II of England.
Built up from the common customs which made in the court
room Precedents.
Precedents will be used for similar cases later.
Applied in the UK and its former colonies.

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 THE ORIGIN
Derived from Roman law, especially
the Corpus Juris Civilis of Emperor
Justinian.
Proceeding from broad legal principles
and the interpretation of doctrinal
writings.
Applied in European Continental
countries and their former colonies.

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THE APPLICATION OF CIVIL AND COMMON LAW
IN THE WORLD

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THE COMPARISON
Civil Law

VS

Common Law 03/06/2022 6

 Differences

Law Court
Judges 03/06/2022 7
 LAW

Common Law Civil Law

 Created by Law case (rely on  A codified system and it is

precedents). developed by legislator.

 The courts are given the main

 The courts should apply the law.
task in creating the law.

 Dominated by judicial decisions  Statutes and code are the

paramount source of jurisdiction.
 A bottom-up approach to
principles.  A top-down approach to
principles.
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 JUDGES
Common Law Civil Law
 Judge & (Grand & Petit) Jury.  Members of Judicial Panel.

 Judges play referee role.  Judges play director/examiner role.

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 COURT
Common Law Civil Law

 Diffused Court Structures

 Unified Court Structure 
 Accusatorial/
(multiple specialized courts)
confrontational format  Inquisitorial/collaborative
format
 Lawyers debate and
 Lawyers advise and inform
oppose

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TO SUM UP….
Common Law Civil Law
Source of Law “Case Law” Precedent, Statutory, Rules
Statutes
Example UK, Australia, Singapore, European Continental
Malaysia, Brunei, states, Indonesia, Japan,
Canada, NZ, India, etc Thailand, Vietnam, etc
Degree of Judicial High High
Independence
Judges (in court) Mostly silent Have more role
Lawyers (in court) Control courtroom Lawyers + Judges depend
on written law

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GENERAL EVALUATION:

Common law: Quite flexible.

Why? NOT bounded by the Rules.

Civil law is contrasted with common law (As seen in the table above ).

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THANK YOU!
valerie.selvie@atmajaya.ac.id 13

03/06/2022