Common Law versus Civil Law

Common law systems, born in England, treat judicial precedent as a source of law: like cases are decided alike, and doctrine accumulates case by case. Civil law systems, descending from Rome through Justinian and Napoleon, lead with comprehensive codes, and judges apply statutes to facts rather than build doctrine.

In practice the families converge, since common law countries pass huge codes while civil law courts quietly respect precedent. The difference lives in legal education, reading cases versus parsing articles, in court style, cross examination versus dossier review, and in how rights are framed.

Roughly 150 countries follow the civil law family, and most common law jurisdictions inherited it through the British Empire..