Civil Law

- Civil law is not a complex law. It deals with private matters and individual rights.
- This law originated from Europe within the framework of roman law and it has rules that
are already in place
- When dealing with private matters, judges first consult the civil code and decide cases in
accordance with the code’s general principle and laws
- The purpose of codification is to provide all citizens with manners and written collection
of the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow
- As we all know (or should know) Quebec is the only province with the civil code in CAN.
- Quebec was colonized by France and they also speak French which is why the province
is distinctive from the rest of CAN
- There are 150 countries (such as China, Spain, Germany, etc.) that have the civil law
jurisdiction and 80 countries (such as CAN, Australia, Barbados, etc.) that are under the
common system
- Civil law has fixed rules while in common law its based-on precedents and court
decisions
- Civil law is consistent.
- In common law its easy to find conflicting precedents and rulings, their rulings could
have similar outcomes but different reasoning that lead to the outcome.
- Civil law looks at statutes that deal with the case.
- Regarding accessibility, civil law is accessible to the general public, it takes an expert to
organize precedents and see what matters, what is efficient and what is easier to
understand
- In common law their laws are ambiguous and harder to understand
- In civil law you have the ability to exercise your rights.
- Laws passed in common law are not retroactive, in civil law you cannot apply laws to
where you want. Retroactive refers to the application of a given rule to events that took
place before the law was in effect
 - In this law, the judge’s role is to establish the facts of the case and to apply the
provisions of the applicable code.
- In civil law you are judged by the law of that time
- Evidence demands are within the sovereign inquisitorial function of the court — not
within the lawyers’ role.
- Regarding juries they may adjudicate (judge) in conjunction (unification) with judges in
serious criminal matters
- Judicial precedents are used in the civil law system, but they do not have the same
binding nature like in common law under the principle of stare decisis
- In civil law, you are treated as if your guilty until proven innocent
- Judges in a civil cases cannot send a defendant to jail prohibiting some exceptions
usually regarding the intentional violation of court orders
- There is a lower burden of proof in this system because one’s freedom is at stake
- This law is paired with the Inquisitorial system (which means that the court is actively
involved in investigating the facts of the case). Judges, not lawyers, ask questions and
demand evidence. Lawyers present arguments based on the evidence the court finds
- Case Law are a non-issue in most civil law systems. (example) -> The fact that Sally sued
Nina over something, and the court decided for Sally, doesn't matter at all when Mark
sues Sam
- You only need to prove preponderance of the evidence; preponderance simply means a
greater amount/weight of the evidence when taking into account the believability of
that evidence
- The law is simple and has a logical manner
- Civil law is also less expensive

Disadvantages towards Common Law

- Laws are not stated clearly and have ambiguous language
- There are a continuation of bad rulings and certain difficulties when there is no
precedent for the case before the court
- Once a bad decision has been made by a higher court, that decision will
remain law/binding until the same court, or a higher court, overrules the decision
- It reduces foreseeability -> but every legal system should strive for foreseeability, but
this system does not do that

- civil: the bad need rules to be good

- common: good people have rules to keep them good