Lesson 5-6. ROMANO-GERMANIC LEGAL FAMILY (CIVIL LAW).

(EUROPEAN CONTINENTAL
TYPE (FAMILY) OF LEGAL SYSTEMS)).

The purpose of the lesson is to deepen and systematize knowledge about the Romano-Germanic
legal family (Civil Law). (European Continental type (family) of legal systems)), getting of skills of
independent comparative legal analysis with other modern legal systems.

Answer the following questions: (GIVE ANSWERS (ORALLY) (The answers to the questions will
help with the tests in the next practical lesson):
1. What are the features and characteristics of civil law ?
2. Describe the main stages of the formation and development of Romano-Germanic legal
family.
3. What do you know about the impact of European universities on the development of
Romano-Germanic law?
4. Difference between law of pandect (пандектною системою) and institutional system
(інституційною).
5. What are five conditions that influenced the formation of Roman-German law in the XII-
XV centuries.
6. How influenced by the canonical right to the development of Romano-Germanic legal
family?
7. Describe the essence of the doctrine of natural law. Difference between natural and
positive law.
8. Which contents of the Corpus Juris? How many parts it includes?
9. Provide a description of the French Civil Code (Code of Napoleon)
10. Describe the German Civil Code
11. What kind of the structure of the system of law of Romano-Germanic legal family?Private
and public law.
12. What sources of law of Romano-Germanic legal family do you know? Describe them.
Know the essence of each source.
13. What is the internal structure of the law (Elements of the norm of law)?
14. What types of normative legal acts are characteristic of Romano-Germanic law?
15. What is this delegated legislation?
16. Describe the difference and similarities between the German and Roman law systems
(можливо для СР)
17. What types of legal customs in the . ROMANO-GERMANIC LEGAL FAMILY do you
know?

2. Fill in the table according to the defined criteria

Criteria for Private law Public law
comparison

Interest

The subject
(предмет) of legal
regulation

Method of legal
regulation

Subjective
composition
 Write which
branches of
The basic form law may
of the rules of law belong to
both private
and public
The status of law
the subjects

Basic
principles
The fields Mixed law
(галузі) of law Private/Public

Criteria for distinguishing between private and public law:

 1. Interest - (public / private).
 2. The subject (предмет) of legal regulation. (legal norms regulating property relations / non-
property relations).
 3. Method of legal regulation. (subordination / coordination methods).
 4. Subjective composition (Regulated relations of individuals with the state or between state
bodies / regulated relations between private individuals).
 5. The basic form of the norms of law. (Dispositive / imperative).
 6. The status of the subjects. (equal / unequal).
 7. Basic principles. (Principles of freedom of the individual, autonomy, freedom of private
property, legal equality of subjects, freedom of contract / Principles of power and subjugation,
subordination, hierarchy, efficiency, general prohibition, legal protection of general public
interest).

2. Please formulate the sense and difference between:

- Reception
-institutional system –
-pandect system –
-Doctrine -
-positive law –
-Dualism of Private Law
--nature law –

3. Please make up 10 test tasks for the current theme. (5 questions for each legal system:
Romanistic and German legal system) Each test must have at least 4 answers. One answer must be
correct. Preparation of tests is based on the study of additional literature.

4. Read an information about Roman and Germanic legal systems which include to the
ROMANO-GERMANIC LEGAL FAMILY
Make a table that describes the Roman and German legal systems (similarities and
differences)

Features of Romanistic and Germanic law

Romanistic legal systems Germanic legal systems

differences
similarities
…

Features of Romanistic and Germanic law

One of the main features of civil law (Roman-Germanic legal family) is the division of this type of
legal system into two subsystems: Romance and Germanic.
The Romanistic subsystem includes the legal systems of France, Italy, Spain, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Holland, Portugal, and to the Germanic - the legal systems of Germany, Austria,
Switzerland.
 For the first time, the distinction between the terms "Germanic" and "Romance" was made in the
"Germany" of Tacitus. In the XVI century. It became even stronger due to the negative attitude of the
French aristocracy to everything of German origin.
The scheme of their opposition was finally formed in the XIX century. (in a modified form, it has
been preserved to this day), while it was concluded that the Romanesque model is superior to the
German one as the newest of the Latin-Roman ones that are close at the linguistic, social and cultural
levels. This relationship is reflected in the term "Latinian", which goes beyond the more limited
"Romanistic" (Roman).
Romanistic law is characterized by the fact that it combines Roman private law and customary local
law. Roman law dominates. German law, is the second branch of the Romano-Germanic legal family,
also combines Roman private law and customary local law. But customary German law prevails here, as
a result of which the ―pandektic law‖ was formed, that is, the merging of the Roman legal basis with the
German customary law superstructure.
The distinction between Romance and Germanic law is also manifested in the structure of law. For
example, the criminal law refers to the private law in the French legal system, while the criminal law in
the German legal system refers to the public law.
The Basic Law of Germany does not recognize the right of the executive branch to delegate
legislation. Government and other by-laws in Germany can be issued only in the framework of the
execution of laws. The delegated legislation which issued by the executive authorities occupies an
important place in the system of sources of law in France legal system.
The central place in the modern system of sources of law in France is the Constitution of 1958.
Among the legislative acts issued by the parliament, organic laws play an important role in
supplementing important constitutional provisions. Ordinary laws - acts of parliament - regulate the
branches of law, or by separate legal institutions.
In the French legal literature sources of law are divided into two main groups: primary (basic) and
secondary (additional). The first group includes state regulations. The second is judicial practice.
According to some French practitioners, the judicial practice is "the source of the law within the law." The
judge not obliged to strictly observe the letter of the law and keeps, to a certain measure, the freedom of
decision. But the judge is still under the strong authority of previous court decisions.Civil codes in the
states of the Romano-Germanic legal family differ significantly in organization and structure. One of the
most significant differences is determined by the presence or absence of the Common Part, which is
exists in the German Civil Code of 1896 and contains provisions that are applied to all civil law
institutions.
The general part in the French Civil Code of 1804 is practically absent, instead it the "Introductory
title on the publication, operation and application of laws in general,‖ contains a brief which contains not
only civil law norms, but also norms that belong to the constitutional law.
In the framework of the French Civil Code, the rules governing various areas of public relations are
not outlined in a logical order. For example, the rules governing the spouses' property relations are not
located in the first book which is devoted to the regulation of family relations.
The difference in the timing of codification, carried out in France and Germany, had a certain
impact on this process. While French lawyers were busy interpreting their codes, German lawyers
continued to work with universities on Roman law texts. In Germany, a new school triumphed - a
Pandectist school, which led to a higher level of systematization of the Roman principles. The German
Civil Code was compiled at the end of the nineteenth century on the basis of the works of pandectists.
That is why there are differences in the methods and style of the French and German civil codes.
The norms of law in German legislation, in particular, in the German Civil Code, are more abstract
than the norms of French law. In addition, the German legislation is generally characterized by a logical
sequence of transition from general to more particular provisions. Unlike the French Code, the language
of the German Civil Code is too professional and difficult to read.
Thus, the existence of differences between the legal systems of the states of the Romano-
Germanic law does not exclude the possibility of combining them into a common legal family.

5. Read an information about the Roman-Germanic law and European law.

Make a table that describes the Roman-Germanic law and European law (similarities and
differences)

Features of Roman-Germanic law and European law

Roman-Germanic law European law

differences
similarities
…

Provide an short annotated description of the information you have read about differences
of the Roman-Germanic legal family and European law.

Features of Roman-Germanic law and European law

Romano-Germanic law and European law differ from each other not only in history, but also in the
essence, structure and system of sources.
Romano-German law acts as an integral legal system with its specific features, formed in the
process of receiption Roman law, its structure and system of sources with an its own long history.
European law acts as an integrative legal system that actually began to form after the Second
World War. At the same time, the idea of uniting Europe has long been the focus of Europeans.
European law and the law of the European Union as its component, as an orderly system of legal
norms - the result of centuries development of national legal systems in Europe, formed in the process of
law-making of national and European representative, executive and judicial authorities. The lengthy and
difficult process of forming and reforming European law is far from perfect complet; its depends of
intensity and effectiveness individual states and European citizens.
From the very beginning of its formation, European law is based on the principles of Roman-
German and common Scandinavian law. Accordingly, within the framework of this law, there are other
legal principles that are locked not only in Romano-German law, but also follow to an another level.
In particular, there are being formed the legal principles that are connected with the establishment
of a precedent as a source of law. So, an own system of sources law is formed which different from the
Roman-German one.
Also, this legal system determines a more flexible attitude of national legal systems of the member
states of the European Community to the norms of international law.
The fundamental principle of European law is the principle of direct effect, according to which its
norms regulate relations with the participation of states, authorities and institutions of the European Court,
member states, individuals and legal entities. European law imposes obligations on individuals as well as
gives them rights that form part of their legal status.
Romano-Germanic law is a legal family, that is, a certain set of national legal systems based on
common sources, the structure of law and the historical path of its formation. It follows from this that
Romano-Germanic law is not a right of direct action, because it does not have its own mechanism for
implementing the norms of law, the apparatus for monitoring compliance with prescriptions — all this
belongs to the nation-states jurisdiction themselves .
European law is a complex phenomenon in its structure, consisting of the law of Council of Europe
and European Union law.
The law of the Council of Europe as a legal formation is a set of legal norms regulating social
relations that are taking shape within the framework of a regional international intergovernmental
organization - the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe was established in 1949 and functions on the
basis of its Statute. This organization does not issue obligatory normative acts and concentrates its
activities on ensuring human rights and freedoms.
The law of the European Union is a unique legal phenomenon that has developed in the course of
the development of European integration within the framework of the European Communities and the
European Union as a result of the implementation of the supranational competence of the institutions of
the European Union. The law of the European Union is a specific legal order, the legal system established
at the junction of international law and national law of the Member States of the European Union. Thus,
the law of the European Union is the legal basis for the functioning of an interstate association called the
European Union.
For European law and the law of the European Union as its component is characterized by a
quantitative growth of its norms and the expansion of the subject of their regulation. In the system of
European law, the structural differentiation gradually develops, the formation of its own industries and
institutions takes place: constitutional and administrative law, financial, labor, social, environmental,
antitrust, banking, customs law. Along with the material norms, the European Court of Justice contains a
large number of procedural norms on the regulation and protection of intellectual property, the securities
market, investment and banking, the institution of bankruptcy. Thus, the law of the European Union acts
not as an aggregate of national legal systems, but as an existing legal system. The regulations are
adopted within the framework of this legal system, which regulates social relations in those states that are
its members.
 This is the fundamental difference between the law of the European Union and the Romano-
Germanic law.

4. Study and describe the principle of direct effect of European Union law
about direct effect
- https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/direct-effect
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_effect_of_European_Union_law

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