APRIL 27, 2023

CIVIL LAW SYSTEM

by Samoilenko S. & Grigoreva A.
 Originally, the term “civil
law” (Lat. jus civile)
emerged in ancient
Rome and signified the
law which encircled the
divulgers of Rome as

ORIGIN OF CIVIL LAW

city-state at the time
THE CONTINENTAL LAW LEGAL SYSTEM
WAS FIRST CODIFIED BY ROMAN
EMPEROR JUSTINIAN IN 534 AD. HIS
EFFORTS RESULTED IN COMPILATION
CALLED CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS.

Main parts:

Codex - a collection of imperial regulations

(constitutions) in 12 books;

Institutiones - systematised Statement of the

foundations of law; 4 books and 98 titles.

Digesta (Pandectae) - a systematic compilation of

quotes-excerpts from the works of the most
famous Roman jurists (there were up to 9,200
excerpts from 2,000 works owned by 39 famous
Roman lawyers) - a kind of encyclopedia of
Roman jurisprudence.

Novellae (leges) - conditionally additional the

fourth part was already related to private
systematisation activities after the death of
Emperor Justinian.

CIVIL LAW TODAY

Civil law is a branch of private law, governing initiative
activity of participants of social relations and aimed at
catering to their private needs.

The main principles:

1.legal equality of the parties to civil law relations (there is no
imperativeness):
2.autonomy of the parties' will (they take decisions independently,
at their own risk and at their own material liability);
3.material independence of the parties (they should have separate
and isolated property which they incur personal liability for).

Subject matter

Material relations Personal non-property

relations

The method of civil law is dispositive, i.e. it primarily uses

authorisation of individuals to act at their sole discretion
and initiative.

BRANCHES OF CIVIL LAW

CONTRACT LAW: the area of law that governs making TORT LAW: the branch of civil law that is concerned
contracts, carrying them out and fashioning a fair remedy with personal injury and civil wrongdoing. A tort is a
when there’s a breach. civil wrong, done by one person or entity to another
which results in injury or property damage, and
PROPERTY LAW: the branch of civil law which deals with the frequently involves monetary compensation to the
belongings of citizens. There are broadly two types of injured party.
property - real and personal property.There are two types of
property law torts: trespass and conversion. CORPORATE LAW: governs the rights and liabilities
Trespass to chattels refers to a defendant intentionally and concerning the functioning of corporate entities, that
physically interfering with the plainti ’s right to possession are, companies. The corporate section of civil law
and use of their personal property. regulates the formation, winding up, investments,
etc. of the company.
Trespass to land occurs when a defendant enters plainti ’s
private property without consent of the plainti .
Conversion refers to a defendant depriving a plainti of their
personal property without the plainti ’s consent, and then
using the plainti ’s property as his own.
FAMILY LAW: the branch of civil law that deals with
marriage, divorce, annulment, child custody, adoption, birth,
child support, and any other issues a ecting families.
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 TYPES OF CASES DECIDED UNDER CIVIL LAW
TORT CLAIMS
the act of omission (failure to do something) or the act of
commission (doing some thing you should not) that causes
harm.

Negligence: causing unintentional injury Negligence is an unintentional tort,

or damage; to which there are four elements Causation:
that must be satis ed: *cause-in-fact
Intentional: deliberately causing injury or
damage;  Duty. The defendant had a duty to
act in a reasonable manner *remoteness of danger
Strict liability: causing injury or damage
as a result of failure to keep safe (or Breach of Duty, meaning that the
prevent from escaping) something that defendant failed to act reasonably
the wrongdoer possesses. 
Causation. The defendant’s breach
of duty must be the cause of the
plainti ’s injury or loss
Damages. Monetary, property, or
other loss
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TYPES OF CASES DECIDED UNDER CIVIL LAW

CONTRACTUAL
Claims for breach of contract arise when one or more of the contractual parties
fail to fulfil their contractual obligations. Examples of a contractual breach are:
disputes over the sale of property, sale of a defective product, non-payment of
BREACH CLAIMS money, violation of contractual conditions, etc. 

EQUITABLE
Equitable claims are also called injunction suits. The desired outcome of these
types of cases is to stop someone (either an individual or legal entity) from doing
a certain act, rather than getting monetary compensation. Equitable claims may
CLAIMS conclude in the court asking the wrongdoer to: stop the action, change the
course of action, etc. 

CLASS ACTION As the name suggests, a class action claim is a suit which is filed by a class of
aggrieved persons. These types of claims are generally filed against corporate
entities. For instance, a class action claim may arise when: a company sells
CLAIMS harmful products someone defrauds a class of persons,  the activities of a factory
cause injury to people living nearby, etc. 

DEFENCES
• Contributory Negligence
• Voluntary Assumption of Risk
• Inevitable Accident
• Act of God
• Explanation

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CIVIL LAW AND COMMON LAW

S.NO. PARAMETER CIVIL LAW COMMON LAW

Civil law is a body of law that governs Common law is a body of unwritten
1. Meaning the rights and obligations arising among laws created by virtue of
two or more individuals or legal entities. precedents and written opinions of
judges.

2. Origin Ancient Rome England

3. Codi cation Codi ed Uncodi ed

4. Source of law Legislation Precedents, legislations

4. Binding force of Precedents have a little binding e ect Precedents serve as the base for
precedents on civil law. deciding disputes.

Australia, Canada, the United

5. Countries France, Germany, Japan, China, etc. Kingdom, India, etc.
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 Some of the countries that
follow civil law systems :
• Argentina
• Austria
• Brazil
• Belgium
• China
• Chile
• Columbia
• The Czech Republic 
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Russia
• Sweden
•
REGIONAL DIVISION
Switzerland