Common Law vs Civil Law

Comments debate whether a specific legal principle or practice applies primarily to common law jurisdictions (e.g., US, UK) versus civil law systems (e.g., Europe, Louisiana), highlighting differences in precedent, codification, and judicial roles.

📉 Falling 0.5x Legal
2,721
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1664
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
2
2008
4
2009
18
2010
32
2011
57
2012
86
2013
107
2014
104
2015
100
2016
163
2017
138
2018
192
2019
192
2020
217
2021
295
2022
251
2023
257
2024
260
2025
237
2026
9

Keywords

US ANYTHING NZ AU FYI CA CH UK IANAL USA law common law common civil legal precedent courts uk countries stare

Sample Comments

tobinfricke Oct 7, 2014 View on HN

Is this true only in common law jurisdictions (most of the USA and UK), rather than civil law jurisdictions (Louisiana, Europe)?

jobigoud Feb 13, 2014 View on HN

Including in countries where we use code law rather than common law ? That seems strange.

TorKlingberg Nov 9, 2017 View on HN

That's in the UK, which has a common law system like the US.

haunter Jun 1, 2020 View on HN

So it's pretty much the common law countries vs the resthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#/media/File:Map_of_...

troels Jan 28, 2014 View on HN

Probably, the common law vs. Civil law has a lot to do with that.

ch4s3 Aug 9, 2022 View on HN

What you're describing is a common law system, which is basically what the US has[1].[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law

nobody9999 Jun 24, 2022 View on HN

You are apparently unfamiliar with the legal systems in the US (the federal system and 49 states), which are Common Law[0] systems (Louisiana uses a French style "Civil Law" system):"In law, common law, also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law, is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions.[2][3][4] The defining characteristic of “common law” is that it arises as precedent. In cases w

oblio May 18, 2018 View on HN

Are you American or European? US law (common law) works very differently from European law (civil law).

jerf May 1, 2018 View on HN

It's worth pointing out there are different legal foundations. The United States is on something called Common Law [1], in which courts are generally supposed to follow precedent and not make up new stuff or function as de facto legislatures. Obviously, this is one of those plans that doesn't necessarily survive contact with the enemy, but under common law it is reasonable to criticize the court here as potentially overreaching. A mitigating factor in that criticism is precisely that m

chromeguy66 Jul 19, 2019 View on HN

This seems like the classic case of common law against civil law.