Law

== Legal systems ==
{{main|Comparative law|List of national legal systems|Comparative legal history}}In general, legal systems can be split between civil law and common law systems.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pejovic |first1=Caslav |title=Civil Law and Common Law: Two Different Paths Leading to the Same Goal |journal=Victoria University of Wellington Law Review |date=2001 |volume=32 |issue=3 |page=817 |url=http://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/2001/42.html |access-date=31 December 2019 |doi=10.26686/vuwlr.v32i3.5873 |doi-access=free |archive-date=8 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908062918/http://www.nzlii.org/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/2001/42.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Modern scholars argue that the significance of this distinction has progressively declined. The numerous [[legal transplants]], typical of modern law, result in the sharing of many features traditionally considered typical of either common law or civil law.{{sfn|Mattei|1997|p=71}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to Civil Law Legal Systems |url=https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/2015/Introduction%20to%20Civil%20Law%20Legal%20Systems.pdf |website=Federal Judicial Center |publisher=INPROL |access-date=1 January 2020 |date=May 2009 |archive-date=18 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618025404/https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/2015/Introduction%20to%20Civil%20Law%20Legal%20Systems.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The third type of legal system is religious law, based on [[scripture]]s. The specific system that a country is ruled by is often determined by its history, connections with other countries, or its adherence to international standards. The [[sources of law|sources]] that jurisdictions adopt as authoritatively binding are the defining features of any legal system.[[File:Map of the Legal systems of the world (en).png|thumb|Colour-coded map of the legal systems around the world, showing civil, common law, religious, customary and mixed legal systems.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alphabetical Index of the 192 United Nations Member States and Corresponding Legal Systems |url=http://www.juriglobe.ca/eng/syst-onu/index-alpha.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722022209/http://www.juriglobe.ca/eng/syst-onu/index-alpha.php |archive-date=22 July 2016 |access-date=1 January 2020 |website=JuriGlobe |publisher=University of Ottawa}}</ref> Common law systems are shaded pink, and civil law systems are shaded blue/turquoise.|center|550x550px]]

=== Civil law ===
{{main|Civil law (legal system)}}
[[File:Code Civil 1804.png|thumb|First page of the 1804 edition of the [[Napoleonic Code]]]]

Civil law is the legal system used in most countries around the world today. In civil law the sources recognised as authoritative are, primarily, legislation—especially [[Codification (law)|codifications]] in constitutions or [[statute]]s passed by government—and [[custom (law)|custom]].{{efn|Civil law jurisdictions recognise custom as "the other source of law"; hence, scholars tend to divide the civil law into the broad categories of "written law" (''ius scriptum'') or legislation, and "unwritten law" (''ius non-scriptum'') or custom. Yet they tend to dismiss custom as being of slight importance compared to legislation (Georgiadis, ''General Principles of Civil Law'', 19; Washofsky, ''Taking Precedent Seriously'', 7).}} Codifications date back millennia, with one early example being the [[Babylonian law|Babylonian]] ''[[Code of Hammurabi|Codex Hammurabi]]''. Modern civil law systems essentially derive from legal codes issued by [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Emperor [[Justinian I]] in the 6th century, which were rediscovered by 11th century Italy.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Economist explains: What is the difference between common and civil law? |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/07/16/what-is-the-difference-between-common-and-civil-law |access-date=1 January 2020 |newspaper=The Economist |date=17 July 2013 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222150215/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2013/07/16/what-is-the-difference-between-common-and-civil-law |url-status=live }}</ref> Roman law in the days of the [[Roman Republic]] and Empire was heavily procedural, and lacked a professional legal class.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=18}} Instead a lay [[magistrate]], ''iudex'', was chosen to adjudicate. Decisions were not published in any systematic way, so any case law that developed was disguised and almost unrecognised.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=21}} Each case was to be decided afresh from the laws of the State, which mirrors the (theoretical) unimportance of judges' decisions for future cases in civil law systems today. From 529 to 534 AD the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Emperor [[Justinian I]] codified and consolidated Roman law up until that point, so that what remained was one-twentieth of the mass of legal texts from before.{{sfn|Stein|1999|p=32}} This became known as the ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]''. As one legal historian wrote, "Justinian consciously looked back to the golden age of Roman law and aimed to restore it to the peak it had reached three centuries before."{{sfn|Stein|1999|p=35}} The Justinian Code remained in force in the East until the fall of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Western Europe, meanwhile, relied on a mix of the [[Codex Theodosianus|Theodosian Code]] and Germanic customary law until the Justinian Code was rediscovered in the 11th century, which scholars at the [[University of Bologna]] used to interpret their own laws.{{sfn|Stein|1999|p=43}} Civil law codifications based closely on Roman law, alongside some influences from [[religious law]]s such as [[canon law]], continued to spread throughout Europe until the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. Then, in the 19th century, both France, with the ''[[Code Civil]]'', and Germany, with the ''[[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]'', modernised their legal codes. Both these codes heavily influenced not only the law systems of the countries in continental Europe, but also the [[Law of Japan|Japanese]] and [[South Korea|Korean]] legal traditions.{{sfn|Hatzis|2002|pp=253–263}}{{sfn|Demirgüç-Kunt|Levine|2001|p=204}} Today, countries that have civil law systems range from Russia and Turkey to most of [[Central America|Central]] and [[Latin America]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The World Factbook&nbsp;– Field Listing&nbsp;– Legal system|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2100.html|publisher=[[CIA]]|access-date=13 October 2007|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226012138/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2100.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Anarchist and socialist law ====
{{main|Anarchist law|Socialist law}}

Anarchist law primarily deals with how anarchism is implemented upon a society, the framework based on decentralized organizations and [[Mutual aid (organization theory)|mutual aid]], with representation through a form of [[direct democracy]]. Laws being based upon their need.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tamblyn|first=Nathan|date=April 2019|title=The Common Ground of Law and Anarchism|journal=Liverpool Law Review|volume=40|issue=1|pages=65–78|doi=10.1007/s10991-019-09223-1|s2cid=155131683|issn=1572-8625|doi-access=free|hdl=10871/36939|hdl-access=free}}</ref> A large portion of anarchist ideologies such as [[anarcho-syndicalism]] and [[anarcho-communism]] primarily focuses on [[decentralized]] worker unions, [[cooperatives]] and syndicates as the main instrument of society.<ref>Rocker, Rudolf (1938). [https://mirror.anarhija.net/theanarchistlibrary.org/mirror/r/rr/rudolf-rocker-anarchosyndicalism.lt.pdf "Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice. An Introduction to a Subject Which the Spanish War Has Brought into Overwhelming Prominence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130083636/https://mirror.anarhija.net/theanarchistlibrary.org/mirror/r/rr/rudolf-rocker-anarchosyndicalism.lt.pdf |date=30 November 2020 }}. Retrieved 17 October 2020 – via The Anarchist Mirror!</ref>

Socialist law is the legal systems in [[communist state]]s such as the former [[Soviet Union]] and the [[People's Republic of China]].{{sfn|Markovits|2007}} Academic opinion is divided on whether it is a separate system from civil law, given major deviations based on [[Marxist–Leninist]] ideology, such as subordinating the judiciary to the executive ruling party.{{sfn|Markovits|2007}}<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=840224|pages=781–808|last1=Quigley|first1=J.|title=Socialist Law and the Civil Law Tradition|volume=37|issue=4|journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law|year=1989|doi=10.2307/840224}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=G. B. |chapter=Socialist Legality and the Soviet Legal System |title=Soviet Politics |date=1988 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-0-333-45919-5 |pages=137–162 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-19172-7_7 }}</ref>
=== Common law and equity ===
{{main|Common law|Equity (law)}}
[[File:King John signing the Great Charter (Magna Carta) by English School.png|thumb|left|King John of England signs Magna Carta.]]

In [[Common law#1. Common law as opposed to statutory law and regulatory law|common law]] legal systems, decisions by courts are explicitly acknowledged as "law" on equal footing with legislative [[Statutory law|statutes]] and executive [[Primary and secondary legislation|regulations]]. The "doctrine of precedent", or ''[[stare decisis]]'' (Latin for "to stand by decisions") means that decisions by higher courts bind lower courts to assure that similar cases reach similar results. In [[Common law#2. Common law legal systems as opposed to civil law legal systems|contrast]], in [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems, legislative statutes are typically more detailed, and judicial decisions are shorter and less detailed, because the adjudicator is only writing to decide the single case, rather than to set out reasoning that will guide future courts.

Common law originated from England and has been inherited by almost every country once tied to the [[British Empire]] (except Malta, [[Law of Scotland|Scotland]], the U.S. state of [[Louisiana law|Louisiana]], and the Canadian province of [[Quebec law|Quebec]]). In medieval England during the [[Norman Conquest|Norman conquest]], the law varied shire-to-shire based on disparate tribal customs. The concept of a "common law" developed during the reign of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] during the late 12th century, when Henry appointed judges that had authority to create an institutionalised and unified system of law common to the country. The next major step in the evolution of the common law came when [[John, King of England|King John]] was forced by his barons to sign a document limiting his authority to pass laws. This "great charter" or ''[[Magna Carta]]'' of 1215 also required that the King's entourage of judges hold their courts and judgments at "a certain place" rather than dispensing autocratic justice in unpredictable places about the country.<ref>{{cite web| title=Magna Carta| url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html| publisher=[[Fordham University]]| access-date=10 November 2006| archive-date=10 September 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155351/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html| url-status=live}}</ref> A concentrated and elite group of judges acquired a dominant role in law-making under this system, and compared to its European counterparts the English judiciary became highly centralised. In 1297, for instance, while the highest court in France had fifty-one judges, the [[English Court of Common Pleas]] had five.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=4}} This powerful and tight-knit judiciary gave rise to a systematised process of developing common law.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=3}}

As time went on, many felt that the common law was overly systematised and inflexible, and increasing numbers of citizens petitioned the King to override the common law. On the King's behalf, the [[Lord Chancellor]] started giving judgments to do what was equitable in a case. From the time of [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]], the first [[lawyer]] to be appointed as Lord Chancellor, a systematic body of [[Equity (law)|equity]] grew up alongside the rigid common law, and developed its own [[Court of Chancery]]. At first, equity was often criticised as erratic.<ref>Pollock (ed) ''Table Talk of [[John Selden]]'' (1927) 43; "Equity is a roguish thing. For law we have a measure... equity is according to the conscience of him that is Chancellor, and as that is longer or narrower, so is equity. 'Tis all one as if they should make the standard for the measure a Chancellor's foot."</ref> Over time, courts of equity developed solid [[Maxims of equity|principles]], especially under [[John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon|Lord Eldon]].<ref>''[[Gee v Pritchard]]'' (1818) 2 Swans. 402, 414</ref> In the 19th century in England, and in [[West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish|1937 in the U.S.]], the two systems were [[Common law#1870 through 20th century, and the procedural merger of law and equity|merged]].

In developing the common law, [[Common law#Contrasting role of treatises and academic writings in common law and civil law systems|academic writings]] have always played an important part, both to collect overarching principles from dispersed case law, and to argue for change. [[William Blackstone]], from around 1760, was the first scholar to collect, describe, and teach the common law.<ref>Blackstone, ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp Book the First&nbsp;– Chapter the First] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705141310/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp |date=5 July 2011 }}</ref> But merely in describing, scholars who sought explanations and underlying structures slowly changed the way the law actually worked.{{sfn|Gordley|von Mehren|2006|p=17}}

=== Religious law ===
{{main|Religious law}}
{{see also|Law and religion}}
Religious law is explicitly based on religious precepts. Examples include the Jewish [[Halakha]] and Islamic [[Sharia]]—both of which translate as the "path to follow". Christian [[canon law]] also survives in some church communities. Often the implication of religion for law is unalterability, because the word of God cannot be amended or legislated against by judges or governments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ferrari |first1=Silvio |editor1-last=Huxley |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Religion, Law and Tradition: Comparative Studies in Religious Law |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-13250-6 |page=51 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 4: Canon Law as a Religious Legal System |quote=Divine law... is eternal and cannot be changed by any human authority.}}</ref> Nonetheless, most religious jurisdictions rely on further human elaboration to provide for thorough and detailed legal systems. For instance, the [[Quran]] has some law, and it acts as a source of further law through interpretation, ''[[Qiyas]]'' (reasoning by analogy), ''[[Ijma]]'' (consensus) and [[precedent]].{{sfn|Glenn|2000|p=159}} This is mainly contained in a body of law and jurisprudence known as [[Sharia]] and [[Fiqh]] respectively. Another example is the [[Torah]] or [[Old Testament]], in the [[Pentateuch]] or Five Books of Moses. This contains the basic code of Jewish law, which some Israeli communities choose to use. The [[Halakha]] is a code of Jewish law that summarizes some of the Talmud's interpretations.

A number of countries are sharia jurisdictions. [[Israeli law]] allows [[litigant]]s to use religious laws only if they choose. Canon law is only in use by members of the [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Catholic Church]], the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Anglican Communion]].

==== Canon law ====
{{main|Canon law}}
[[File:Graverat titelblad till "Kanonisk rätt" - Skoklosters slott - 93238.tif|thumb|The ''[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]'', the fundamental collection of canon law for over 750 years]]

Canon law ({{Lang-grc|κανών|translit=kanon|lit=a straight measuring rod; a [[ruler]]}}) is a set of ordinances and regulations made by [[ecclesiastical jurisdiction|ecclesiastical authority]], for the government of a Christian organisation or church and its members. It is the internal [[ecclesiastical]] law governing the [[Catholic Church]], the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], and the individual national churches within the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Boudinhon |first=Auguste |title=Canon Law |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09056a.htm |year=1910 |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |location=New York |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=9 |access-date=9 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331231326/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09056a.htm |archive-date=31 March 2019}}</ref> The way that such church law is [[legislative power|legislated]], interpreted and at times [[court|adjudicated]] varies widely among these three bodies of churches. In all three traditions, a [[Canon (canon law)|canon]] was originally<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gender in History: Global Perspectives|last=Wiesner-Hanks|first=Merry|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|year=2011|pages=37}}</ref> a rule adopted by a [[church council]]; these canons formed the foundation of canon law.

The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the [[western world]],<ref>Raymond Wacks,
''Law: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Ed.'' (Oxford University Press, 2015) pg. 13.</ref><ref name=White>{{cite web |last=Peters |first=Edward |url=http://canonlaw.info |publisher=CanonLaw.info |title=Home Page |access-date=24 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928005444/http://www.canonlaw.info/ |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> predating the evolution of modern European [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and common law systems. The [[1983 Code of Canon Law]] governs the [[Latin Church]] ''[[Sui iuris|sui juris]]''. The Eastern Catholic Churches, which developed different disciplines and practices, are governed by the ''[[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Blessed John Paul II, Ap. Const.|url=https://archive.org/stream/ApostolicConstitutionSacriCanonesJohnPaulIi1990/Sacri_Canones_Apostolic_Constitution_John_Paul_II_1990#page/n7/mode/2up|title=Apostolic Constitution Sacri Canones John Paul II 1990|year=1990|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324090532/https://archive.org/stream/ApostolicConstitutionSacriCanonesJohnPaulIi1990/Sacri_Canones_Apostolic_Constitution_John_Paul_II_1990#page/n7/mode/2up|archive-date=24 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[canon law of the Catholic Church]] influenced the [[common law]] during the medieval period through its preservation of [[Roman law]] doctrine such as the [[presumption of innocence]].<ref>Friedman, Lawrence M., ''American Law: An Introduction'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1984), pg. 70.</ref>{{efn|«In one of his elaborate orations in the United States Senate Mr. Charles Sumner spoke of "the generous presumption of the common law in favor of the innocence of an accused person;" yet it must be admitted that such a presumption cannot be found in Anglo-Saxon law, where sometimes the presumption seems to have been the other way. And in a very recent case in the Supreme Court of the United States, the case of Coffin, 156 U. S. 432, it is pointed out that this presumption was fully established in the Roman law, and was preserved in the canon law.»<ref>William Wirt Howe, ''Studies in the Civil Law, and its Relation to the Law of England and America'' (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1896), pg. 51.</ref>}}

==== Sharia law ====
{{main|Sharia}}
{{see|Sources of Sharia}}
Until the 18th century, Sharia law was practiced throughout the [[Muslim world]] in a non-codified form, with the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s [[Mecelle]] code in the 19th century being a first attempt at [[Codification (law)|codifying]] elements of Sharia law. Since the mid-1940s, efforts have been made, in country after country, to bring Sharia law more into line with modern conditions and conceptions.{{sfn|Anderson|1956|p=43}}{{sfn|Giannoulatos|1975|pp=274–275}} In modern times, the legal systems of many Muslim countries draw upon both civil and common law traditions as well as Islamic law and custom. The constitutions of certain Muslim states, such as Egypt and Afghanistan, recognise Islam as the religion of the state, obliging legislature to adhere to Sharia.{{sfn|Sherif|2005|pp=157–158}} [[Legal system of Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia recognises the Quran as its constitution]], and is governed on the basis of Islamic law.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saudi Arabia |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/saudiarabia.htm |publisher=[[JURIST]] |access-date=2 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830232216/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/saudiarabia.htm |archive-date=30 August 2006}}</ref> Iran has also witnessed a reiteration of Islamic law into [[Legal system of Iran|its legal system]] after 1979.{{sfn|Akhlaghi|2005|p=127}} During the last few decades, one of the fundamental features of the movement of [[Islamic resurgence]] has been the call to restore the Sharia, which has generated a vast amount of literature and affected [[Global politics|world politics]].{{sfn|Hallaq|2005|p=1}}