Legal systems can be common law or statutory law. Common law relies on court precedents and allows judges to interpret and make laws. Statutory law relies on laws made by the legislature. Most of Europe uses statutory law, while common law is used in England and former British colonies. Some countries use both systems simultaneously.
Throughout the world, there are two basic types of legal systems: common law and statutory law. Statutory law systems are also often referred to as civil law systems. In a common law system, precedents are derived from cases heard by the courts with only temporary deference given to statutes approved by the legislature. In a statutory law system, all laws are originally made by the legislature and thus courts rely heavily on statutes when deciding cases, with little authority to make new laws or interpret existing law. The key difference therefore between common law and statute lies in the way laws are made and interpreted.
Most legal systems in Europe, with the exception of England, and other parts of the world use a statutory legal system. In a statutory legal system, the legislative body within the country drafts the laws and these are codified as part of the laws of the country. When a legal decision needs to be made, whether in civil or criminal matters, a judge refers to existing statutes to make a decision. The original intent in statutory law systems was for the judge to simply apply the law, not the law.
The concept of common law originated in England and is still used today. Furthermore, many former British colonies, such as Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States, are common law countries. Common law countries use a system known as stare decisive to legislate. Staredecis represents the principle that like cases should be decided in a similar way and allows judges not only to apply the law, but also to interpret and thus actually make the law. Under the common law, when a judge of a court makes a judgment, the courts of the same position and the lower courts must treat that decision as law unless and until a higher court reverses the decision.
In some systems both common law and statutory law are used simultaneously. Scotland, for example, was originally a statutory country; however, as the Court of England is considered the highest court in the land, the original Scottish statutes are now interpreted by a common law system. Common law and statute law also coexist in the United States. While many laws are originally enacted by the legislature, they are often open to interpretation by a judge and can eventually be overturned by the Supreme Court if found to be unconstitutional. Common law and statutory law also intermingle in countries with traditionally statutory law, as the idea that a judge has no authority to interpret the law is often impractical.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
