Civil Law

Civil law is a set of rules and regulations that govern private rights and remedies and disputes between individuals. These areas can include contracts, property, and family law. Civil law systems date back to ancient Rome and are governed by doctrines created by legal scholars. In civil law countries, legislators and administrators use these doctrines to create a code that decides all legal controversies. The civil law system can be traced back to the Roman Corpus Juris Civilis of Emperor Justinian I; it works differently from a common-law system in that the latter relies on past decisions to determine the result of a lawsuit. Most European and South American countries have a civil law system, while England and most of the other countries it once dominated or colonized - such as Canada and the United States - have a common-law system. But even within these countries, you can see the influence of French and Spanish settlers in their use of civil law systems in places like Louisiana, Quebec, and Puerto Rico. In the United States, the term civil law has two meanings. The first meaning refers to a legal system that is based on written codes, which is contrasted with the common-law system that relies on prior case law to resolve disputes. This first type of civil law is prevalent in Europe, while the second mentioned above is used in England and most of the United States. The second meaning of civil law refers to the body of laws governing disputes between individuals, as opposed to those governing offenses that are public and relate to the government—that is, civil law as opposed to Criminal Law.The civil law in France is set out in the Code Napoléon, which was enacted in 1804. This legal system was exported to Louisiana when it was settled by the French in 1712. However, when the French ceded Louisiana to Spain in 1762, the new Spanish governor imposed Spanish civil law instead. France regained control of the territory in 1803, and 20 days later it was purchased by the United States. During that brief period of French rule, the French prefect abolished all Spanish courts but did not reintroduce French law.When William Claiborne became the new United States governor of Louisiana, he inherited a territory without a legal system. Claiborne, who wanted to Americanize Louisiana, tried to implement a common law system