What is the difference between Civil Law and Common Law?

Byrd

This is a very generic answer - it's been a long time since I've studied Legal.... hope it helps anyway! Common Law is when a person has committed a crime against the state (eg robbery, rape, murder). Common law is often punishable by prison sentences and the like. Civil Law is when a person has committed a crime against another person (eg breach of contract, trespass, etc) . Civil offences are usually punishable by fines and the like. There are cases, of course, that can be dealt with under both Common and Civil Law. For example, if you beat someone up, you can be charged under common law (as it is considered a crime against the state - that whole 'danger to society' thing), and the person you beat up could actually sue you in a Civil case for any injury, expenses, loss of income on their behalf that has resulted from your assault. Hope that made things a little clearer! Jan 14 03, 2:50 AM

Tabby Tom

In England, common law is the customary law of the land, as distinct from statute law which is made by Parliament. Common law covers both criminal and civil matters: for example, murder is a crime at common law. Civil law usually means that part of the law dealing with non-criminal matters, e.g. the law of contract, tort, etc. The term is also used to mean Roman law and modern legal codes derived from Roman law (e.g. most of the legal systems of continental Europe). Jan 14 03, 10:58 AM

Jimmy

The above answers are somewhat confused. There are two distinctions to make. The UK and its former colonies have Common Law systems whereas France, Germany etc have Civil Law systems. The difference is that a Civil Law country has a body of law (passed by Parliament) that can be referred to in each individual case and there is no such thing as binding precedent. In Common Law systems the law continually evolves in addition to being amended by laws passed by Parliament. If a higher court has previously interpreted a statute in a particular law this cannot be overridden by a lower court - the decision of the higher court is a binding precedent. The above answers have confused this with the distinction between criminal and civil law. Criminal law relates to matters like murder, theft etc, whereas civil law (in these terms) relates to contractual disputes etc. Jan 14 03, 12:53 PM

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