The main types of religious law are Sharia in Islam, halakha in Judaism and canon law in some Christian groups. In some cases, these are intended to be purely an individual moral orientation, while in other cases they are intended and can be used as the basis of a country`s legal system; The latter was particularly common in the Middle Ages. Federal courts and 49 states use the legal system, which is based on English customary law (see below), which has diverged somewhat since the mid-nineteenth century by seeking advice from each other on first-impression issues and rarely considering contemporary cases on the same subject in the UK or Commonwealth. Customary law and equity are legal systems whose sources are the decisions of judges in cases. In addition, each system will have a legislature that will adopt new laws and statutes. The relationship between laws and court decisions can be complex. In some jurisdictions, these laws may override court decisions or codify the issue covered by several contradictory or ambiguous decisions. In some jurisdictions, judicial decisions may decide whether the constitution of jurisdiction permits the enactment of a particular law or provision of law, or what meaning is contained in the legal provisions. Common law developed in England, influenced by Anglo-Saxon law and, to a much lesser extent, by the Norman conquest of England, which introduced legal concepts of Norman law, which in turn has its origin in Salian law. The common law was later inherited from the Commonwealth of Nations, and almost all the former colonies of the British Empire adopted it (Malta is an exception).
The doctrine of stare decisis, also known as jurisprudence or court precedent, is the main difference with codified civil law systems. Current national legal systems are generally based on one of the following four basic systems: civil law, customary law, legal law, religious law or combinations thereof. However, each country`s legal system is shaped by its unique history and therefore includes individual variations. [1] The science that studies law at the level of legal systems is called comparative law. The Islamic legal system, consisting of Sharia (Islamic law) and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), is the most widespread religious legal system and, along with customary and civil law, one of the three most common legal systems in the world. [22] It is based both on divine law derived from the hadith of the Qur`an and the Sunnah and on the judgments of the ulema (jurists) who use the methods of ijma (consensus), qiyas (analogous deduction), ijtihad (research) and urf (common practice) to derive fatwā (legal opinions). An ulema had to qualify for an ijazah (jurisprudence) in a madrasa (law school or college) before he could issue fatwā. [23] During the Islamic Golden Age, classical Islamic law may have had an influence on the development of the common law[6] and several civil law institutions. [24] Sharia law governs a number of Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, although most countries only use Sharia law in addition to national law. It can refer to all aspects of civil law, including property rights, contracts and public law.
Common law is practised in Canada (except Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, most of the United Kingdom (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), South Africa, Ireland, India (except Goa), Pakistan, Hong Kong, the United States (at the state and territory levels excluding Louisiana and Puerto Rico), in Bangladesh and many other places. Several others have transformed the common law system into a mixed system; For example, Nigeria operates largely under a common law system in the southern states and at the federal level, but also religious law in the northern states. Religious law refers to the idea that a religious system or document is used as a source of law, although the methodology used varies. For example, the use of Judaism and Halakha for public law has a static and immutable quality that prevents change through government legislation or development through judicial precedents; Christian canon law is closer to civil law in the use of codes; and Islamic Sharia (and Fiqh jurisprudence) is based on precedents and arguments of analogy (qiyas) and is therefore considered similar to customary law. [21] In the European Union, the Court of Justice adopts an approach that combines civil law (on the basis of the Treaties) with a commitment to the importance of case-law. One of the most fundamental documents for the conception of the common law is the English Magna Carta,[17] which limited the power of English kings. It served as a kind of medieval bill of rights for the aristocracy and judiciary that developed the law. Despite its admissibility, the financing of disputes is not yet very common in Switzerland. The requirements for acquiring third-party funds are usually quite strict. It can therefore be difficult, but not impossible, to obtain litigation financing in Switzerland.
The financier usually charges a contingency fee. Although fees vary on a case-by-case basis, fees of approximately 30% of the outcome of the dispute are not uncommon. The civil law (also known as the civil law systems) and common law systems can be considered the most widely used in the world: civil law, because it is most prevalent by the landmass and by the population as a whole, and common law, because it is applied by the greatest number of people compared to any civil law system. [2] [3] [4] Switzerland has a civil law system based on laws and codes, while the English legal system is based on common law. The way in which judicial proceedings are conducted in Switzerland is more inquisitorial and less adversarial, which means that the judge plays a more important and active role. A course on the foundations of the Swiss legal system can help clarify the Swiss constitution and the judicial system. It will also complement your studies in all international law courses, which requires a good understanding of the characteristics of common law and civil law. Finally, exams can be intimidating, but it`s important to adapt to different forms of assessment. You might have a mix of written and oral exams. The oral exam is a form of exam that many of us are not used to, so it`s important to ask your instructors how the exam will be structured.
For example, they may involve solving a problem scenario and talking about the reasons for your answers, or you may have oral exams in small groups. In addition, classroom presentations that contribute to your final grade are quite common. General (pre-trial) inquiries, as they are known in common law jurisdictions, do not exist in Switzerland. The scope of document creation under the PAC is rather limited. Typically, the court will ask a litigant or third party to produce the documents requested by a party if: a substantial factual claim is contested; the documents requested are such as to prove the alleged and contested facts; the documents are sufficiently described; and the documents are in the custody of the requested party (or rather, if the documents are not in the custody of the requested party, the requested party has the right to recover them from a third party). These production orders are issued at an advanced stage of the proceedings when the court collects evidence. The source of the law that is recognized as authoritative is codifications in a constitution or a law passed by the legislature to amend a code. While the concept of codification dates back to the Codex of Hammurabi in Babylon around 1790 BC. J.-C., civil law systems derive from the Roman Empire and in particular from the Corpus Juris Civilis, which was published by Emperor Justinian around 529 AD. It was a complete reform of the law in the Byzantine Empire, which brought it together in codified documents. Civil law has also been partly influenced by religious laws such as canon law and Islamic law. [5] [6] Today, civil law is interpreted theoretically rather than developed or done by judges.
Only legislative decrees (and not legal precedents, as in common law) are considered legally binding. In Argentina, this Civil Code remained in force from 1871 to August 2015, when it was replaced by the new Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación. [9] [10] Switzerland remains one of the most frequently chosen venues for international commercial arbitration. .