Common Law vs Civil Law

The Common Law system dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries when the United States developed its legal system through conventional procedures rather than substantive rights. Common Law refers to laws determined through previous court procedures and adjudications.

Common Law can be defined as a number of unwritten laws that the courts of law establish. Even more so, Common Law refers to laws determined through previous legal cases. With Common Law, we can influence the outcome of certain cases and situations that don’t follow the basic patterns, and Common Law influences the decision-making process. 

For a better understanding, some common law examples can be based on a car accident that you might bring to court for justice. The judge will analyze your case, and based on previous cases and procedures, they will decide whether or not you are liable for the incident. 

Civil Law represents a codified legal system with a predefined set of laws that serve as the primary source for law enforcement. In other words, what is a civil case refers to a case-by-case legal basis that follows the rules written in the Constitution or legislation. For this reason, a judge will analyze a civil case based on statutory law and legal precedent to decide what party should be held responsible for the events.  

So, what is a civil case in real life? In most cases, civil law (or civil litigation) refers to non-criminal cases. For this reason,  such cases are suits filed by the plaintiff (a private party), and the punishments are almost in the form of monetary compensation followed by the legal system’s rules. 

Common Law and Civil Law follow the same outcome – to establish consistent outcomes when applying the admitted standards. As we previously stated, Civil Law is a set of “rules” created under the supervision of legislators. On the other hand, Common Law refers to laws determined through institutionalized opinions and procedures that have happened in previous cases.