However, codification is by no means a defining feature of a civil law system. For example, the laws governing the civil law systems of Sweden and other Nordic countries, as well as the Romano-Dutch lands, are not summarized in broader and more extensive codes such as those contained in French and German law. [19] Civil law expanded with the creation of the French Napoleonic Code of 1804 and the German Civil Code of 1900. Most civil law systems are divided into four codes: the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. These codes have been influenced by other legal bodies such as canon law and commercial law. In civil law systems where codes exist, the main source of law is the Code, a systematic collection of interrelated articles[8] arranged by subject in a predetermined order. [9] The codes explain the principles of law, rights and prerogatives and the operation of basic legal mechanisms. The purpose of codification is to provide all citizens with morals and a written compendium of the laws that apply to them and that judges must follow. Legal texts are laws enacted by a legislator, although they are usually much longer than other laws. The Code does not contain a collection of laws or a catalogue of case law, but general principles as legal norms. [8] Other important legal systems in the world include common law, Islamic law, halacha and canon law. The term civil law comes from English jurisprudence and is used in the English-speaking world to group together all the legal systems of the common jus tradition. However, legal comparativists and economists who defend the theory of legal origins prefer to divide civil jurisdictions into four distinct groups: Determined to Americanize Louisiana, Claiborne sought to enforce the common law, but faced fierce opposition from Louisians accustomed to his mix of French and Spanish laws and cultures.

Realizing that he would not be able to mandate a common law system, he instructed the state legislature to draft a civil code based on existing law. Louisiana`s first civil code, promulgated in 1808, relied heavily on the Code Napoléon and was even written in French. It was replaced by a more complete and detailed code in 1825. Finally, the Louisiana Civil Code, enacted in 1870 and still largely in force, clarifies and simplifies previous laws. The 1870 Code was written in English and signaled a shift toward a partial Americanization of Louisiana`s legal culture. To date, Louisiana has the distinction of being the only state in the United States to have a civil justice system and not a common law system. But what could be more irresponsible than playing with the fire of an imaginary civil war in France today? Historically, civil law is the set of legal ideas and systems ultimately derived from the Corpus juris civilis, but strongly superimposed by Napoleonic, Germanic, canonical, feudal and local practices,[2] as well as by doctrinal currents such as natural law, codification and legal positivism. In general, civilian crimes are less serious than crimes. However, some incidents may be tried by civil and criminal courts. For example, theft could be subject to a civil or criminal charge based on how much money was stolen, from whom it was stolen. A more serious version of a civilian crime could be condemned as a criminal offense.

A set of rules that define private rights and remedies and govern disputes between individuals in areas such as contracts, property and family law; deviates from criminal law or public law. Civil law systems rooted in ancient Rome are governed by doctrines developed and compiled by jurists. Legislators and administrators in civil law countries use these doctrines to draft a code under which all legal disputes will be resolved. Civil law is a legal system that originated in continental Europe and is adopted in much of the world. The civil law system is intellectualized within the framework of Roman law and with fundamental principles codified in a referential system that serves as the main source of law. The civil law system is often opposed to the common law system that originated in medieval England, whose intellectual framework historically derived from uncodified judicial jurisprudence and set a precedent for earlier judicial decisions. [1] Some authors consider civil law as the basis of socialist law used in communist countries, which, according to this view, would essentially be civil law with the addition of Marxist-Leninist ideals. Even if this were the case, civil law was generally the legal system that existed before the advent of socialist law, and some Eastern European countries reverted to pre-socialist civil law after the fall of socialism, while others continued to use a socialist legal system. Civil law is both a legal system and a branch of law. In the United States, the term civil law refers to legal proceedings arising from a dispute between two non-governmental parties. Outside the United States, civil law is a legal system based on the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Justinian code born in Rome in the sixth century.