World's 5 Major Legal Systems

World's 5 Major Legal Systems

Introduction

Every society contains a combination of people following the right or wrong path. Therefore, it is important to ensure that individuals who are found guilty of any wrongdoings are punished for their actions. To achieve this aim, all the societies form various bodies that in turn propose, finalize and enforce a set of legal framework for the accountability of the guilty. However, these legal frameworks are meant to achieve goals far more important in the longer run. These include warning the individuals who might attempt to commit any crime, establishing accountability of all the guilty without any bias, establishing justice and ultimately maintaining the peace in the society. Therefore, in order to achieve these goals, many different regions on the planet follow different Legal Systems.

Discussion

There are many different Legal Systems adapted and practiced in different regions of the world. However, the five largest and most practiced Legal Systems of the world include civil, common, customary, Muslim, and Talmudic. Each of these legal systems has its own significance however all these are meant to prevail peace and justice in the society.

Origin

All these legal systems were originated as result of special circumstances and therefore each has a strong reflection of those circumstances.

Civil

The civil legal had its roots vested way back as it is a combination of 6th century's Justinian law and the classical Roman law. The system went through several stages of development under the impact of the Cannon legal system and laws in late middle ages. The doctrines of Justinian Code provided the civil legal system with sophisticated frameworks for contracts, wills, family law, and a constitutional system for monarchy (David, 1978). Whereas the different perceptions of Roman law in different countries, is also reflected in the civil legal system. The system in its period of birth also took its inspiration for the Codification practiced in ancient Babylon practiced in BC, 18th century.

Common

Influenced majorly by the Anglo-Saxon law, the Common legal System was originated in England. The system also possesses light shades of the England's Norman Conquest that introduced concepts form the Norman law which in turn was originated from Salic law (David, 1978). Initially inherited by Commonwealth Nations with every former British Empire colony later adopting it with the exception of Malta.

Customary Law

It is also known as "unwritten law," "primitive law," "folk law," and "indigenous law." There exists no such single history of the laws of customary legal systems such as that known to be found in English common law, Roman civil law, Napoleonic Civil Code or Islamic law. However, what is known is that the earliest systems and frameworks of law in history of human societies were customary. Usually, these systems were developed in small hunter-gatherer communities.

Islamic Law

Also known as “Sharia”, the Islamic legal system was basically derived from the sacred book of Islam which is Quran, word of God. The Sharia also extracts it's clause from the Prophet Muhammad's interpretations and ...