Legal Systems - Guide to International and Foreign Law Research - Deepstash

Keep reading for FREE

Quick Primer on the World's Legal Systems

Quick Primer on the World's Legal Systems

There are generally considered to be five legal systems in the world today: 

  • Civil law
  • Common law
  • Customary law
  • Religious law
  • Mixed legal systems.

16

381 reads

Civil Law Systems

  • They have their origin in the Roman legal tradition.
  • Civil systems vary widely, both in procedure and substantive law, so conducting research on a particular nation's civil law system should include looking at that nation's specific system of law, but they do have some trademark characteristics.  
  • Nations with civil law systems have comprehensive, frequently updated legal codes. Most importantly, case law is a secondary source in these jurisdictions.
  • France and Germany are two examples of countries with a civil law system.

16

68 reads

Common Law Systems

  • While they often have statutes, common law systems rely more on precedent, judicial decisions that have already been made.  
  • Common law systems are adversarial, rather than investigatory, with the judge moderating between two opposing parties.  
  • The legal system in the United States is a common law system (with the exception of Louisiana, which has a mix of civil and common law).

16

56 reads

Customary Law Systems

  • They are based on patterns of behavior (or customs) that have come to be accepted as legal requirements or rules of conduct within a particular country.  
  • The laws of customary legal systems are usually unwritten and are often dispensed by elders, passed down through generations. As such, customary law research depends greatly on the use of secondary sources. 
  • Oftentimes, customary law practices can be found in mixed legal system jurisdictions, where they've combined with civil or common law.

14

39 reads

Religious Legal Systems

These are the systems where the law emanates from texts or traditions within a given religious tradition.  

Many Islamic nations have legal systems based in whole or in part on the Quran.

15

110 reads

CURATED BY

yasinb

Taking a break from social to develop myself.

stash-superman-illustration

Explore the World’s

Best Ideas

200,000+ ideas on pretty much any topic. Created by the smartest people around & well-organized so you can explore at will.

An Idea for Everything

Explore the biggest library of insights. And we've infused it with powerful filtering tools so you can easily find what you need.

Knowledge Library

Powerful Saving & Organizational Tools

Save ideas for later reading, for personalized stashes, or for remembering it later.

# Personal Growth

Take Your Ideas

Anywhere

Organize your ideas & listen on the go. And with Pro, there are no limits.

Listen on the go

Just press play and we take care of the words.

Never worry about spotty connections

No Internet access? No problem. Within the mobile app, all your ideas are available, even when offline.

Get Organized with Stashes

Ideas for your next work project? Quotes that inspire you? Put them in the right place so you never lose them.

Join

2 Million Stashers

4.8

5,740 Reviews

App Store

4.7

72,690 Reviews

Google Play

Ashley Anthony

This app is LOADED with RELEVANT, HELPFUL, AND EDUCATIONAL material. It is creatively intellectual, yet minimal enough to not overstimulate and create a learning block. I am exceptionally impressed with this app!

Sean Green

Great interesting short snippets of informative articles. Highly recommended to anyone who loves information and lacks patience.

Shankul Varada

Best app ever! You heard it right. This app has helped me get back on my quest to get things done while equipping myself with knowledge everyday.

samz905

Don’t look further if you love learning new things. A refreshing concept that provides quick ideas for busy thought leaders.

Jamyson Haug

Great for quick bits of information and interesting ideas around whatever topics you are interested in. Visually, it looks great as well.

Laetitia Berton

I have only been using it for a few days now, but I have found answers to questions I had never consciously formulated, or to problems I face everyday at work or at home. I wish I had found this earlier, highly recommended!

Giovanna Scalzone

Brilliant. It feels fresh and encouraging. So many interesting pieces of information that are just enough to absorb and apply. So happy I found this.

Ghazala Begum

Even five minutes a day will improve your thinking. I've come across new ideas and learnt to improve existing ways to become more motivated, confident and happier.

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving & library

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Personalized recommendations

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates