List of national legal systems

Shamash (the Babylonian sun god) hands King Hammurabi a code of law.

The source of law that is recognized as authoritative is codifications in a constitution or statute passed by legislature, to amend a code. While the concept of codification dates back to the Code of Hammurabi in Babylon ca. 1790 BC, civil law systems derive from the Roman Empire and, more particularly, the Corpus Juris Civilis issued by the Emperor Justinian ca. AD 529. This was an extensive reform of the law in the Byzantine Empire, bringing it together into codified documents. Civil law was also partly influenced by religious laws such as Canon law and Islamic law.[5][6] Civil law today, in theory, is interpreted rather than developed or made by judges. Only legislative enactments (rather than legal precedents, as in common law) are considered legally binding.

Scholars of comparative law and economists promoting the legal origins theory usually subdivide civil law into distinct groups:

• French civil law: in France, the Benelux countries, Italy, Romania, Spain and former colonies of those countries, mainly in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East;
• German civil law: in Germany, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Estonia, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Portugal and its former colonies, Turkey, and East Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (Republic of China);
• Scandinavian civil law: in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. As historically integrated into the Scandinavian cultural sphere, Finland and Iceland also inherited the system, although especially Iceland has its own legal roots. Scandinavian or Nordic civil law exhibit least similar treats with other civil law systems and is sometimes considered a legal system in its own right, despite reception from mainly German civil law.

However, some of these legal systems are often and more correctly said to be of hybrid nature:

• Napoleonic to Germanistic influence (Italian civil law)

The Italian civil code of 1942 replaced the original one of 1865, introducing germanistic elements due to the geopolitical alliances of the time.[7] The Italian approach has been imitated by other countries including Portugal (1966), the Netherlands (1992), Lithuania (2000), Brazil (2002) and Argentina (2014). Most of them have innovations introduced by the Italian legislation, including the unification of the civil and commercial codes.[8]

• Germanistic to Napoleonic influence (Swiss civil law)

The Swiss civil code is considered mainly influenced by the German civil code and partly influenced by the French civil code. The civil code of the Republic of Turkey is a slightly modified version of the Swiss code, adopted in 1926 during Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's presidency as part of the government's progressive reforms and secularization.

A comprehensive list of countries that base their legal system on a codified civil law follows:

Country	Description
Albania	Based on Napoleonic Civil law. The Civil Code of the Republic of Albania, 1991 Archived 22 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Angola	Based on Portuguese civil law
Argentina	The Spanish legal tradition had a great influence on the Civil Code of Argentina, basically a work of the Argentine jurist Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, who dedicated five years of his life to this task. The Civil Code came into effect on 1 January 1871. Beyond the influence of the Spanish legal tradition, the Argentinian Civil Code was also inspired by the Draft of the Brazilian Civil Code, the Draft of the Spanish Civil Code of 1851, the Napoleonic code and the Chilean Civil Code. The sources of this Civil Code also include various theoretical legal works, mainly of the great French jurists of the 19th century. It was the first Civil Law that consciously adopted as its cornerstone the distinction between i. rights from obligations and ii. real property rights, thus distancing itself from the French model. The Argentinian Civil Code was also in effect in Paraguay, as per a Paraguayan law of 1880, until the new Civil Code went into force in 1987. In Argentina, this 1871 Civil Code remained in force until August 2015, when it was replaced by the new Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación.[9][10] During the second half of the 20th century, the German legal theory became increasingly influential in Argentina.
Andorra	Courts apply the customary laws of Andorra, supplemented with Roman law and customary Catalan law.[11]
Armenia	Based on Napoleonic Civil law and traditional Armenian law.
Aruba	Based on Dutch civil law
Austria	Based on Germanic Civil law. The Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) of 1811
Azerbaijan	Based on German, French, Russian, and traditional Azerbaijani Law
Belarus	Based on Germanic Civil law (administrative, criminal codes)
Belgium	The Napoleonic Code is still in use, although it is heavily modified (especially concerning family law)
Benin	Based on Napoleonic Civil law.
Bolivia	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Influenced by Austrian law. The Swiss civil law (Zivilgesetzbuch) was a model for the Law on Obligations of 1978.
Brazil	Based on German, Italian, French and Portuguese law. However, in 2004 the Federal Constitution was amended to grant the Supreme Federal Court authority to issue binding precedents (súmulas vinculantes) to settle controversies involving constitutional law – a mechanism that echoes the stare decisis principle typically found in common law systems.
Bulgaria	Civil Law system influenced by Germanic and Roman law systems
Burkina Faso	Based on the French civil law system
Burundi
Chad	Based on the French civil law system
People's Republic of China	Based on Germanic Civil law and France Civil law, also with influences from the Soviet Socialist law from Soviet Union
Republic of the Congo	Based on the Napoleonic Civil law.
the Democratic Republic of the Congo	Based on Belgian civil law
Cambodia
Cape Verde	Based on Portuguese civil law
Central African Republic	Based on the French civil law system
Chile	Based on the Chilean Civil Law inspired by the Napoleonic Civil Law. The Spanish legal tradition exercised an especially great influence on the civil code of Chile. On its turn, the Chilean civil code influenced to a large degree the drafting of the civil codes of other Latin-American states. For instance, the codes of Ecuador (1861) and Colombia (1873) constituted faithful reproductions of the Chilean code, but for very few exceptions. The compiler of the Civil Code of Chile, Venezuelan Andrés Bello, worked for its completion for almost 30 years, using elements, of the Spanish law on the one hand, and of other Western laws, especially of the French one, on the other. It is noted that he consulted and used all of the codes that had been issued till then, starting from the era of Justinian. The Civil Code came into effect on 1 January 1857. The influence of the Napoleonic code and the Law of Castile of the Spanish colonial period (especially the Siete Partidas), is great; it is observed however that e.g. in many provisions of property or contract law, the solutions of the French code civil were put aside in favor of pure Roman law or Castilian law.
Colombia	Based on the Chilean Civil Law. Civil code introduced in 1873. Nearly faithful reproduction of the Chilean civil code
Costa Rica	Based on the Napoleonic Civil Law. First Civil Code (a part of the General Code or Carrillo Code) came into effect in 1841; its text was inspired by the South Peruvian Civil Code of Marshal Andres de Santa Cruz. The present Civil Code went into effect 1 January 1888 and was influenced by the Napoleonic Code and the Spanish Civil Code of 1889 (from its 1851 draft version).
Croatia	Based on the Germanic Civil Law. The Croatian Law system is largely influenced by German and Austrian law systems. It is significantly influenced by the Civil Code of the Austrian Empire from 1811, known in Croatia as "General Civil Law" ("Opći građanski zakon"). OGZ was in force from 1853[12] to 1946. After the World War II, Croatia becomes a member of the Yugoslav Federation which enacted in 1946 the "Law on immediate voiding of regulations passed before April 6, 1941, and during the enemy occupation" ("Zakon o nevaženju pravnih proposal donesenih prije 6. travnja 1941. i za vrijeme neprijateljske okupacije"). By this law, OGZ was declared invalid as a whole, but the implementation of some of its legal rules was approved. During the post-War era, the Croatian legal system become influenced by elements of the socialist law. Croatian civil law was pushed aside, and it took norms of public law and legal regulation of the social ownership. After Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991, the previous legal system was used as a base for writing new laws. "The Law on Obligations" ("Zakon o obveznim odnosima") was enacted in 2005.[13] Today, Croatia as a European Union member state implements elements of the EU acquis into its legal system.
Cuba	Influenced by Spanish and American law with large elements of Communist legal theory.
Curaçao	Based on Dutch Civil Law.
Czech Republic	Based on Germanic civil law. Descended from the Civil Code of the Austrian Empire (1811), influenced by German (1939–45) and Soviet (1947/68–89) legal codes during occupation periods, substantially reformed to remove Soviet influence and elements of socialist law after the Velvet Revolution (1989). The new Civil Code of the Czech Republic was introduced in 2014, reestablishing the norms of the ABGB, an reintroducing terms and concepts from it.
Denmark	Based on North Germanic law. Scandinavian-North Germanic civil law.
Dominican Republic	Based on the Napoleonic Code
Ecuador	Based on the Chilean civil law. Civil code introduced in 1861.
El Salvador	Based on law.
Estonia	Based on German civil law.
Finland	Based on Nordic law.[14]
France	Based on Napoleonic code (code civil of 1804)
Egypt	Based on Napoleonic civil law and Islamic law.
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon	Based on the French civil law system
Guinea	Based on French civil law system, customary law, and decree[14]
Guinea-Bissau	Based on Portuguese civil law
Georgia
Germany	Based on Germanic civil law. The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch of 1900 ("BGB"). The BGB is influenced both by Roman and German law traditions.
Greece	Based on Germanic civil law. The Greek civil code of 1946, highly influenced by traditional Roman law and the German civil code of 1900 (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch); the Greek civil code replaced the Byzantine–Roman civil law in effect in Greece since its independence (Νομική Διάταξη της Ανατολικής Χέρσου Ελλάδος, Legal Provision of Eastern Mainland Greece, November 1821: 'Οι Κοινωνικοί Νόμοι των Αειμνήστων Χριστιανών Αυτοκρατόρων της Ελλάδος μόνοι ισχύουσι κατά το παρόν εις την Ανατολικήν Χέρσον Ελλάδα', 'The Social [i.e. Civil] Laws of the Dear Departed Christian Emperors of Greece [referring to the Byzantine Emperors] alone are in effect at present in Eastern Mainland Greece')
Guatemala	Based on Napoleonic civil law. Guatemala has had three Civil Codes: the first one from 1877, a new one introduced in 1933, and the one currently in force, which was passed in 1963. This Civil Code has suffered some reforms throughout the years, as well as a few derogations relating to areas that have subsequently been regulated by newer laws, such as the Code of Commerce and the Law of the National Registry of Persons. In general, it follows the tradition of the Roman-French system of civil codification. Regarding the theory of 'sources of law' in the Guatemalan legal system, the 'Ley del Organismo Judicial' recognizes 'the law' as the main legal source (in the sense of legislative texts), although it also establishes 'jurisprudence' as a complementary source. Although jurisprudence technically refers to judicial decisions in general, in practice it tends to be confused and identified with the concept of 'legal doctrine', which is a qualified series of identical resolutions in similar cases pronounced by higher courts (the Constitutional Court acting as a 'Tribunal de Amparo', and the Supreme Court acting as a 'Tribunal de Casación') whose theses become binding for lower courts.
Haiti	Based on Napoleonic civil law.
Honduras
Hungary	Based on Germanic, codified Roman law with elements from Napoleonic civil law.
Iceland	Based on North Germanic law. Germanic traditional laws and influenced by Medieval Norwegian and Danish laws.
India (only State of Goa, and Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli)	Based on Portuguese civil law
Italy	Based on Germanic civil law, with elements of the Napoleonic civil code; civil code of 1942 replaced the original one of 1865
Ivory Coast	Based on French civil law system
Japan	Based on Germanic civil law. Japanese civil code of 1895.
Latvia	Based on Napoleonic and German civil law, as it was historically before the Soviet occupation. While general principles of law are prerequisites in making and interpreting the law, case law is also regularly applied to present legal arguments in courts and explain the application of law in similar cases. Civil law largely modeled after the Napoleonic code mixed with strong elements of German civil law. Criminal law retains Russian and German legal traditions, while criminal procedure law has been fully modeled after practice accepted in Western Europe. The civil law of Latvia enacted in 1937.
Lebanon	Based on Napoleonic civil law.
Lithuania	Modeled after Dutch civil law
Louisiana (U.S.)	Law in the state of Louisiana is based on French and Spanish civil law Federal courts and 49 states use the legal system based on English common law (see below), which has diverged somewhat since the mid-nineteenth century in that they look to each other's cases for guidance on issues of the first impression and rarely look at contemporary cases on the same issue in the UK or the Commonwealth.
Luxembourg	Based on Napoleonic civil law.
Macau	Based on the Portuguese civil law; also influenced by the law of the PRC
Mexico	Based on Napoleonic civil law."The origins of Mexico's legal system are both ancient and classical, based on the Roman and French legal systems, and the Mexican system shares more in common with other legal systems throughout the world (especially those in Latin America and most of continental Europe) ..."[15]
Mongolia	Based on Germanic civil law.
Montenegro	Based on Napoleonic and German civil law. First: the General Property Code for the Principality of Montenegro of 1888, written by Valtazar Bogišić. Present: the Law on Obligations of 2008.
Mozambique	Based on Portuguese civil law
Netherlands	Based on Napoleonic code with German law influence
Nepal	Based on Civil Code, however, the principle of stare decisis is widely practised. The legal system of Nepal has been influenced by the Indian legal system
Norway	Scandinavian-North Germanic civil law, based on North Germanic law. King Magnus VI the Lawmender unified the regional laws into a single code of law for the whole kingdom in 1274. This was replaced by Christian V's Norwegian Code of 1687.
Panama
Paraguay	The Paraguayan Civil Code in force since 1987 is largely influenced by the Napoleonic Code and the Argentinian Code
Peru	Based on civil law system; accepts compulsory International Court of Justice ICJ jurisdiction with despotic and corrupting reservations;
Poland	The Polish Civil Code in force since 1965
Portugal	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code and later by the German civil law
Taiwan (Republic of China)	Influenced by German Civil Code and Japanese Six Codes. Enacted in 1931.
Romania	Civil Code came into force in 2011. Based on the Civil Code of Quebec, but also influenced by the Napoleonic Code and other French-inspired codes (such as those of Italy, Spain and Switzerland)[16]
Russia	Civil Law system descendant from Roman Law through Byzantine tradition. Heavily influenced by German and Dutch norms in 1700–the 1800s. Socialist-style modification in 1900s and Continental European Law influences since the 1990s.
Rwanda	Mixture of Belgian civil law and English common law
São Tomé e Príncipe	Based on Portuguese civil law
Serbia	First: the Civil Code of Principality of Serbia of 1844, written by Jovan Hadžić, was influenced by the Austrian Civil Code (Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch). Present: The Swiss civil law (Zivilgesetzbuch) was a model for the Law on Obligations of 1978.
Slovakia	Descended from the Civil Code of the Austrian Empire (1811), influenced by German (1939–45) and Soviet (1947/68–89) legal codes during occupation periods, substantially reformed to remove Soviet influence and elements of socialist law after the Velvet Revolution (1989).
Slovenia	A Civil Law system influenced mostly by Germanic and Austro-Hungarian law systems
South Korea	Based on the German civil law system. Also largely influenced by Japanese civil law which itself modeled after the German one. Korean Civil Code was introduced 1958 and fully enacted by 1960.
Spain	Influenced by the Napoleonic Code, it also has some elements of Spain's legal tradition, starting with the Siete Partidas, major legislative achievement from the Middle Ages. That body of law remained more or less unchanged until the 19th century when the first civil codes were drafted, merging both the Napoleonic style with the Castilian traditions.
Suriname	Based on Dutch civil law
Sweden	Scandinavian-North Germanic civil law. Like all Scandinavian legal systems, it is distinguished by its traditional character and for the fact that it did not adopt elements of Roman law. It assimilated very few elements of foreign laws whatsoever. The Napoleonic Code had no influence in the codification of law in Scandinavia. The historical basis of the law of Sweden, just as for all Nordic countries, is North Germanic law. Codification of the law started in Sweden during the 18th century, preceding the codifications of most other European countries. However, neither Sweden nor any other Nordic state created a civil code of the kind of the Code Civil or the BGB.
Switzerland	The Swiss Civil Code of 1908 and 1912 (obligations; fifth book)
Syria	Based on Napoleonic civil law.
Timor-Leste	Based on Portuguese civil law
Turkey	Modeled after the Swiss civil law (Zivilgesetzbuch) of 1907.
Ukraine	Based on German civil law and was accepted in 2004.
Uruguay	The basis for its public law is the 1967 Constitution, amended in 1989, 1994, 1996, and 2004. There is a clear separation of functions between the three administrative powers.[17] Private relationships are governed by the Uruguayan Civil Code.[18]
Uzbekistan	Represents an evolution of Soviet civil law. The overwhelmingly strong impact of the Communist legal theory is traceable.
Vietnam	Communist legal theory and French civil law
Venezuela	Civil law

King John of England signs Magna Carta.

Common law and equity are systems of law whose sources are the decisions in cases by judges. In addition, every system will have a legislature that passes new laws and statutes. The relationships between statutes and judicial decisions can be complex. In some jurisdictions, such statutes may overrule judicial decisions or codify the topic covered by several contradictory or ambiguous decisions. In some jurisdictions, judicial decisions may decide whether the jurisdiction's constitution allowed a particular statute or statutory provision to be made or what meaning is contained within the statutory provisions. The 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 from Norman law, which, in turn, had its origins in Salic law. Common law was later inherited by the Commonwealth of Nations, and almost every former colony of the British Empire has adopted it (Malta being an exception). The doctrine of stare decisis, also known as case law or precedent by courts, is the major difference to codified civil law systems.

Common law is practiced in Canada (excluding Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, most of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), South Africa, Ireland, India (excluding Goa), Pakistan, Hong Kong, the United States (on state and territorial levels excluding Louisiana and Puerto Rico), Bangladesh, and many other places. Several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system; For example, Nigeria operates largely on a common law system in the southern states and at the federal level, but also incorporates religious law in the northern states.

In the European Union, the Court of Justice takes an approach mixing civil law (based on the treaties) with an attachment to the importance of case law. One of the most fundamental documents to shape common law is the English Magna Carta,[19] which placed limits on the power of the English Kings. It served as a kind of medieval bill of rights for the aristocracy and the judiciary who developed the law.

Country	Description
American Samoa	Based on law of the United States
Antigua and Barbuda	Based on English common law
Australia	Based on English common law.
Bahamas	Based on English common law
Bangladesh	Based on English common law, with the Muslim family law heavily based on Shariah law.
Barbados	Based on English common law
Belize	Based on English common law
Bhutan	Based on English common law, with an Indian influence. Religious law influences personal law.
British Virgin Islands	Based on English common law
Canada	Based on English common law, except in Quebec, where a civil law system based on French law prevails in most matters of a civil nature, such as obligations (contract and delict), property law, family law, and private matters. Federal statutes take into account the juridical nature of Canada and use both common law and civil law terms where appropriate.
Cayman Islands	Based on English common law
Cyprus	Based on English common law as inherited from British colonization, with civil law influences, particularly in criminal law.
Dominica	Based on English common law
England and Wales (UK)	Primarily common law, with early Roman and some modern continental European influences
Fiji	Based on English common law
Gibraltar	Based on English common law
Ghana
Grenada	Based on English common law
Hong Kong	Principally based on English common law
India	Based on English common law, except in Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli which follow a Civil law system based on the Portuguese Civil Law[20]
Ireland	Based on Irish law before 1922, which was itself based on English common law
Israel	Based on English common law arising from the period of the British Mandate (which includes laws arising from previous Ottoman rule),[21] also incorporating civil law and fragments of Halakha and Sharia for family law cases
Jamaica	Based on English common law
Kiribati	Based on English common law
Liberia	Based on Anglo-American and customary law
Marshall Islands	Based on law of the United States
Myanmar	Based on English common law
Nauru	Based on English common law
Nepal	Based on English common law
New Zealand	Based on English common law
Northern Ireland (UK)	Based on Irish law before 1921, in turn, based on English common law
Palau	Based on law of the United States
Pakistan[22]	Based on English common law with some provisions of Islamic law
Papua New Guinea	Based on English common law and customary laws of its more than 750 different cultural and language groups
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Based on English common law
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Based on English common law
Singapore	Based on English common law, but Muslims are subject to the Administration of Muslim Law Act, which gives the Sharia Court jurisdiction over Muslim personal law, e.g., marriage, inheritance and divorce.
Tonga	Based on English common law
Trinidad and Tobago	Based on English common law
Tuvalu	Based on English common law
Uganda	Based on English common law
United States	Federal courts and 49 states use the legal system based on English common law, which has diverged somewhat since the mid-nineteenth century in that they look to each other's cases for guidance on issues of the first impression and rarely if ever, look at contemporary cases on the same issue in the UK or the Commonwealth. Law in the state of Louisiana is based on French and Spanish civil law. Law in the territory of Puerto Rico is based on Spanish civil law.

Religious law refers to the notion of a religious system or document being used as a legal source, though the methodology used varies. For example, the use of Judaism and halakha for public law has a static and unalterable quality, precluding amendment through legislative acts of government or development through judicial precedent; Christian canon law is more similar to civil law in its use of codes; and Islamic sharia law (and fiqh jurisprudence) is based on legal precedent and reasoning by analogy (qiyas), and is thus considered similar to common law.[23]

The main kinds of religious law are sharia in Islam, halakha in Judaism, and canon law in some Christian groups. In some cases these are intended purely as individual moral guidance, whereas in other cases they are intended and may be used as the basis for a country's legal system; the latter was particularly common during the Middle Ages.

Aleppo Codex: 10th century Hebrew Bible with Masoretic pointing

Halakha is followed by Orthodox and Conservative Jews in both ecclesiastical and civil relations. No country is fully governed by halakha, but two Jewish people may decide, because of personal belief, to have a dispute heard by a Jewish court, and be bound by its rulings.

Canon law is the internal ecclesiastical law, or operational policy, governing the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches), the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the individual national churches within the Anglican Communion.[24] Canon law of the Catholic Church (Latin: jus canonicum)[25] is the system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organisation and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the church.[26] The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts, lawyers, judges.[27] The canon law of the Latin Church was the first modern Western legal system,[28] and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West.[29][30] while the distinctive traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris.

The Islamic legal system, consisting of sharia (Islamic law) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), is the most widely used religious law system, and one of the three most common legal systems in the world alongside common law and civil law.[31] It is based on both divine law, derived from the hadith of the Quran and Sunnah, and the rulings of ulema (jurists), who use the methods of ijma (consensus), qiyas (analogical deduction), ijtihad (research), and urf (common practice) to derive fatwā (legal opinions). An ulema was required to qualify for an ijazah (legal doctorate) at a madrasa (law school or college) before they could issue fatwā.[32] During the Islamic Golden Age, classical Islamic law may have had an influence on the development of common law[6] and several civil law institutions.[33] Sharia law governs a number of Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, though most countries use Sharia law only as a supplement to national law. It can relate to all aspects of civil law, including property rights, contracts, and public law.

Country	Description
Afghanistan	Islamic law; formerly American and British law.
Iran	Shia Islamic law.
Nigeria	Sharia in the northern states, common law in the south and at the federal level.
Saudi Arabia	Islamic law.
Yemen	Islamic law.

Despite the usefulness of different classifications, every legal system has its own individual identity. Below are groups of legal systems, categorised by their geographic location.

• World Legal Systems, Website of the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa
• Factbook list of legal systems