About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

15 Am. J. Comp. L. 419 (1966-1967)
The Civil Law and the Common Law: Some Points of Comparison

handle is hein.journals/amcomp15 and id is 435 raw text is: JOSEPH DAINOW

The Civil Law and the Common Law:
Some Points of Comparison
INTRODUCTION
The interest of jurists in legal systems other than their own and in
comparative law has been a matter of long tradition. At any rate,
during the twentieth century and especially from about thirty years
ago, there has been an extraordinary growth of this interest. Now,
with the Common Market and all the other expanding programs of
international trade and commerce, it is impossible to overemphasize
the importance of understanding the nature and function of legal
systems of other countries.
In the legal history of Western Europe and of the countries that
received their legal systems from these sources, one finds the establish-
ment of the two great legal systems which are often made the basis
of comparative law studies. This does not overlook the other legal
systems outside of the continental civil law and the common law of
the Anglo-Saxon countries. There are of course not only the different
legal systems of the Asiatic countries but also within the European
continent itself there is the legal system which has long been in effect
in the Scandinavian countries, and there are also the more recent
developments in the Soviet countries.
All legal systems have the same purpose of regulating and harmoniz-
ing the human activity within their respective societies, and in each
society the legal system forms part of the culttire and civilization as
well as of the history and the life of its people. The events of their
respective history have led toward certain fundamental similarities and
differences in their legal systems. In the countries of Western civiliza-
tion, the two best-known systems are the civil law and the common
law, particularly as exemplified in France and in England.
The concentration in this article on the civil law and the common
law is not intended to derogate from the importance and values of
other legal systems. At the same time, it must also be recognized that
there are many differences, for example, between the laws of France
and Germany, as well as between England and the United States.
Nevertheless, in each of these two great systems, civil law and common
JOSEPH DAiNow is Professor of Law, Louisiana State University, Member of the
Board of Editors. This article is translated and adapted from the French original in Liber
Amicorum Prolessor Baron Louis Fridiricq (Faculty of Law of Ghent, 1965), with the
permission of the Editorial Committee.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most