ABSTRACT
Aer studying this chapter, you should understand or be able to explain the following issues and concepts:
• e dierence between the civil law and common law legal models • e comparison between the legal models of the major legal systems • e dierence between the natural and positive law approaches • How common law and civil law developed • How the law functions as an instrument of control • e meaning of the concept “rule of law” • e primary functions of the major court systems
Civil law: e law of Continental Europe, based on an admixture of Roman, Germanic, ecclesiastical, feudal, commercial, and customary law. European civil law has been adopted in much of Latin America as well as in parts of Asia and Africa.
