Question

Name the different legal systems which exist today. Also shortly explain one of them and state where one could expect to find this legal system.

Answer 1

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

The American system is a system of "common law" that relies heavily on the precedent of the court in formal judgments. In our common law system, except if a statute is at issue, the court's decisions in earlier cases are highly important to the court's resolution of the matter before it.

Common law does not have a constitutional basis; judges shall create common law by written opinions binding on subsequent decisions of the lower courts of the same jurisdiction. Wide areas of law, especially those relating to land, contracts and wrongs, are historically part of the common law. These fields of law fall largely under the jurisdiction of the Member States and, thus, state courts are the primary source of common law. Therefore, 'common law' is used to fill holes. Common law is evolving over time, and at this time each state has its own common law on many issues. In particular, the field of common federal law is limited to federal issues that have not been dealt with in a statute.