Читать книгу Intellectual Property Law for Engineers, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs - Howard B. Rockman - Страница 36

Two great systems of law are used in Western civilization.

1 The common law is used in most English‐speaking countries.

2 The code or civil law is used in the remainder of Western societies.

The code or civil law, also known as the “continental system,” originated around 450 BC as the Law of the Twelve Tables in the Roman Empire. This system expanded and contracted during the next ten centuries, and statutes were passed during that time and meanings clarified in court decisions. This civil law spread to other countries and became the foundation of the legal systems used in continental Europe today, and in other “civil law” countries.

Civil or code law is predicated on the establishment of comprehensive and complete written codes or statutes, the court’s task being to apply the correct statute to the particular set of facts in each case.

Common law is built on the use of prior court decisions determining the outcome of subsequent cases presenting similar factual situations. Most of the law brought to the United States by its earlier settlers was the English common law. However, in certain areas of the United States settled by the French and Spanish, remains of civil law systems may be found, such as in Louisiana, Texas, and California.

The term “civil law” has two meanings. First, it means the code of law based on the Roman codes, and second, it is the system of private law as distinguished from criminal law, the latter regulating the conduct of individuals vis‐a‐vis the state.