Research Guides: French Law: Home
Civil law systems, also called continental or Romano-Germanic legal systems, are found on all continents and cover about 60% of the world. They are based on concepts, categories, and rules derived from Roman law, with some influence of canon law, sometimes largely supplemented or modified by local custom or culture. The civil law tradition, though secularized over the centuries and placing more focus on individual freedom, promotes cooperation between human beings.The law of France is a civil law legal system; the French legal system is based wholly on written Civil law. Civil law legal systems are greatly based on a Code of Law. The foundation of the French legal system is the Napoleonic code or Civil code which encapsulated the rights and obligations of citizens, and laws of contract, property, inheritance, and so forth. The Civil code persists as the foundation of French law to the present. In scholarly terms, French law can be divided into two divisions: private law (or "droit priv...