The French and English Legal Systems

Running head: ENGLISH AND FRENCH LEGAL SYSTEMS
English and French Legal Systems
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1ENGLISH AND FRENCH LEGAL SYSTEMS
Answer 1:
The legal framework has been adopted by every nation to protect the citizens from any
disputes arising as a result of any conflict or contract. The purpose is to analyze the
constitutional framework of the French and English Legal Systems and distinguish both the
concepts in detail. It is to be noted that the concept of English Law and French Law do not fall
under the same category. It has been observed that the concept of English Law falls under the
common law system whereas the French Law system is based on Civil Law systems.
According to Faulkner and Douglas, the concept of English Legal system evolved much
before the Norman Conquest and gradually spread to the English speaking colonies of Australia,
U.S.A, New Zealand and Canada1. The framework of English law is a major part of the
European Legal Systems which is an ancient legal concept and emerged in England during the
Middle Ages and spread across the continents of British colonies. The views of Christopher was
different in this matter according to him the historical development of the common law system
of England started long before the reign of William the Conqueror in 10662. It was observed
during that with the advent of the English Legal system various obstacles arrived on its way of
success. The first problem associated with it was the doctrine of “stare decisis” which means
binding precedent3. The concept of binding precedent is based on the rule that the previous
decision of the court is to be followed in other words the court is bound to follow the decision
1 M. Faulkner, 'DOUGLAS GRAY (Ed.), From The Norman Conquest To The Black Death: An Anthology Of
Writings From England.' 2012 59 Notes and Queries.
2 A. J. CHRISTOPHER, 'The Religious Question In The United Kingdom Census, 1801–2011' 2014 65 The Journal
of Ecclesiastical History.
3 Evan Criddle and Glen Staszewski, 'Against Methodological Stare Decisis' Papers.ssrn.com, 2017
<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2358150> accessed 19 November 2017.

2ENGLISH AND FRENCH LEGAL SYSTEMS
made by the previous judge or any other law making body. It has been criticized by many jurists
mainly because of the part that even if the previous decision made by the Court is disagreed the
present Court of Justice is bound to follow it.
The second problem related to the English Law system is that it an uncodified law. The
concept of uncodified law means unwritten constitution which can be defined as judge-made
laws4. In shaping the English Legal system the judges contributed enormously as the previous
decisions are relied upon while deciding any present case. In this context, it can be said that the
constitution of the English Law System is unwritten and referred to as uncodified constitution
and is composed of various documents. It has been observed that though some rules were written
in authoritative form by providing evidence however they were contained in various other
documents that are not in consistent with the Constitution.
The French Constitution is codified or written and is based on the principles of civil law5.
Oliver Beaud however emphasized on the features of French Constitution which consist of the
written constitution based upon the principles of civil laws, administrative laws, commercial and
corporate law6. The legislative enactments contained in the written constitution is relevant to
follow and is considered binding for all. The legislative enactments contained in such legal
system are accurate and there is little scope or even no scope at all for judge-made laws. The
countries which follow the system of civil law are continuously updated with the recent legal
4 Vernon Valentine Palmer, 'Double Reasoning In The Codified Mixed Systems – Code And Case Law As
Simultaneous Methods' 2017.
5 David Law and Mila Versteeg, 'The Declining Influence Of The United States Constitution' ( Papers.ssrn.com,
2017) <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1923556> accessed 19 November 2017.
6 Olivier Beaud, 'The Founding Constitution. Reflections On The Constitution Of A Federation And Its Peculiarity'
2017 SSRN Electronic Journal.

3ENGLISH AND FRENCH LEGAL SYSTEMS
codes, the application procedures and the punishment appropriated for the offences. In case of
civil law system, the role of the Judge is to determine the facts of the cases and establish a proper
conclusion for the same by applying the required provisions of the statute. It can be noted that
the Judge has the supreme power to investigate into the matter, make suitable changes and give
decision keeping intact the provisions of law. The Judge in any case cannot go beyond the
statutes of the codified set of laws and also cannot modify the legislative framework contained in
such written constitution.
The practice of civil law system started throughout the Europe colonies and with the
growing pace of European States it sought to establish an independent legal system7. The
Medieval Scholars of the Catholic Church had influenced the thought and ideas of the common
people long before the advent of the civil law system8. The common people of Europe were
governed by the views of the Roman Catholic Church and there was no scope for independent
thinking. The birth of civil law system in the medieval period and its evolution marked an
significant change in the development of European Legal system.
The Constitution comprises of the fundamental principles and rules of the legal system
which governs the relationship between the State and the general public. The rules that have been
set up in the Constitution are responsible for regulating the government of a country. It has been
stated that each country should have a constitution of its own to ensure peace and stability for the
citizens. The function of the Constitution is to impose limit and control over the discretionary
power of the government. In some cases it has been observed that the government abuses its
7 'Interconnections Between Civil Procedure Law And Substantive Law: The Problems Of The Theory And Practice
(Ending)' 2017 Актуальные проблемы российского права.
8 Patrick Wadden, 'Church, Apostle And People In Early Ireland' 2017 medieval worlds Medieval Worlds.