Origin and Development of Civil Law

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The most dominant System today, based on Roman Law, in most of Europe, all of central and South America, parts of Asia and Africa and even some area of Common law e.g. Louisiana, Quebec, Purtorico etc. The development of civil law is based on the adaptation of Roman law during the medieval period.Civil law is not uniform. It is divided into four sub groups              
1.      French Civil Law, 
2.      German Civil Law, 
3.      Austrian Civil and 
4.      Scandinavian Civil Law.
 Romans developed one of the greatest
legal systems in the world. Despite the downfall of Roman Empire the influence of the Roman law did not vanish, it is continued in Europe. Many of the Continental legal systems are built on the basis Roman law. But individual legal systems of the civil law family differ on the basis of reception of Roman laws (processing of legal theories or legislative act).
Despite of their difference, they share a common tradition which stands in contrast to common law tradition

SUB GROUPS
French Civil Law – France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Quebec (Canada), Louisiana (USA), Italy, Spain and former colonies of those countries
German Civil Law – Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, China
Austrian Civil Law – Austria, Czech republic, Slovakia, Greece, Serbia, Romania
Scandinavian Civil Law – Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway

DEVELOPMENT
The civil law in Continental Europe was developed by the middle ages (5th to 15th century). The Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law-529-534), after the decline of Roman power, went into a period of oblivion (unconscious) but it was revived during 11th and 12th century Italy which contributed to the spread of Roman law in Europe. At that time, mastery of civil law was required to advance one's career in state and the church Scholars known as Glossators (Commentator) made new commentaries on Roman law to fit it to the needs of their time.
      In many parts of Continental Europe the course of Roman law was introduced in the Universities. Due to the revival of Roman law, it became the Common law of Continental Europe but the rise of Nationalism and Nation State system in Europe from 15th century onwards European nations were for the creation of national system of law. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the European scholar studied their local customs in the light of Roman Law as a result an amalgam of native customs and Roman law formed the Dutch jurists crated the Roman Dutch law; French jurists wrote similar treaties on French law based on Roman law.
      The codification by Napoleon (1804) is a turning point in the development Civil Law system in the Continental Europe. The Napoleon Code was followed by other European countries - Austrian civil code of 1811, Germany civil code of 1900. The Civil law spread to Latin and Central America through the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers. Turkey and Japan also adopted the civil law system. Japan for example adopted the German Civil law as the model for its legal system. It is older, more widely distributed and in many ways more influential than the common law. Public International Law and the law of the EU are up to a great extent part of Civil law  

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