Characteristics and main manifestations of western legal system

On the Characteristics of Western Legal Civilization

Since the primitive society, human beings have gradually produced many primary social norms such as moral norms and religious norms. With the emergence of class, private ownership and commodity economy, these social norms first appear as habits, and then form laws. Western legal civilization is like a bright star shining in the galaxy of history. The important feature of western legal civilization is the emergence and development of western bourgeois law.

In the late Middle Ages in Europe, with the growth of capitalist economy, laws with capitalist factors gradually appeared. Roman law, Germanic law, church law and commercial law are the four sources of western bourgeois law.

I. Roman law

Roman law is the general name of all laws in the eastern and western Roman empires. With the changes of Roman society, it absorbed the natural law thought and the rule of law thought of ancient Greece, experienced nearly a thousand years of changes, and finally became the most developed and complete legal system in ancient slavery society. France, Germany and other countries have gradually formed a civil law system based on Roman law.

Second, Germanic law.

Germanic law is the general name of the laws applicable to Germanic people in the early feudal period of western Europe. At that time, it was called "barbarian code" by the Romans. Germanic law is a legal system formed in western Europe after Roman law. France and Germany absorbed a lot of Germanic law, while English common law retained a lot of Germanic law factors.

Third, the church law.

Church law, also known as temple law, was formed in the process of the emergence and evolution of Christianity and the church. Mainly divided into three stages:

(a) the formation stage (4th-9th century AD)

The canon law in its formative period established the principle of "dualism" between Roman emperors and bishops, but it was still bound by secular kingship.

② Its heyday (10-14th century)

The church law in this period reached its peak under the background of the disintegration of the Frankish Empire and the division of the Eastern and Western churches.

③ Fading period (after15th century)

With the development of scientific and humanistic thought in15th century, the religious reform in16th century, and the establishment of bourgeois regime in17th and18th centuries, the power of the church declined day by day. However, as a legal system, church law has survived and become one of the important sources of legislation in bourgeois countries.

Fourth, commercial law.

The development process of commercial law can be divided into three stages:

(A) the ancient commercial laws and regulations

Under simple economic conditions, there is no clear concept of "commercial law". However, in the early days, there did exist legal norms related to business.

(B) the medieval "commercial law"

Commercial law actually came into being in the middle ages. The revival of European commerce in the Middle Ages led to the emergence of the merchant class, and the merchant law was a kind of autonomy law for businessmen. This commercial law is the predecessor of the commercial code of modern western countries.

(3) Modern commercial law

Modern commercial law includes three systems:

(1) Commercial law system represented by France and Germany

(2) Commercial law system represented by Britain and America.

(3) the socialist commercial law system