Civil law

Introduction
The historical rise of civil law
The French system
- The concept of codification
- Later changes and adaptations
- The main categories of French private law
  - Marriage and family
  - Divorce
  - Succession and gifts
  - Property
  - Contracts and torts
The German system
- The German Civil Code
- The main categories of German private law
  - Marriage and family
  - Succession
  - Property
  - Contract and delict
Other significant codifications
- Swiss law
- Italian law
- Japanese law
Modern developments in civil law

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Mosaic portrait of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, from the 6th-century Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

Painting by Jacques-Louis David showing Emperor Napoleon in a military uniform standing in his study at the Tuileries, with a clock, desk, and ornate chair in the background.

At a Glance

civil law summary

Related Questions

How are the French, or Romanist, and German, or Germanic, branches of civil law different?
How did Austria's 1895 Code of Civil Procedure change the role of judges and oral hearings?
How did Germanic customs contribute to the development of civil law in Europe?
How did Roman law and Germanic tribal law influence the German Civil Code?
How did Roman law categories influence the Napoleonic Code's rules on obligations?
How did Roman law influence the civil-law systems of continental Europe?
How did canon law shape family and inheritance law in medieval Europe?
How did civil procedure change after the French Revolution?
How did feudalism affect legal systems during the Middle Ages?
How did modern regulatory laws change the traditional role of civil codes?
How did national codifications weaken the unity of the European jus commune?
How did the Chilean Civil Code influence the laws of Ecuador and Colombia?
How did the German Civil Code influence legal systems in Japan, Greece, and Switzerland?
How did the German Civil Code reduce legal differences among German territories?
How did the Napoleonic Code influence civil codes in Latin America?
How did the Swiss Civil Code draw on French and German models?
How did the Swiss Civil Code influence the legal systems of Turkey and Brazil?
How did the jus commune create a shared legal tradition across Europe?
How did the rediscovery of Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis affect European law?
How does the structure of the German Civil Code differ from that of the Napoleonic Code?
How have equal-treatment principles changed family law in civil-law systems?
What five subjects are covered by the German Civil Code?
When was the Napoleonic Code enacted?
Which territories received the Napoleonic Code during Napoleon's rule?
Who were glossators, and how did they help scholars study Roman law?
Why can civil-law countries still have important differences in their private laws?
Why did German legal scholars delay the creation of a national civil code during the 19th century?
Why did local laws vary so widely in pre-Revolutionary France?
Why did the French Revolution make national legal codification possible?
Why do common-law countries rely more heavily on earlier judicial decisions than civil-law countries?
Why do the German, French, and Italian versions of the Swiss Civil Code have equal authority?
Why is Louisiana different from other U.S. states in its use of civil law?
Why was the University of Bologna important in the revival of Roman law?
Why was the first draft of the German Civil Code rejected in 1888?

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Civil law

Romano-Germanic

Also known as: Romano-Germanic law

Written by

Mary Ann Glendon

Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University. Author of A Nation Under Lawyers and others.

Mary Ann GlendonAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 31, 2026 •History

Civil law, the law of continental Europe, based on an admixture of Roman, Germanic, ecclesiastical, feudal, commercial, and customary law. European civil law has been adopted in much of Latin America as well as in parts of Asia and Africa and is to be distinguished from the common law of the Anglo-American countries. The term civil law has other meanings not employed in this article. The term jus civile, meaning “civil law,” for example, was...

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