Civil Law Legal System

Improved Essays
The elements of the legal system in the United States are its origins, characteristics, functions and fields, constitutions and legal codes. The elements of the legal system come together, through the jurisprudence of American federal and state courts.

Origins and Characteristic of the Law and Legal Systems of the United States

Origin of the Common Law Legal System

The common law is used in all the states except Louisiana. Louisiana uses a civil law legal system, which is common throughout Europe.

Characteristics of the Common Law Legal System

Origin of the Civil Law Legal System

It can be argued that any time a state legislature encodes a law which was not previously coded, that the state legal system becomes partly a civil code system.
Civil law is used
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Establishing Standards
People and businesses and government employees must act in a way acceptable to the average person. Voting people hire and employ a person in the legislature to decide what laws to promote to achieve this end. The law sets standards for all sorts of activity and items such as food and safety regulations.
Maintaining Order

Resolving Disputes

Protecting Liberties and Rights

Fields of the System of the Law
In the United States the levels of the law are federal law, state law and local law. The various types of government levels of law have influence over people and the way they live and work in a multiple border geography.
Federal Law

State Law

All the states add up to fifty separate systems of criminal law, family law, property law, contract Local Law

Two Types of Laws

Two types of law in the United States are procedural law and substantive law.
Procedural Criminal Law
Criminal cases have procedural guidelines that are different from the substantive law. The law that controls the way a criminal court case proceeds is called the criminal procedural law.

Civil Procedural

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