Introduction To Law Chapter Four

INTRODUCTION TO LAW
CHAPTER FOUR
THE DIFFERENT LEGAL SYSTEMS THAT EXIST IN
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ACROSS THE WORLD
Prepared by: Lecturer Mahad Mohamed Yusuf

[LL.B, LLM in International Human Rights Law]
CHAPTER OUTLINES
This chapter is exactly presents the different kinds of legal systems
and also Islamic sources of law and it mainly focused on:
 Kinds of legal systems
1. Common law legal system

2. Civil law legal system
3. Islamic law legal system
 Sources of Islamic law
 Primary sources of Islamic law [Quran and Sunnah]
 Secondary sources of Islamic law [Ijtihád and Ijma] and;
 Other sources of Islamic law 2

KINDS OF LEGAL SYSTEM:
1. Common law legal system

 Common law, also known as case law, is the body of law
that is derived from judicial decisions of courts rather than
statutes. A common law court looks to past precedential
decisions to apply the principles of those cases to the
current case.
 The basis for common law is tradition, past practices, and
legal precedents set by the courts through interpretations of
statutes, legal legislation, and past rulings. 3
CONTI…
 Common law refers to law developed by judges through
decisions of courts and similar tribunals (called case law),
rather than through legislative statutes or executive action.
 The body of precedent is called “common law” and it binds
future decisions. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the
past, the court is bound to follow the reasoning used in the
prior decision. If however, the court finds that the current
dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases,
judges have the authority and duty to make law by creating
precedent. Thereafter, the new decision becomes precedent, 4
and will bind future courts.
CONTI…
 Common Law Countries
The following countries have common law legal systems:
 Australia
 England and Wales
 Pakistan – with provisions of Islamic law
 United States – except in Louisiana, where the law is based on French and Spanish Civil law.
 Uganda
5
CONTI…
2. Civil law legal system
 In contrast to common law is civil law, which is a codified set of legal statues and
laws created by legislatures. In civil law, judicial authorities use the civil code to
evaluate cases and reach decisions. Civil law systems also clearly define the cases
that can be brought to court, the procedures for handling claims, and the
punishments for an offense.
 It is also known as code law, this is based on a very detailed set of laws that are
organized into codes. These codes specify what constitutes legal behavior. Code
law or Civil law has its roots in the Roman law and more than 80 countries of the
world, including Germany, France, Japan, Russia, most of Europe, Latin America,
China, Taiwan and South Korea operate with this Civil law system. The judicial
courts rely upon the detailed written legal codes rather than interpretation of
tradition, precedent and customs. The courts under this system do not have much 6
flexibility, as compared to the courts of common law system.
CONTI…
3. Islamic law legal system:
 Other countries have religious legal systems, where religious texts or traditions
define that country’s laws. Religious legal systems are commonly seen in
Islamic countries.
 The religious law of Islam is seen as the expression of God’s command for
Muslims and, in application, constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent
upon all Muslims by virtue of their religious belief. The Sharia differs from
Western systems of law in two principal respects. In the first place, the scope of
the Sharia is much wider, since it regulates the individual’s relationship not only
with neighbors and with the state, which is the limit of most other legal systems,
but also with God and with the individual’s own conscience. The second major
distinction between the Sharia and Western legal systems is a consequence of the 7
Islamic concept of the law as the expression of the divine will.
8
CONTI…
 SOURCES OF ISLAMIC LAW LEGAL SYSTEM
• In general, the Islamic sources of law can be divided into two main sources: [1] Primary
sources, namely the Qur’án and the Sunnah (the Prophetic tradition), and [2] the secondary
sources, namely ijtihád (independent critical reasoning) and ijmá‘ (consensus of commentators
on a controversial point of law).
 Primary source of Islamic law
1. The Qur'an as a primary source of Islamic law
Islam has different sources that determine the sources of the Islamic law. This section presents the
primary sources of Islamic law.
The Qur'an (which literally means recitation or reading) constitutes the most important source of
Islam, which is composed of the divine revelations received by the Prophet, who sought to form a
moral socio-political order operating in accordance with the sacred messages delivered by God.
The first law of Islam is holly Quran that sent down from Allah of all creatures. A revelation from the
Sustainer of all the worlds!
9
CONTI…..
2. The Sunnah as a primary source of Islamic law

 The prophetic practice, also known as the Sunnah, forms the
second principal source of Sharí‘ah.
 The Sunnah includes the anecdotal accounts of Prophet
Muhammad's sayings, deeds, views, habits, or tacit (dis)approvals
of certain practice.
10
CONTI…
Secondary Sources of Islamic law

 These tools, known as the ‘non-revealed’ sources on account of their non-
divine origin, mainly include: (1) ijmá‘: the general consensus of
commentators on a moot point of law; (2) qiyas: the method of analogical
reasoning; and (3) ijtihád: the application of critical personal reasoning in
the interpretation of Islamic law.
11
MASSIVE THANKS
New generation University Collage
Collage of Law and Legal Clinic
Lecturer: Mahad Mohamed Yuusuf

[LL.B, LL.M in International Human Rights Law]

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INTRODUCTION TO LAW

Prepared by: Lecturer Mahad Mohamed Yusuf

1. Common law legal system

 Primary sources of Islamic law [Quran and Sunnah]

 Secondary sources of Islamic law [Ijtihád and Ijma] and;

 Other sources of Islamic law 2

1. Common law legal system

2. The Sunnah as a primary source of Islamic law

Secondary Sources of Islamic law

Lecturer: Mahad Mohamed Yuusuf

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