Torres,KarenGemD.

October22,2016

1645075
IntroductiontoLaw

TheDifferencesBetweentheCivilLawTradition&theCommonLawTradition

TheCriminalProcess
Investigation
In the civil law tradition and common law tradition, once a crime has been
discoveredorreported,aninvestigationshallbeginimmediately.Intheformer,primary
responsibilityofthepoliceistoreporttheallegedcrimeimmediatelytotheprosecutor.
Thepolicedoesnothavemanyunsupervisedinvestigativepowersthroughoutthelegal
process,whileinthecaseofthelatter,thepoliceinterviewwitnesses,victims,andthe
suspect,notunlikeinthecivillaw,whereitistheprosecutorwhohastheauthorityto
conductsuchinvestigativeactions.
IndictmentandDisclosure
Inthecivillaw,wherethereisaprosecutoronly,anindictmentwillneedtobe
draftedanditisthecourtwhowilldetermineifthereisenoughevidencetoproceedto
trial.Incontrast,underthecommonlaw,oncetheprosecutorhasdeterminedthatthereis
sufficientevidence,heorsheshallbetheonetodraftanindictmentandpresentittothe
court for confirmation and approval. Moreover, in the case of the former, if the
prosecutionordefensewishestoinvestigateinanymatter,theymustfilearequestthat
thedesiredinvestigationbecarriedoutbytheinvestigativejudge;whileinlattercase,the
defense has access to the case file in its entirety and a system of disclosure or
discoveryexistswhichregulatestheevidencethattheprosecutormustmakeavailable
tothedefense,tiwhichthedefensemusthaveareasonableopportunitytoexaminethe
evidenceintrial.
Oneofthemostsignificantdifferencesbetweenthetwotraditionsisthatwhenit
comestotrial,commonlawtrialgenerallylastsmuchlongerthanacivillawtrial,since
thereisanecessityoflivetestimony.Whileinthecaseofacivillawtrial,thejudgeis
presumedhavealreadyreadthecasefileinadvance.Inaddition,thetrialduringthetrial
in a civil law tradition, whether there is an investigating judge system or not, the
prosecutorwillpresentthecaseattrial,notunlikeinthecommonlawtradition,where
this duty is not as involved as the duty imposed upon the common law prosecutor.
Moreover,thejudgeinacivillawsettingisthecentralfigureinacourt,theoneactingas
an inquisitor to find the facts and the truth. In common law practice, neither the

prosecutornorthedefensecounseltakescenterstageinthetrial.Anotherdifferenceis
that, in civil law practice, the notion of entering a plea and the pleabargaining
generallydoesnotexists,whileontheotherhand,incommonlawpractice,theaccused
hastherighttoenterhisorherpleaatthebeginningofthecase.Also,notunlikethe
latter,thewitnessesinthecivillawtraditionarenotconsideredascentraltothetrial
becausetheinvestigatingjudgewillhavealreadyinterviewedthemandmadedetailed
notesinthecasefile,ratherthanreinterviewingthewitness.Expertwitnessesifcalled
uponbelongstothecourtinthecaseoftheformer;whileinlatter,eachpartyinthe
prosecutionandthedefensecallstheirownindependentexpertstomaketheircase.Itis
alsoworthnotingthatthebreadthandscopeofevidenceadmissibleinthecivillawcourt
ismuchbroaderthaninthecommonlawsystem.Thelatterisboundbyverycomplex
rulesofevidenceandrulesforexclusionofcertainevidencethatweredevelopedbecause
of the presence of a jury in the trial. In contrast, the civil law promotes the free
evaluationofevidence.
VerdictandSentencingHearing
Inbothcases,oncethetrialisoverandthejudgeorjuryreadsaverdict,the
accused is either released or convicted. A sentencing hearing follows the trial to
determine the type or nature and duration of penalties imposed upon the convicted
person.Sameprocedureappliestobothsystems.
Appeal
Incivillaw,theconvictedpersonmayappealonthesethreebases:anerrorin
law;anerrorinfact;orthepenaltyimposed.Whileincommonlaw,thepersonmay
appealtheconvictiononapointoflaw.Theconvictedoneinthecaseofthelatterwill
requireleaveofthetrialcourttoappealthedecision.Anotherdistinctionbetweenthetwo
isthat,incivillaw,whatevertheappealfiled,itwillbereferredtoanappealscourt;
whereitalwayshearthetrialdenovo,whichhearsthewholetrialoveragain.Whilein
thecaseofcommonlaw,theappealscourtwillgenerallyonlyhearanappealonamatter
oflawandnofactualevidencemaybeconsidered.

LegalEducationandTraining
Thelegaleducationandtrainingoflawstudentsinthecivillawtraditionisthroughan
undergraduateuniversitydegreewhileincontrast,inthecommonlawtraditionalaw
degree is either an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, requiring both an
undergraduatedegreeandthecompletionofaLawSchoolAdmissionTest(LSAT)that
testslogicalandverbalreasoningskills.Intheformer,theprimaryreferencematerialfor
lawstudentsarecodesanditscommentaries;whileinthelatter,itisthecaselaws,where
studentsmayhaveseveraltextbooksthatmayofferdifferingconclusions.Also,another
significant distinction between the two traditions is that in the civil law tradition,
professorslecturetoaclassthatisusuallyverylarge;whileinthecommonlawtradition,
classes are usually highly interactive in which they use the Socratic method of
teaching. A key learning objective in the common law educational system is to

demonstratetostudentsthattherecanbemorethanoneanswertoaparticularquestionor
theremaybenoonerightansweratall.Inthecivillawsystem,itispresumedthatthe
codesanddoctrinesprovideclearguidanceandananswerwhichcanbeeasilyextracted
withouttheneedforjudicialinterpretationorcreativityintheprocess.Acommonlaw
student,attheendofhisorhereducationisnotrequiredtochooseoneparticularlegal
careerandsticktoit,asacivilstudentwould.Apprenticeshipcoupledwithongoing
trainingmustbeundertakeninbothsystemsdependingastowhatlegalprofessionto
pursue.Inthecaseofcivillawpractice,becominganacademicisextremelychallenging
giventhehighstatureofthisposition,unlikeinthecommonlawpractice,asinthecase
ofprofessorsintheUnitedStates,whereeveryonewhoteachesatalawschoolisgiven
thetitleofProfessor.ThetermProffessorisreservedforaPh.Dgraduatewhohasbeen
awardedachairandtheseappointmentsareverylimitedinnumber.Outsidetherealm
oflawyers,policeofficersinthecommonlawareusuallytrainedinaPoliceAcademy
underageneralcurriculum,justlikeinthecivillaw.

Source:INPROLInternationalNetworktoPromotetheRuleofLaw
Merryman:TheCivilLawTradition