The Systematic of Codification in Comparative Legal Systems: Practical Models in Civil Laws
Dr. Omar Salah Al Azawi
Researcher – College of Law – University of Sharjah – UAE
Abstract:
This research deals with comparative legal systems’ position on codification, since the adopted methodology varied and changed over time in order to keep abreast of recent legal developments. The legislative approach prevailed when it came to the enactment of laws influenced by the Latin system, especially French law. Then the idea of codification moved to Arab laws in varying degrees; some adhered to the methodology prescribed in Islamic jurisprudence and tried to mix it with the Western legislative approach, and put their laws accordingly.
Additionally, the judicial system of the Anglo-American system was evolving and changing its methodology in regulating legal rules; thus, many of the countries who followed this system accepted the idea of codification alongside case laws, including English, American and Malaysian law, and so the area of codification expanded in these countries. On the other hand, the idea of adopting case laws emerged in countries that follow the legislative approach. The initiative was in the Emirate of Dubai, where financial purposes called for the establishment of a civil court system that works based on the judicial precedents approach alongside the legislative approach influenced by Islamic jurisprudence, which is applied in Dubai. This indicates the growing idea of combining legal systems in the future in many countries seeking to benefit from the advantages of both systems in the same legislative system.
The study also sheds light on some of the overlapping aspects between Islamic jurisprudence and the Latin system on the one hand, and the Anglo-American system on the other hand. A plea arose on Islamic jurisprudence’s influence by the legislative approach derived from the Latin system, as well as the existence of a convergence between Islamic jurisprudence and the Anglo-American system, specifically English law in terms of the methodology followed for the development and application of legal rules, as well as similarity in macro-rules and sub-applications.
Keywords: enactment of laws, judicial precedents, Islamic jurisprudence, the Anglo-American system, the Latin system.