While the civil law stretches back to Roman times, the common law is far more recent. The common law developed around 1000 years ago in England. The name comes from the fact that before the common law, every area in England had its legal traditions. Often, these different traditions contradicted one another, making the country difficult to manage. Moreover, because there was no single authority that served to unite laws, it was easier for lords and other nobles to manipulate the law to their advantage. The common law emerged to address this issue by instituting a single set of laws that was ''common'' to all of England.
Napoleon is often called an enlightened despot.
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One way that the common law unified the laws was by incorporating precedent into the body of law. A precedent is a past court decision. In the common law, precedents set an example for future judges to follow. For example, if Harry and Robert took a case to the judge in 1050 AD, the judge would look back through the records to find out how past judges decided similar cases. If the judge found that similar cases were resolved a certain way in the years 1030, 1015, and 1000 AD, the judge would follow those precedents and rule accordingly. Thus, in the common law, judges slowly create law as they decide cases and leave precedents for future judges to follow.
The civil law is completely different. In civil law, judges do not consult precedent to determine the lawful way to resolve a case. Instead, civil law judges consult legal codes. Because they must cover so many different cases, civil law codes are often long and complex. For example, the current German Civil Code has over 2,300 sections. However, when compared against all the precedents of the common law system, which stretches back 1,000 years, civil law judges have less to work with.
Interestingly enough, not all civil codes have been long and complex. When Napoleon ordered the preparation of the Napoleonic Code following the French Revolution, he insisted that it be short and simple enough for the common French to understand. Thus, from a first draft of over 700 statutes, the French promulgated a simple yet comprehensive code of just 36 statutes. Following Enlightenment principles, the Napoleonic Code banned primogeniture, abolished the privileges of the aristocracy, and enhanced the rights of women.
Even though Napoleon was eventually defeated, his liberal laws were embraced by many across Europe. As he put it during his forced exile, ''My glory is not that I won forty battles and dictated the law to kings...Waterloo wipes out the memory of all my victories...But what will be wiped out by nothing and will live forever is my Civil Code.''
