civil law

Law

2022

We explain what civil law is, its history, branches and characteristics. Also, civil law in everyday life.

Civil law regulates relationships between people, regardless of what is public.

What is civil law?

Civil law is a branch of law dedicated to the study and regulation of the different aspects of civil life of the persons, that is, of their real rights (property and possession), contractual obligations, family relationships (marriage, parental authority, etc.), succession (inheritance) and marital status.

It is a set of legal norms that regulate the patrimonial life of people, considering them in their singularity and individuality, and not as a generality. Said patrimonial relations can be public or private, physical or legal, and are always under the protection of the legal system of Condition.

Civil law can be considered as a form of private right, since it regulates relationships between people, regardless of what is public. On the other hand, it can be a form of common law, since it serves as a supplementary right (that is, as an auxiliary) to other branches of private law that regulate specific aspects of civil life: the commercial law, the labor law, etc.

Characteristics of civil law

In general terms, civil law is characterized by:

  • It deals with regulating patrimonial and personal relations between individuals, outside the State and the public.
  • Their rules They are usually included in a Civil Code.
  • It is one of the general branches of law, which integrates private law (outside the State) and which serves as a supplementary right to other sub-branches such as commercial, labor, mortgage law, etc.
  • Like all legal science, it is constantly being remodeled and developed.

Branches of civil law

Civil law encompasses four large branches or subdivisions, which may have different names depending on the legal system, but which are:

  • The right of the people. Or civil law in general, in charge of subjective rights in general, nationality, domicile, civil personality and personal rights, closely linked to the human being from the moment of birth.
  • The right of obligations and contracts. Regulates the acts, facts and business, its consequences, binding effects and the legal regime of the obligations to which people voluntarily submit as part of a civil transaction of some kind, or which they acquire through the actions of their civic life (civil liability).
  • The real rights. That is, the rights of ownership, possession and enjoyment of goods, the mortgage law and other forms of relationship between individuals and things, as well as the modes of possession and acquisition of the same.
  • The right to family and successions. In charge of regulating marriage, relations between parents and descent, the different forms of inheritance, the formation of families and the norms of kinship and parental authority.

History of civil law

Civil law is part of European continental law, inherited from Roman law of the antiquity. Its name comes from the Latin ius civilis, law applied in Ancient Rome to the citizens Romans exclusively, since for the rest of the citizenship of the Empire the ius gentium ("Law of nations").

However, throughout the Middle Ages this branch of law was confused with the Roman Law everything. Much later this branch acquired its own name and was understood as part of private law.

Importance of civil law

Like all private law, civil law is one of the most important branches of legal science when it comes to everyday life.

Along with commercial and labor law, it deals with guaranteeing the peace social and Justice in the personal, productive and commercial relationships between the individuals of a society. This ensures that the legal framework is respected in private life, that is, in the segments of society in which the State is not an actor.

Civil law in everyday life

Civil liability in an accident is contemplated in the civil code.

Examples of civil law action in everyday life are the following:

  • The nationality of each person, and the rights and obligations that this implies, are determined according to codes and laws that are part of civil law.
  • The regulation of how marriages take place legally, who can or cannot marry and how a conjugal community is constituted, are part of the interests of civil law.
  • Therefore, divorce and the dissolution of marital property, or the inheritance of property from a deceased parent, are also areas of responsibility. interest of this branch of law.
  • When a business sues another for breach of contract, that is, because he promised to do something and then did not do it, the demand it is carried out in the fields of civil law.
  • If someone accidentally collides with someone else's car, the resolution of the conflict, the rights of reparation and civil responsibility will always be contemplated in a civil code of the matter.
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