Civil Law (Meaning and Explanation)

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

family law — Civil law regulates relationships between people, regardless of the public.

What is civil law?

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

It is a set of legal rules that regulate the patrimonial life of people, considering them in their uniqueness and individuality and not as a generality. These property relationships can be public or private, physical or legal, and are always under the protection of the legal system of the State.

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

Features of civil law

In general terms, civil law is characterized by:

It takes care of regulate property and personal relationships between individuals, outside the State and the public.
Their rules are usually collected in a civil code.
It is one of the general branches of law, which integrates private law (external to the State) and which serves as a supplementary law to other sub-branches such as commercial, labor, mortgage law, etc.
Like any legal science, is constantly being remodeled and development.

Branches of civil law

Civil law covers 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 very personal rights, closely linked to the human being from the moment of birth.
The law of obligations and contracts Regulates the acts, facts and businesses, their consequences, binding effects and the legal regime of the obligations to which people voluntarily submit as part of a civil transaction of some type, or that they acquire through the actions of their citizen life (civil liability).
Real rights That is, the rights of ownership, possession and enjoyment of goods, mortgage rights and other forms of relationship between individuals and things, as well as the modes of possession and acquisition thereof.
Family and inheritance law. Responsible for regulating marriage, relationships between parents and offspring, the different forms of inheritance, the formation of families and the rules of kinship and parental authority.

History of civil law

Civil law is part of European continental law, heritage of ancient Roman law. Its name comes from Latin ius civilislaw applied in Ancient Rome to Roman citizens exclusively, since the rest of the Empire's citizens applied the ius gentium (“right of people”).

However, throughout the Middle Ages this branch of law was confused with all Roman Law. Much later this branch acquired its own name and it 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 as far as everyday life is concerned.

Along with commercial and labor law, is concerned with guaranteeing social peace and justice in personal, productive and commercial relationships between individuals in 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 law everyday examples — Civil liability in an accident is contemplated in the civil code.

Examples of the action of civil law in daily 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.
Regulating how they happen legally marriages, who can or cannot marry and how a conjugal community is constituted, they are part of the interests of civil law.
Therefore, divorce and dissolution of marital property or the inheritance of a dead father's assets, are also areas of interest in this branch of law.
When one company sues another for breach of contract that is, because he promised to do something and then did not do it, the lawsuit is carried out in the areas of civil law.
If someone accidentally crashes another person's car the resolution of the conflict, the rights of reparation and civil liability will always be contemplated in a civil code on the matter.

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