Civil Laws

The view of Salmond, civil law is “the law of the state or of the land, the law of lawyers and the law of the courts”,. Civil law is the positive law of the land or the law as it exists. Like any other law, it is uniform and that uniformity is established by judicial precedence. It is noted for its stability because its without that, it would be nothing but the law of the jungle. 

It is enjoyed by the person who inhabit a particular State which commands obedience through the judicial processes. It is backed by the force and might of the state for intentions of enforcement. Civil law has an imperative character and has legal sanction behind it. It is essentially of territorial nature. It applies within the territory of the state concerned. It is not universal but general. It creates legal rights, whether fundamental or primary. It also creates secondary rights. 

 Any infringement of law is always attendants with attachments, fine or imprisonment, or some, other form of punishments which the society inflicts on the wrong-doer in order to show its displeasure against the person who violates the law. The term Civil law is derived from jus civile or civil law of the Romans. It s not so popular today today as it used to be. The term positive law has become more popular than civil law. Sometimes the term municipal law is used in place of civil law .

Holland prefers to use the term positive law and writes thus , “A law in the sense in which that term is applied in jurisprudence, is implemented by a sovereign political authority. It is thus distinguished not only from other rules which , like the precepts of morality and the so called laws of honour and of fashion are enforced by an undetermined authority,, but also from all rules enforced by a definitive authority which s either , on the one hand , godlike or on the other hand , politically dependant. In order to stress the fact that laws, in the strict view of the term, are thus authoritatively imposed, they are described a positive law.

However, Salmond prefer to use the term civil law instead of positive law and detects “the term civil law, as indicating the law of the land, has been particularly superseded in recent times by the improper replace, positive law ….... It is not permissible , therefore to limit positive law to the law of the land. All law is positive that is not natural ….”