There are 5 main legal systems in the world: The Romano-Germanic (civil law) system, which includes all of continental Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain), Russia, CIS countries, Latin American countries, Japan, and South Korea. Here, everything is based on laws and codes. In other words, everything is already prescribed, and one only needs to follow the letter of the law. A judge cannot create new legal norms.
The Anglo-Saxon (common law) system, which has fewer codes and places great importance on the interpretation of past judicial precedents. This system includes countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States (except the state of Louisiana), Canada (except Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and India.
Religious legal systems (Sharia, Hindu law, and others), where it is presumably already clear that they are based on religious texts. This system includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Mauritania. (In many other Middle Eastern countries—for example, Egypt, the UAE, or Oman—Sharia is the main source of civil and family law, but criminal law is often mixed, incorporating elements of the Romano-Germanic system).
The traditional-customary legal system, where public life is regulated by customs, traditions, rituals, and the oral experience of ancestors passed down from generation to generation. It is found in countries of tropical Africa, some regions of Oceania, and indigenous communities worldwide (often operating in parallel with official state law).
Mixed (hybrid) legal systems, which combine two or more legal systems. Examples include Israel (which combines British common law, Jewish religious law (Halakha), Ottoman laws, and elements of civil law); South Africa (which combines Roman-Dutch civil law and English common law); and Louisiana (USA) and Quebec (Canada) (where continental/French civil law historically operates against the backdrop of the country's broader Anglo-Saxon legal system).
The following articles here will focus primarily on the Romano-Germanic (civil law) system.
