Legal Systems Very Different From Ours

This book looks at thirteen different legal systems, ranging from Imperial China to modern Amish: how they worked, what problems they faced, how they dealt with them. Some chapters deal with a single legal system, others with topics relevant to several, such as problems with law based on divine revelation or how systems work in which law enforcement is private and decentralized. The book's underlying assumption is that all human societies face the same problems, deal with them in an interesting variety of different ways, are all the work of grown-ups, hence should all be taken seriously. It ends with a chapter on features of past legal systems that a modern system might want to borrow.

Descriptions of a variety of different legal systems, past and present.

This book provides a fascinating and critical insight into familiar and less familiar mixed legal systems, taking the reader on a voyage of discovery from St Lucia and Guyana to the islands of the Seychelles and Mauritius. It considers those mixed systems which share boundaries with unmixed ones, such as Scotland and Quebec, and those located off-shore of major and dominant jurisdictions such as Jersey off the coasts of France’s civil law and England’s common law system, as well as Cyprus, situated between the influences of Europe and those of the Middle East.

A significant introduction to the study of comparative law and a notable scholarly work, Major Legal Systems in the World Today analyzes the general characteristics which lie behind the development of the four principal legal systems of the world: the Civil law, the Common law, the Socialist law (primarily Soviet), and those based on religious or philosophical principles (Muslim, Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, and African). Providing unique insights into the spirt of each legal family, the book presents a total view of the historical foundation and the sources and structure of the law in each system.

This book offers a novel perspective on the leading concept of harmonisation, advocating the mutual benefits and practical utility of harmonised law. Theoretical models and factors for harmonisation are explored in detail. Antonios E. Platsas acknowledges a range of additional factors and presents harmonisation as a widely applicable and useful theory.