To an American familiar with the terminology and process of our legal system, which is based on Eng- lish common law, civil law systems can be unfamiliar and confusing. Even though England had many pro- found cultural ties to the rest of Europe in the Middle
Ages, its legal tradition developed differently from that of the continent for a number of historical reasons, and one of the most fundamental ways in which they di- verged was in the establishment of judicial decisions as the basis of common law and legislative decisions as the basis of civil law. Before looking at the history, let’s examine briefly what this means.