Civil Law and Common Law are two forms of legal tradition that are based in the legal rules created from the Roman roots or English roots.  Most countries of the world use either of these legal traditions as the base foundation of their legal system.  Some countries also used mixed systems that combine elements of both civil law and common law traditions.

Civil law is best described as law that is created by a country or state for enforcement within the jurisdiction of that own country or state.  Its roots are based on Roman Law, in particular during the rule of Emperor Justinian.  These laws were developed in time throughout the Middle Ages and were for a time was the one legal system used throughout all of Europe, later fracturing into several legal systems after various regional revolutions and changes of government.

During the time of Napoleon, French, German, and Swiss legal codes influenced and were incorporated into the general commonly known civil law traditions.  These civil codes were eventually used as the foundation for the legal systems of various Asian nations as well such as Japan, South Korea, and China.

The legal origins of civil law are now accepted as coming from three distinct groups - French civil law, German civil law, and Scandinavian civil law.

Common Law, on the other hand, was a legal system developed among the English people, from a time before laws were written.  Common law is known to have developed from various customs that were later applied to the overall social judicial system and eventually put down into written form.  This is the main difference between common law and civil law, because civil laws were based from the Roman legal system which had its foundation in doctrinal writings which were later codified into law.

Another difference between common law and civil law is in the various methods used in the various codes and statutes defined by the law.  The primary source of laws in the civil system is legislation.  Courts use these laws from the legislature to determine judgments.  However, in common law, court cases themselves are the source of law and statutes are only used narrowly in the judicial system.

Another major difference between common law and civil law is in the separation of powers and in particular what role judges play in either the balance of power between branches of government (common law), or with the judge as simply applying the law (civil law).  However case law plays a major role in most civil law countries that have come to adopt this aspect of common law into their legal systems.

Other differences between common law and civil law include:

1. Common law opinions are typically longer than those in civil law.

2. Civil law judges are trained separately from lawyers, unlike common law where judges are elected from the existing pool of lawyers.

3. Judges in civil law more actively investigate cases.

4. Civil law emphasizes social stability while common law focuses on individual rights.

5. Civil law combines the judicial and investigative aspects of cases, while in the common law system these roles are clearly separated.

Each legal system has proponents and critics, and both systems seek to defend the rights of the innocent, and to benefit society through a fair and equitable judicial system.  There are a number of pros and cons to both legal system, but at the same time both legal traditions have been developed through many years of evolution and so, in effect, both tend to equally and effectively serve the purpose for which they were created.