Editing List of national legal systems (section)

==Common law==
{{Main|Common law}}
[[File:King John signing the Great Charter (Magna Carta) by English School.png|thumb|right|150px|King John of England signs [[Magna Carta]].]]
Common law and [[Equity (law)|equity]] are systems of law whose sources are the decisions in cases by judges. In addition, every system will have a legislature that passes new laws and statutes. The relationships between statutes and judicial decisions can be complex. In some jurisdictions, such statutes may overrule judicial decisions or codify the topic covered by several contradictory or ambiguous decisions. In some jurisdictions, judicial decisions may decide whether the jurisdiction's constitution allowed a particular statute or statutory provision to be made or what meaning is contained within the statutory provisions. The common law developed in England, influenced by [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] law and to a much lesser extent by the [[Norman conquest of England]], which introduced legal concepts from [[Norman law]], which, in turn, had its origins in [[Salic law]]. Common law was later inherited by the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], and almost every former colony of the [[British Empire]] has adopted it ([[Malta]] being an exception). The doctrine of ''stare decisis'', also known as ''case law'' or ''[[precedent]] by courts'', is the major difference to codified civil law systems.

Common law is practiced in [[Law of Canada|Canada]] (excluding [[Quebec law|Quebec]]), [[Law of Australia|Australia]], [[Law of New Zealand|New Zealand]], most of the [[Law of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] ([[English law|England, Wales]], and [[Northern Ireland law|Northern Ireland]]), [[Law of South Africa|South Africa]], [[Law of the Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Law of India|India]] (excluding [[Goa civil code|Goa]] and Puducherry),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Manooja |first=D. C. |date=2000 |title=Uniform Civil Code: A Suggestion |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43953824 |journal=Journal of the Indian Law Institute |volume=42 |issue=2/4 |pages=448–457 |jstor=43953824 |issn=0019-5731}}</ref> [[Law of Pakistan|Pakistan]], [[Law of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], the [[Law of the United States|United States]] (on state and territorial levels excluding [[Law of Louisiana|Louisiana]] and [[Law of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]]), [[Law of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]], and many other places. Several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system; For example, Nigeria operates largely on a common law system in the southern states and at the federal level, but also incorporates religious law in the northern states.

In the [[European Union]], the [[European Court of Justice|Court of Justice]] takes an approach mixing civil law (based on the treaties) with an attachment to the importance of case law. One of the most fundamental documents to shape common law is the English [[Magna Carta]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Magna Carta|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html|access-date=10 November 2006}}</ref> which placed limits on the power of the English Kings. It served as a kind of medieval bill of rights for the aristocracy and the judiciary who developed the law.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;"
|+
|-
! style="width:175px;"|Country
! Description
|-
| {{flagicon|American Samoa}} [[Constitution of American Samoa|American Samoa]]
| Based on [[law of the United States]].
|-
| {{flagicon|Antigua and Barbuda}} [[Laws of Antigua and Barbuda|Antigua and Barbuda]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Law of Australia|Australia]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Bahamas}} [[Law of the Bahamas|Bahamas]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Bangladesh}} [[Law of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]]
| Based on English common law, with the Muslim family law heavily based on Islamic law (Sharia).
|-
| {{flagicon|Barbados}} [[Law of Barbados|Barbados]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Belize}} [[Government of Belize|Belize]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Bhutan}} [[Law of Bhutan|Bhutan]]
| Based on English common law, with an Indian influence. Religious law influences personal law.
|-
| {{flagicon|British Virgin Islands}} [[Law of the British Virgin Islands|British Virgin Islands]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Law of Canada|Canada]]
| Based on English common law, except in {{flagicon|Quebec}} [[Quebec]], where [[Quebec law|a civil law system]] based on [[Law of France|French law]] prevails in most matters of a civil nature, such as obligations (contract and delict), property law, family law, and private matters. Federal statutes take into account the juridical nature of Canada and use both common law and civil law terms where appropriate.
|-
| {{flagicon|Cayman Islands}} [[Law of the Cayman Islands|Cayman Islands]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Law of Cyprus|Cyprus]]
| Based on English common law, as inherited from British colonization, with civil law influences, particularly in administrational law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Dominica}} [[Law of Dominica|Dominica]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|England}} {{flagicon|Wales}} [[English law|England and Wales]]
| Primarily [[common law]], with early [[Roman law|Roman]] and some modern [[continental Europe]]an influences.
|-
| {{flagicon|Fiji}} [[Law of Fiji|Fiji]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Gibraltar}} [[Law of Gibraltar|Gibraltar]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Ghana}} [[Laws of Ghana|Ghana]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Grenada}} [[Law of Grenada|Grenada]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Hong Kong}} [[Law of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] (P.R.China)
| Principally based on English common law, also influenced by PRC law.<ref name=l/>
|-
| {{flagicon|India}} [[Law of India|India]]
| Based on English common law, except intermingled laws in Goa,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Nandini Chavan, Qutub Jehan Kidwai |title=Personal Law Reforms and Gender Empowerment: A Debate on Uniform Civil Code |date=2006 |publisher=Hope India Publications |page=245 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIMp5ctu_ngC&q=Goa |chapter=Territorial Diversities and Personal Laws|isbn=978-81-7871-079-2 }}</ref> DNHDD and Puducherry.<ref name=p/> [[History of Indian law|Vedic Hindu legal traditions]] also influenced the legal system in India.<ref name=in1/><ref name=in2/>
|-
| {{flagicon|Republic of Ireland}} [[Law of the Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]
| Based on Irish law before 1922, which was itself based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Israel}} [[Israeli law|Israel]]
| Based on English common law, arising from the period of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] (which includes laws arising from previous [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tau.ac.il/law/members/ron-harris/8.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-01-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223233903/http://www.tau.ac.il/law/members/ron-harris/8.pdf |archive-date=23 February 2015 }}</ref> also incorporating civil law and fragments of [[Halakha]] and [[Sharia]] for family law cases
|-
| {{flagicon|Jamaica}} [[Judiciary of Jamaica|Jamaica]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Kiribati}} [[Law of Kiribati|Kiribati]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
|{{flagicon|Liberia}} [[Law of Liberia|Liberia]]
| Based on Anglo-American and customary law
|-
|{{flagicon|Marshall Islands}} [[Law of Marshall Islands|Marshall Islands]]
| Based on [[law of the United States]].
|-
|{{flagicon|Myanmar}} [[Law of Myanmar|Myanmar]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Nauru}} [[Law of Nauru|Nauru]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Nepal}} [[Law of Nepal|Nepal]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Law of New Zealand|New Zealand]]
| Based on English common law with some aspects of [[tikanga Māori]].<ref>{{cite court|litigants=Josephine Takamore v Denise Clarke|reporter=SC 131/2011 [2012] NZSC 116|pinpoint=paragraph 94|court=[[Supreme Court of New Zealand]]|date=18 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2020.1801610 | doi=10.1080/19452829.2020.1801610 | title=When a River Becomes a Person | date=2020 | last1=Kramm | first1=Matthias | journal=Journal of Human Development and Capabilities | volume=21 | issue=4 | pages=307–319 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
| [[Northern Ireland law|Northern Ireland]]
| Based on Irish law before 1921, in turn, based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Palau}} [[Law of Palau|Palau]]
| Based on [[law of the United States]].
|-
| {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Law of Pakistan|Pakistan]]
| Based on English common law, with some provisions of Islamic law.<ref name=pk>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Lau |title=Introduction to the Pakistani Legal System, with Special Reference to the Law of Contract |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/yislamie1&div=9&id=&page= |journal=Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law |year=1994|volume=1 |page=3 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flagicon|Papua New Guinea}} [[Law of Papua New Guinea|Papua New Guinea]]
| Based on English common law and customary laws of its more than 750 different cultural and language groups.
|-
| {{flagicon|Saint Kitts and Nevis}} [[Law of Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Kitts and Nevis]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines}} [[Law of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Singapore}} [[Law of Singapore|Singapore]]
| Based on English common law, but Muslims are subject to the [[Administration of Muslim Law Act]], which gives the Sharia Court jurisdiction over Muslim personal law, ''e.g.'', marriage, inheritance and divorce.
|-
| {{flagicon|Tonga}} [[Law of Tonga|Tonga]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Trinidad and Tobago}} [[Law of Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidad and Tobago]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Tuvalu}} [[Law of Tuvalu|Tuvalu]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|Uganda}} [[Law of Uganda|Uganda]]
| Based on English common law.
|-
| {{flagicon|United States}} [[Law of the United States|United States]]
| [[Federal judiciary of the United States|Federal courts]] and 49 states use the legal system based on English common law, which has diverged somewhat since the mid-nineteenth century in that they look to each other's cases for guidance on issues of the first impression and rarely, if ever, look at contemporary cases on the same issue in the UK or the Commonwealth.

[[Law of Louisiana|Louisiana]] is based on French and Spanish civil law, and [[Law of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]] is based on Spanish civil law.
|}