Not all legal systems grow from judicial opinions. Civil law, in the comparative sense, refers to systems that rely primarily on comprehensive written codes and statutes as the main source of law, with judicial decisions playing a secondary role.

Countries in the civil-law tradition typically maintain codes covering obligations, property, family, and procedure. Judges apply and interpret those codes rather than treating prior cases as binding precedent in the common-law style. Legal education emphasizes systematic study of the codes.

The term is also used more loosely in common-law countries to distinguish private disputes from criminal prosecutions. Context usually clarifies which meaning applies. Civil-law codification aims for accessibility and coherence, though interpretation and supplementary scholarship still shape outcomes in practice.

• Legal tradition centered on comprehensive codes
• Judges apply statutes more than binding case precedent
• Distinct from common-law systems
• Also used to mean non-criminal private law