Legal Systems Overview

Sources of Law

Each country’s legal system has its own sources of law, with greater weight placed on some sources than others. In developing an infrastructure project, it is important to identify which sources of law apply in the host country and their relative weighting.

• Constitution

• Legislative Enactment - Statute

• Judicial Decisions

• Treaties

• Other Sources

Key Features of Common Law or Civil Law Systems

Many countries follow one of the two main forms of legal tradition in the world, civil law or common law. The rationale and principles underlying each of these systems are different, although these differences have become less defined over time and some countries have adopted a combination of these systems. The differences may affect how infrastructure project agreements are drafted.

• Common Law System

• Civil Law System

• Summary of Differences between Civil law and Common law legal systems

• Civil Law Systems - Key Administrative Jurisprudence that can impact PPP arrangements

• Other Civil Law rules that can impact PPP arrangements

For an unexhaustive list of the countries with common law and civil law systems, go to the Legal Systems of the World on Wikipedia