| Title: | Civil law |
| Original Title: | Droit civil |
| Volume and Page: | Vol. 5 (1755), p. 123 |
| Author: | Antoine-Gaspard Boucher d'Argis (biography) |
| Translator: | Marine Barjol [University of Michigan] |
| Original Version (ARTFL): | Link |
| Rights/Permissions: |
This text is protected by copyright and may be linked to without seeking permission. Please see http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/terms.html for information on reproduction. |
| URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.640 |
| Citation (MLA): | Boucher d'Argis, Antoine-Gaspard. "Civil law." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Marine Barjol. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2020. Web. [fill in today's date in the form 18 Apr. 2009 and remove square brackets]. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.640>. Trans. of "Droit civil," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 5. Paris, 1755. |
| Citation (Chicago): | Boucher d'Argis, Antoine-Gaspard. "Civil law." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Marine Barjol. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.640 (accessed [fill in today's date in the form April 18, 2009 and remove square brackets]). Originally published as "Droit civil," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 5:123 (Paris, 1755). |
Civil law, is the particular law that applies to a certain population, quasi jus proprium cujusque civitatis, as distinguished from natural law and the law of nations which are common to all nations. Justinian tells us in Title I of the Institutes , that the laws of Solon and Dracon constituted the civil law of the Athenians; that the laws used by the Romans were their civil law ; and when civil law in general was discussed, without naming the country, Roman law was implied, which was thus considered as c ivil law par excellence. [1] Usage is still the same in this regard; however, we sometimes say Roman civil law , to distinguish it from the Roman canon law , and from our French civil law , which is composed of the laws specific to France, such as the ordinances, edicts, and declarations of our kings, customary laws, etc.
Civil law is also sometimes expanded to mean that which issues from the secular power, and which in this sense is opposed to canon law , which is composed of divine law, or those issued by the Church. When we talk about civil law and canon law , we usually mean the Roman law of Justinian, and the Roman canon law .
Civil law is sometimes taken to mean the laws that only relate to civil matters, and in this sense it is opposed to criminal law , meaning to the laws that concern criminal matters.
Flavian civil law, see Flavian law.
Papyrian civil law, See Papyrian law.
Roman civil law , see above the first article Civil law [2] and below Roman law.
1. See The Institutes of Justinian, part of the codification of Roman law ordered by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (c. 482-565).
2. There is no other article “Civil law,” besides this one, so the author must be referring back to the main body of this article. This paragraph and the two that precede it (which are simply cross-references to other articles) seem to have been added by the editor, Diderot, since they follow the attribution of authorship to Boucher d’Argis. Diderot thus treats them as separate articles, which allows him to cross-reference here to the main article by Boucher d’Argis. (ed.)