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d. Legislative history. Legal research in the civil law is broad legal priniciples . . . [which] formulate general theo-
of necessity affected by the favored position of legislation. ries about the basic codes and legislation, in relation to the
The legislative history, including the drafters comments, evolution of the legal system as a whole." 50
is quite important as are the "doctrinal" materials, i.e., 11-9.Conclusion. It has been said that among
treatises and commentaries of legal scholars. In the civil . . . all the legal systems of the world, we thus distinguish between the
law, two great families of the common law and the civil law, and within the
[Dloctrine is an inherent part of the system and is indispensible to a latter the two groups of the French and German patterns. An American
systematic and analytid understanding of it. The doctrine is not a comparatist will thus have to acquaint himself with the legal system of
recognized source of law but it has exercised a great influence on the France or Germany or both. He will then hold the key to any other legal
development of the law. It molds the minds of students, it gives direc- system to which he may feel attracted. 51
tion to the work of the practitioners and to the deliberations of the
judges, and it guides the legislators toward consistency and systematiza- The French and the German civil law systems, as well Bs
tion. 49 others, are discussed in more detail in appendix A, infra.
Thus, analysis of a legal problem in a civil law jurisdiction The foregoing has been a general survey of some of the
would begin with the codes and other legislation, progress major differences between the civil law and the common
through the doctrine, and fmally, if required, peruse the law systems. The works cited explore these differences in
judicial decisions for a possible interpretation. In common detail should the practicing lawyer require a more
law countries, most analyses consist of syntheses of thorough knowledge of a particular system.
judicial decisions, rather than what can be called doctrine,
i.e., "systematic expositions and . . . discussions about 50. Id. at 430.
51. Rheinstein, Comparative Law-Its Functions, Methods, and
49. Dainow, supra, note 7, at 428. Usages, 22 Ark. L. Rev.415, 418 (1968).