Germany

• The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of 1949, the constitution
• Federal and state statutes and codes, led by the Civil Code (BGB), the Criminal Code and the Commercial Code
• European Union law, which takes priority in its area
• Court decisions and academic commentary, which are highly influential even though they are not formally binding precedent

• Five branches of courts, each with its own top federal court: ordinary (civil and criminal), labour, administrative, social and tax
• The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) is the top court for civil and criminal cases
• The Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) in Karlsruhe, which can review laws and hear citizens' constitutional complaints

A law degree that ends with a first state examination, then about two years of supervised practical training, then a second state examination. A person who passes both is a fully qualified lawyer (a Volljurist) who can become a judge or be admitted as a lawyer.

• The study of law is organised around the state examinations, not the university degree.
• Legal reasoning is highly systematic, working from general concepts down to the case.
• Citizens can bring a constitutional complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court after exhausting other remedies.
• Judges usually work in panels, and written judgments are often very long and structured.

France, Bulgaria, Japan, Russia, United States

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Germany as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• Federal Constitutional Court (English pages)
• Federal Court of Justice (English pages)
• Basic Law, English translation (Federal Ministry of Justice)

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.