Law of Louisiana
Law in the state of Louisiana is based on a more diverse set of sources than the laws of the other 49 states of the United States. Private law—that is, substantive law between private sector parties, principally contracts and torts—has a civil law character, based on French and Spanish codes and ultimately Roman law, with some common law influences.[1] Louisiana is the only state whose private legal system is based on civil law, rather than the traditional American common law. Louisiana's criminal law, however, does largely rest on common law. Louisiana's administrative law is generally similar to the administrative law of the federal government and other states. Louisiana's procedural law is generally in line with that of other U.S. states, which in turn is generally based on the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Sources
Legislation
The Louisiana Revised Statutes (R.S.) contain a very significant amount of legislation, arranged in titles or codes.[2] Apart from this, the Louisiana Civil Code forms the core of private law,[3] the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (C.C.P.) governs civil procedure, the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure (C.Cr.P.) governs criminal procedure, the Louisiana Code of Evidence governs the law of evidence, the Criminal Code (CrC) governs criminal law, the Louisiana Children's Code (Ch.C.) governs family law and juvenile adjudication, the Louisiana Insurance Code governs governs insurance law including property damage claims.
Regulations
The Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC) contains the compilation of rules and regulations (
Judicial opinions
Since 1972,[
Local ordinances
The Louisiana Revised Statutes provide that the maximum penalty for the violation of a parish ordinance is a fine of $500 and imprisonment for 30 days in the parish jail,[9] and that the maximum penalty for the violation of an ordinance of a municipality organized under the mayor and board of aldermen form of government is a fine of $500 and imprisonment for 60 days.[10][11] A number of subjects are regulated, restricted, and preempted by state law as the subject of local ordinances.[11]
History
In 1664, under the royal charter creating the French East India Company, the Custom of Paris became the primary law in New France, supplemented with royal ordinances, e.g. the "Code Louis", consisting of the 1667 ordinance on civil procedure[12] and 1670 ordinance on criminal procedure; the 1673 "Code Savary" on trade; and the 1685 Code noir on slavery.[13] After the 1763 Spanish cession, however, this law was supplanted by the Spanish law contained in three primary texts: Nueva Recopilación de Castilla, Recopilación de las Indias, and the Siete Partidas. Commercial law was governed by the Ordinances of Bilbao.[14] Other laws included: Leyes de Toro (1505), Fuero de Real, and the Fuero Juzgo.
The first Louisiana civil code, Digeste de la Loi Civile, was written in French by attorneys
For many years legal practitioners in the state made great effort to ensure that both versions agreed. Despite those efforts some clauses were found only in one version or the other. Due to modern legislative enactments which repeal and reenact Louisiana's civil code articles as any other collection of statutes, the differences between the original French and the English translation are now primarily of historical interest.
Despite popular belief that the Louisiana Civil Code derives from the Napoleonic Code, the similarities are because both stem from common sources, namely the 1800 Draft of the Napoleonic Code.[17] The Napoleonic Code was not enacted in France until 1804, one year after the Louisiana Purchase. Historians in 1941 and 1965 discovered original notes of the 1808 Digest drafters who stated their goal was to base Louisiana law on Spanish law and who make no mention of the Napoleonic Code.[18] The 1825 Code, however, which had the express purpose of repealing earlier Spanish law, elevated French law as the main source of Louisiana jurisprudence.[19][20] Currently, the Louisiana Civil Code consists of 3,556 individual code articles.[21]
Effective differences
Great differences exist between Louisianan civil law and common law found in all other American states. While many differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of common law, the "civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in Louisiana private law and in some parts of criminal law.
One often-cited distinction is that while common law courts are bound by
Due to the civil law tradition, Louisiana's constitution does not contain a right to a trial by jury in civil cases, although this right is contained in the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Additionally, appellate courts have a much broader discretion to review findings of fact by juries in civil cases.
In commercial law, the 49 other states have completely adopted the
Legal careers are also molded by the differences. Legal education, the bar exam, and standards of legal practice in Louisiana are significantly different from other states. For example, the
See also
- Constitution of Louisiana
- Louisiana Civil Code
- Quebec law
- Scots law
- Civil Law Commentaries
- Extra-dotal property
- Judiciary of Louisiana
Footnotes
- ^ "How the Code Napoleon makes Louisiana law different". LA-Legal. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
- LCCN 2014930754.
- ^ Parise 2014, p. 453.
- ^ "Louisiana, LAC, Administrative Code". Louisiana Office of the State Register. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- ^ "Louisiana Register". Louisiana Office of the State Register. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-521-76857-3.
- ^ Law Library of Louisiana. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- Louisiana Court of Appeal, Second Circuit. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
Act No. 644 of the Regular Session 2006 enacted Code of Civil Procedure Article 2168 which provides for the posting of unpublished opinions on Internet websites and provides that such opinions may be cited as authority.
- ^ R.S. 33:1243
- ^ R.S. 33:362
- ^ Municode. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
- ^ Official title: Ordonnance civile pour la réformation de la justice, but now referred to as Ordonnance de Saint Germain en Laye.
- ^ Jean Louis Bergel, “Principal Features and Methods of Codification”, Louisiana Law Review 48/5 (1988): 1074.
- ^ R. J. Rabalais, "The Influence of Spanish Laws and Treatises on the Jurisprudence of Louisiana; 1762–1828", Louisiana Law Review, 42/5 (1982): 1485, 1508. The official title of this law is Ordenanzas de las Ilustre Universidad y Casa de Contratación de la Villa de Bilbao, first issued on December 2, 1737.
- ^ Alain Levasseur, Moreau Lislet: The Man Behind the Digest of 1808, 2nd edn. (Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing Division, 2008), 95.
- ^ Mack E. Barham, "La méthodologie du droit civil de l'État de Louisiane", Revue internationale de droit comparé 27(4) (1975): 800.
- ^ Known in French as: Projet de Code Civil, Présenté par la Commission nommée par le Gouvernement; commonly referred to as the Projet de l'An VIII, or Projet de la Commission du Gouvernement, or Projet du Code Napoléon.
- ISBN 9781565546851.
- ^ George Dargo. Mainstreaming Louisiana Legal History Review of Fernandez, Mark F., From Chaos to Continuity: The Evolution of Louisiana's Judicial System, 1712-1862. H-Law, H-Net Reviews. August, 2002
- William Q De Funiak, a prominent legal authority on community property law and its development in the United States, maintained, in his "Principles of Community Property" (2d ed. 1971), that, whatever the source of other Louisiana law may be, the Louisiana law of community property is principally derived from the law of Spain.
- ^ Louisiana Civil Code Reference Archived 2006-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Engber, Daniel (September 12, 2005). "Louisiana's Napoleon Complex: The French influence on Pelican state jurisprudence". Slate. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
- ^ Willis-Knighton Med. Ctr. v. Caddo-Shreveport Sales & Use Tax Comm'n., 903 So.2d 1071, at n.17 (La. 2005). (Opinion no. 2004-C-0473)
- ^ Royal v. Cook, 984 So.2d 156 (La. Ct. App. 2008).
- ISBN 0-313-26654-9.
- ^ R.S. 10:101-1 et seq.
Further reading
- Cairns, John W. (2015). Codification, transplants and history: law reform in Louisiana (1808) and Quebec (1866). Clark, NJ: Talbot Publishing.
- Morgan, Cecil, ed. (1975). The First Constitution of the State of Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Published for the Historic New Orleans Collection by the Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-0158-3.
- Palmer, Vernon Valentine (2012). Through the Codes Darkly: Slave Law and Civil Law in Louisiana. Clark, LA: Lawbook Exchange. ISBN 978-1616193263.
- Rault Jr., Gerard A. (1989). "An Overview of the New Louisiana Code of Evidence — Its Imperfections and Uncertainties". Louisiana Law Review. 49 (3): 697–731.
External links
- Search Louisiana Laws. Official site of Louisiana State Legislature
- Louisiana Supreme Court. Official site of Louisiana Supreme Court.
- Louisiana Administrative Code from the Louisiana Office of the State Register
- Louisiana Register from the Louisiana Office of the State Register
- Local ordinance codes from Public.Resource.Org
- Civil law to Common Law dictionary. Unofficial, self-archived copy of 1995 newsletter article, from personal website of Stephan Kinsella.
- Access to the Louisiana Civil Code in English and in French: LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Center of Civil Law Studies
- Case law: "Louisiana", Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School, Harvard Law Library