civil law
noun [ U ]
LAW ukusthe part of the legal system that deals with people's relationships, property, and business agreements, rather than with criminal activity:
US shareholders are suing the company under civil law for deliberately misleading investors.
a legal system based on ancient Roman law, which is used in many countries. In this system a court makes decisions based on a set of recorded laws rather than on the decision of a judge or jury:
Thailand's legal system is based on civil law, so the case may not be treated as a precedent by other bankruptcy judges.
Compare
common law
criminal law
statute law