READING COMPREHENSION SECTION 2

Read the following text carefully and make sure you understand what passage means!

TWO MAJOR LEGAL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD

Two major legal system developed in the world are the Anglo – American Common Law
System and the Romano – Germanic Civil Law System.

The Romano – Germanic Civil Law System, which is commonly called the Civil Law
System or continental civil law followed by some countries such us : Austria, Belgium, Greece,
Indochina, Indonesia, Latin America, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spanyol, South Korea,
Turkey, Switzerland.

Historically, the term “civil law” comes from latin word jus civile which was opposed to jus
gentium. On the other hand, the Anglo America Common Law System, which is commonly
called the Common Law System or the Anglo Saxon or the Case Law System followed by
TheUnited Stated of America, The United Kingdom, Australian, and Singapore. These legal
systems are different each other especially from their source. In the Civil Law System the
important source of the law is written law, in which those law are written into a codified law or
statute. Legislation considered as the primary source of law in this system. Consequently, when
the court has a case, it is usually unbound by precedent. While in Common Law System the
source of the law is unwritten law.

Common law system is the system of laws originated and developed in England and
based on court decisions. The system has and uses more doctrines and customs rahter than writ.
law such as codified law. Under the common-law system, when a court decides and reports its
decision concerning a particular case, the case becomes part of the body of law and can be used
in later case involving similar matters known as a “precedent”.
This use of precedents is known as stare decisis. In the US, this decision is known as the
Doctrine of Stare Decisis (to stand by the decision). Generally the term “common law” is used to
describe a system where the law is built up through the decisions of the courts. Judicial decision
is a decision about an individual lawsuit issued by the courts. Through judicial decision the judge
explains the legal reasoning used to decide the case. This system has been used since the Middle
Ages. Philosophically, in this system law is rooted from custom and precedent. Therefore neither
the creation of a sovereign nor dictaded or invented by legal dictation, but handed down in a
continous process of interpretation and reinterpretation of the significance of previous custom.

The law in the civil law system was adopted from the Romans where the compilation of
Roman law known as the Corpus Juris Civilis. The further important sources of the civil law
system are the French Civil Code of 1804 or known as the Napoleonic Code and the German
Civil Code of 1896, later on the two of latest code become models for countries that followed
civil law system.
in some Civil law countries, even though their formal prime sources of law are code, statute, or
law, which is the written law enacted by the legislative branch or the House of Representative
or parliaments, they also have other important sources of law, namely : Custom, Treaty both
Multilateral Treaty and Bilateral Treaty, also Judicial decisions. On contrary , in some Common
Law System countries, such as the United States, they also have written law as sources of their
law. For example the source of modern lawin the United States are Constitutions, Statutes and
Treaties. Treaty is an agreement formally signed, ratified, or adhered to between nations of
sovereigns: an international agreement concluded between two or more states in written form
and governed by international law.

Recently, it is difficult to say that a country has only followed one Legal System because
practically they tend to follow both common law and civil law system. For instance, even though
Indonesia in general known as a part of Civil Law Country which has many Acts or laws to
regulate its society such as; the Act No. 4. 2004 concerning Judicial Power, the Act No.19, 2002
concerning Copyright, etc. However in some practices it has also followed Common Law
System especially in field of Business Law.

Makna Teks diatas adalah sebagai berikut:

Teks tersebut membahas dua sistem hukum utama di dunia, yaitu Sistem Hukum
Common Law Anglo-Amerika dan Sistem Hukum Civil Law Romano-Jerman. Sistem Hukum
Civil Law, yang sering disebut Sistem Hukum Sipil atau hukum perdata, diikuti oleh beberapa
negara seperti Austria, Belgia, Yunani, Indocina, Indonesia, Amerika Latin, Belanda, Polandia,
Portugal, Spanyol, Korea Selatan, Turki, dan Swiss. Secara historis, istilah "hukum perdata"
berasal dari kata Latin "jus civile," yang bertentangan dengan "jus gentium."
Di sisi lain, Sistem Hukum Common Law, yang sering disebut Sistem Hukum Umum
atau Sistem Common Law Anglo-Saxon, diikuti oleh Amerika Serikat, Inggris, Australia, dan
Singapura. Kedua sistem hukum ini berbeda, terutama dari sumber hukumnya. Dalam Sistem
Hukum Civil Law, sumber hukum utama adalah hukum tertulis, di mana hukum-hukum tersebut
tertulis dalam undang-undang yang telah dicodifikasi. Oleh karena itu, ketika pengadilan
memiliki suatu kasus, biasanya tidak terikat oleh preseden. Sementara itu, dalam Sistem Hukum
Common Law, sumber hukumnya adalah hukum tak tertulis.
Sistem common law adalah sistem hukum yang berasal dan berkembang di Inggris dan
didasarkan pada keputusan pengadilan. Sistem ini lebih mengandalkan doktrin dan adat daripada
hukum tertulis seperti hukum yang sudah dicodifikasi. Dalam sistem common law, ketika
pengadilan membuat keputusan dan melaporkan keputusannya tentang suatu kasus tertentu,
kasus tersebut menjadi bagian dari tubuh hukum dan dapat digunakan dalam kasus-kasus
selanjutnya yang melibatkan masalah serupa, yang dikenal sebagai "preseden."
 Penggunaan preseden ini dikenal sebagai "stare decisis." Di Amerika Serikat, keputusan
ini dikenal sebagai Doktrin Stare Decisis (untuk tetap mematuhi keputusan). Secara umum,
istilah "common law" digunakan untuk menggambarkan sistem di mana hukum dibangun
melalui keputusan pengadilan. Keputusan pengadilan adalah keputusan tentang gugatan individu
yang dikeluarkan oleh pengadilan. Melalui keputusan pengadilan, hakim menjelaskan penalaran
hukum yang digunakan untuk mengambil keputusan dalam kasus tersebut. Filosofis, dalam
sistem ini, hukum berasal dari adat dan preseden. Oleh karena itu, hukum bukan diciptakan oleh
penguasa atau ditentukan melalui tindakan hukum, tetapi disampaikan melalui proses
berkelanjutan dalam menginterpretasikan makna adat sebelumnya.
Hukum dalam sistem hukum perdata diadopsi dari hukum Romawi, yang dikenal sebagai
Corpus Juris Civilis. Sumber-sumber penting lainnya dari sistem hukum perdata adalah Kode
Sipil Prancis tahun 1804 atau dikenal sebagai Kode Napoleonic dan Kode Sipil Jerman tahun
1896. Kedua kode terakhir ini menjadi model bagi negara-negara yang mengikuti sistem hukum
perdata.
Di beberapa negara hukum perdata, meskipun sumber hukum utama mereka adalah kode,
undang-undang, atau hukum, yang merupakan hukum tertulis yang diundangkan oleh cabang
legislatif atau dewan perwakilan atau parlemen, mereka juga memiliki sumber hukum penting
lainnya, yaitu: Adat, Perjanjian baik Perjanjian Multilateral maupun Perjanjian Bilateral, serta
Keputusan Pengadilan. Sebaliknya, di beberapa negara Sistem Hukum Common Law, seperti
Amerika Serikat, mereka juga memiliki hukum tertulis sebagai sumber hukum mereka.
Misalnya, sumber hukum modern di Amerika Serikat adalah Konstitusi, Undang-Undang, dan
Perjanjian. Perjanjian adalah perjanjian yang secara resmi ditandatangani, diratifikasi, atau
diikuti oleh negara-negara atau pemerintahan berdaulat: perjanjian internasional yang diakhiri
antara dua atau lebih negara dalam bentuk tertulis dan diatur oleh hukum internasional.
Saat ini, sulit untuk mengatakan bahwa suatu negara hanya mengikuti satu Sistem
Hukum karena secara praktis mereka cenderung mengikuti baik sistem common law maupun
sistem hukum perdata. Misalnya, meskipun Indonesia secara umum dikenal sebagai bagian dari
Negara Hukum Perdata yang memiliki banyak Undang-Undang atau hukum untuk mengatur
masyarakatnya seperti Undang-Undang No. 4. 2004 tentang Kekuasaan Peradilan, Undang-
Undang No. 19, 2002 tentang Hak Cipta, dll. Namun, dalam beberapa praktik, Indonesia juga
telah mengikuti Sistem Hukum Common Law terutama dalam bidang Hukum Bisnis.
TASK 2

 Translate the words below into Indonesian

Hukum tertulis
Written law
The important source of the civil law system is written law
Pengadilan
Court
The court will hear the case next week
Case Law
Case Law
Case law plays a significant role in shaping legal principles
Keputusan Pengadilan
Court Decision
The court decision favored the plaintiff in the lawsuit
Doktrin
Doctrine The doctrine of separation of powers is a fundamental principle in
constitutional law
Adat
Costum
Local customs and traditions vary from one region to another
Preseden
Precedent
The judge relied on a previous precedent when making the ruling