A society without private law is doomed to chaos. Private law governs the set of legal rules on which relationships and activities between citizens are based in order to guarantee equality and justice. Its major exponents are Civil Law and Commercial Law, the former is responsible for regulating relations between individuals while the latter governs the activity of entrepreneurs in the exercise of their profession.
What is Civil Law?
Civil Law regulates the private relations of citizens, whether natural or legal persons, with regard to family relations, rights as a person, obligations, contracts, property, inheritance or rights of any kind. Basically, it is responsible for establishing the rules governing private relations and delimiting a framework of security to defend the rights and obligations of citizens. The Civil Code is its main regulatory source.
In turn, Civil Law covers different areas:
- Personal Law. It regulates the intrinsic rights of the person, from birth to death, including marital status, domicile or nationality, as well as civil and legal personality rights.
- Family law. It shapes the legal rules governing family relationships, whether by kinship or marriage, ranging from the matrimonial property regimes available to spouses to the filiation of children or the terms of a divorce.
- Law of contracts and obligations. It includes the rules affecting the legal regime with respect to the drafting of contracts, obligations and binding events. It also regulates the liability arising from contracts and extra-contractual acts.
- Real right. Also known as the law of things or goods, it establishes the legal rules that protect citizens in relation to things. It includes the right of ownership and tenancy.
- Inheritance law. It regulates the legal acts determined by the death of a natural person, with respect to the transfer of his or her assets and/or rights to third parties.
What is Commercial Law?
Commercial Law regulates commercial relations. It is its competence to regulate the activity between companies and consumers, as well as the economic traffic and the activities of production of goods or services. In a general sense, it governs the commercial operations of the different economic agents that are part of the market. The Code of Commerce is its fundamental regulatory source, although it also makes use of other regulations, such as the Capital Companies Law or the Insurance Contract Law. Its scope of action includes:
- Banking law. It regulates contract clauses and the relationship between financial institutions, other credit institutions and consumers.
- Bankruptcy law. Manages the procedure and rules of the bankruptcy process of companies when they are unable to pay their debts.
- Exchange Law. Covers the regulation of securities, investments and shares, as well as checks and promissory notes.
- Industrial property law. Regulates and protects industrial technological innovation. It includes the protection of trademarks, industrial designs, patents and drawings.
- Corporate law. It is in charge of regulating the rules on the different forms of companies, as well as their organization, partners and benefits.
- Competition law. Governs competition between companies, ensuring that there is a fair and equal relationship.
The main difference between Civil Law and Commercial Law
Civil and Commercial Law are branches of private law that regulate relations between citizens, but each specializes in a particular area. While the main purpose of Civil Law is to regulate private relations between individuals, Commercial Law mediates professional activity of a commercial nature. Consequently, Commercial Law is usually restricted to the business sphere, while the scope of Civil Law is usually wider.