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The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, common law and religious law. However, each country (see State law) often develops variations on each system or incorporates many other features into the system. Civil law is the most widespread system of law in the world. It is also sometimes known as Continental European law. The central source of law that is recognised as authoritative are codifications in a constitution or statute passed by legislature, to amend a code. Civil law systems mainly derive from the Roman Empire, and more particularly, the Corpus Juris Civilis issued by the Emperor Justinian ca. 529AD. This was an extensive reform of the law in the Eastern Empire, bringing it together into codified documents. Civil law was also partly influenced by religious laws such as Canon law and Islamic law.[1][2] Civil law today, in theory, is interpreted rather than developed or made by judges. Only legislative enactments (rather than judicial precedents) are considered legally binding. However, in reality courts do pay attention to previous decisions, especially from higher courts[citation needed]. Scholars of comparative law and economists promoting the legal origins theory usually subdivide civil law into four distinct groups A comprehensive list of countries that base their legal system on a codified civil law follows
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