Being a lawyer in the USA and in Hungary

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Introduction – personal motivations

Since our having been in contact with church law and medical law for long, it was definitely obvious that we would not have chosen other topics to deal with. However, since there is a whole library of books and Internet sites dealing with the British and American legal systems as unique, non-conform ones, we set off to point at the basic differences compared to other laws while we would like to note some interesting canonical points as well. It is obvious, however, that we cannot expect the perfection of this short essay, therefore we are rather eager to present only some interesting points and views.

I. Basic concepts – Roman Law

Just before we get to the American legal system while concentrating on practical things, we cannot apart from the fact that the American legal system had been built upon the British system for hundreds of years. Therefore, first we would intend to draw the basic concepts of British laws, then we would point at the differences between British and overseas laws. Moreover, we would pick on some interesting facts of canonical law, and finally we would attempt to get to the conclusion where it would be better to exercise legal career – not only from a financial point of view.

In many legal systems, the basic concept of a written regulating document (later called written law) hanged upon the Roman law – as the source of all legal documents. However, this law is not as implemented in British legislation as it is in many other systems. Legal experts, therefore, divide the legal sources into two major fountains: Roman and Anglo-Saxon roots. Both share similarities and differences. Moreover, before the civil legislation, two major roots had been known as basic fountains: Roman and Canonical.¹

Roman law refers not only to the legal system of ancient Rome, but also to the law that was applied throughout most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century. Still many of the concepts are preserved and partially applied. This is especially true in the field of private law. The influence of Roman law is shown by the wealth of legal terminology, retained by all legal systems. Before the Twelve Tables (754–201 BC)², private law consisted of the old Roman civil law (ius civile) being applied to Roman citizens only. After the Tweleve Tables, there were many laws issued by the Roman leaders such as Lex Hortensia, Lex Aquilla, etc. The Roman written form of legislation reached its peak in the post-classical period, somewhere in the middle of the 3rd Century BC. This is the date since which we have been able to take Roman law as our source (Fontes essendi) into account.³

Corpus Iuris Canonici ('Body of Canon Law') is the collection of sources of church law. It was replaced by the Codex Iurius Canonici ("Code of Canon Law") later, which was promulgated in 1917. The CIC was revised in 1983 for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church and in 1990 for the Eastern rites. However, the present CIC is not so important for us now, since civil legislation and church legislation have been separated since the early 19th century. Before that period, however, the legislation of kings and emperors did really rely on canonical actions. We can observe canon law as the roots of legal documents from the middle of the 13th century.⁴

Precedent law is the essence that makes law very Anglo-Saxon. This is the first distinguishing step between Continental legal systems and British (American) one. The precedent on an issue is the collective body of judicially announced principles that a court should consider when interpreting the law. When a precedent establishes an important legal principle, or represents new or changed law on a particular issue, that precedent is often known as a key or landmark decision.⁵

II. Difference in constitution

The roots and major differences that we discussed above were all true for both American and British legal systems, compared to Continental law. As far as the constitution of Britain and America are concerned, we have got to point at major divergences. Astonishingly, in British legal system there is not a written constitution covering all fields of human life. In fact, there are a lot of laws and acts dealing with different basic rights and obligations, however, there is not a bunch of laws put down in one book. The concept that lies behind is that the government (including the house of lords and commons) has the right to make out acts or laws to interact in any affairs of life. Consequently, there are a lot of written decisions that form the basis of the cases. As there is a high acceptance and application of precedent decisions, it is not a problem to decide upon formal cases. This is implemented in the other Anglo-Saxon invention, the common law.

Unlike in Britain, there is an old written constitution in the United States. Moreover, the constitution seems to be kept as a sacred document, learned and cited by school kids all around the whole country. This is something, a sacred relic, that US citizens are really proud of.

The Constitution of the USA (main times written with a capital initial letter) is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority highlighting the existence and ruling powers of the United States and the Federal Government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government. The document defines the three main branches of the government: The legislative branch (there is the bicameral Congress), the executive branch (President), and a judicial branch (led by the Supreme Court). It is not only providing for the organization of these branches, but the Constitution also outlines which powers each branch may exercise. In addition, it also reserves numerous rights for the individual states, hence establishing the United States' federal system of government. It is the shortest and oldest written constitution of a major sovereign state.⁶

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¹ See. Corpus Iuris Canonici and Corpus Iuris Civilis (Twelve Table)

² The first written document of legal regulations having general force and ruling power over citizens

³ ERDÖ PÉTER, Az egyházjog forrásai,SZIT,Budapest 1998, 1-29.

⁴ See. Pope Gregory IX, Ad expediandos, 9th September 1253.

⁵ GÖNCI-HORVÁTH-STIPTA-RÉVÉSZ-ZLINSZKY (eds), Egyetemes jogtörténet, Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, Bp,1997, 258-314.

⁶ What makes the Constitution of US so popular? First, it is short so it is much easier to recite. Second, perhaps because it is the oldest written document underlying American feelings (you know the term “old” is relative when we discuss the USA), being a basement upon which American Dream is built.