Sofia Parastatidou

Title of Presentation

Common Law vs Civil Law – What ChatGPT and your textbooks got wrong!

Abstract

The dichotomy between common law and civil law is one that is universally represented as being judge-made – precedent-driven (common law) and code-based and privy of judicial creativity (civil law). 

These misrepresentations now circulate even more aggressively through generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, which reproduce them with an awe of neutral authority. This presentation is aimed at debunking this characterisation and argues that the classification is the product of pedagogical convenience for legal reality.

The supposed common law–civil law divide rests on selective history and frozen institutional caricatures. Civil law judges like their common law counterparts do make law, reason with prior decisions, and develop doctrine over time. Likewise, common law systems are saturated with legislation, codification, and regulation. The persistence of this superficial  characterisation owes less to accuracy than to its usefulness as a teaching shortcut.

AI systems do not merely inherit these misconceptions but propagate them, presenting an artificial consensus that reinforces outdated taxonomies and discourages critical engagement. 

I will conclude with recommendations for more nuanced teaching frameworks using case studies for legal educators to engage and explore the richness and complexity that comparative studies can offer.

BIOGRAPHY

Sofia Parastatidou is the President & Founder of ILETA and a practising lawyer admitted to practise in England and Wales, Australia and is a member of the New York Bar Association who has been training professionals since 1994 and author of legal English textbooks and legal articles.

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