Law in the state ofLouisiana is based on a more diverse set of sources than the laws of the other 49 states of theUnited States.Private law has acivil law character, based onFrench andSpanish codes and ultimatelyRoman law, with somecommon law influences.[1] Louisiana is the only state whose private legal system is based on civil law, rather than the traditional American common law. Louisiana'scriminal law, however, does largely rest on common law. Louisiana'sadministrative law is generally similar to the administrative law of the federal government and other states. Louisiana'sprocedural law is generally in line with that of other U.S. states, which in turn is generally based on the U.S.Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
TheLouisiana Revised Statutes (R.S.) contain a significant amount of legislation, arranged in titles or codes.[2] Apart from this, theLouisiana Civil Code forms the core ofprivate law,[3] theLouisiana Code of Civil Procedure (C.C.P.) governscivil procedure, theLouisiana Code of Criminal Procedure (C.Cr.P.) governscriminal procedure, theLouisiana Code of Evidence governs the law ofevidence, theCriminal Code (CrC) governs criminal law, theLouisiana Children's Code (Ch.C.) governsfamily law andjuvenile adjudication, the Louisiana Insurance Code governs governs insurance law includingproperty damage claims.
TheLouisiana Administrative Code (LAC) contains the compilation of rules and regulations (delegated legislation) adopted by state agencies.[4] TheLouisiana Register is the monthly publishedofficial journal which provides access to the certified regulations and legal notices issued by the executive branch of the state government.[5]
Since 1972,[citation needed] there is no longer an officialcase reporter and courts themselves decide which decisions are published.[6] Decisions of theLouisiana Supreme Court andLouisiana Court of Appeal are available in paper and via the Internet, while trial court decisions are not published.[7] The Code of Civil Procedure provides for the posting of unpublished opinions of the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal on the Internet and provides that such opinions may be cited as authority.[8]Slip opinions are available from the courts, whileadvance sheets and bound volumes of the case reports are contained in theLouisiana Cases (a Louisiana-specific version of theSouthern Reporter).[7]
TheLouisiana Revised Statutes provide that the maximum penalty for the violation of a parish ordinance is a fine of $500 and imprisonment for 30 days in the parish jail,[9] and that the maximum penalty for the violation of an ordinance of a municipality organized under the mayor and board of aldermen form of government is a fine of $500 and imprisonment for 60 days.[10][11] A number of subjects are regulated, restricted, and preempted by state law as the subject of local ordinances.[11]
In 1664, under the royal charter creating theFrench East India Company, theCustom of Paris became the primary law inNew France, supplemented with royal ordinances, e.g. the "Code Louis", consisting of the 1667 ordinance on civil procedure[12] and1670 ordinance on criminal procedure; the 1673 "Code Savary" on trade; and the 1685Code noir on slavery.[13] After the 1763 Spanish cession, however, this law was supplanted by the Spanish law contained in three primary texts:Nueva Recopilación de Castilla,Recopilación de las Indias, and theSiete Partidas. Commercial law was governed by the Ordinances of Bilbao.[14] Other laws included:Leyes de Toro (1505),Fuero de Real, and theFuero Juzgo.
The first Louisiana civil code,Digeste de la Loi Civile, was written in French by attorneysJames Brown,Louis Moreau-Lislet, andEdward Livingston and subsequently translated into English asThe Digest of the Civil Laws now in Force in the Territory of Orleans, or more commonly theDigest of 1808. The main drafter Louis Moreau-Lislet was a French colonial who originally hailed fromSaint-Domingue (modernHaiti) but obtained his law degree in Paris just before theFrench Revolution of 1789.[15] Enacted on March 31, 1808, theDigest proved problematic when in 1817 the Louisiana Supreme Court, composed ofPierre Derbigny,George Mathews (Chief Justice), andFrançois Xavier Martin, found inCottin v. Cottin that the Spanish law in force prior to theDigest's enactment had not been repealed and was therefore still in effect insofar as it did not contradict theDigest.[16] This provoked a legislative response by theGeneral Assembly who tasked Justice Derbigny and attorneys Moreau-Lislet and Livingston with drafting a new, fuller code written in French and English and which formally repealed prior existing law. This code, the Civil Code of 1825, was enacted on April 12, 1824.
For many years legal practitioners in the state made great effort to ensure that both versions agreed. Despite those efforts some clauses were found only in one version or the other. Due to modern legislative enactments which repeal and reenact Louisiana's civil code articles as any other collection of statutes, the differences between the original French and the English translation are now primarily of historical interest.
Despite popular belief that the Louisiana Civil Code derives from theNapoleonic Code, the similarities are because both stem from common sources, namely the 1800 Draft of the Napoleonic Code.[17] The Napoleonic Code was not enacted in France until 1804, one year after theLouisiana Purchase. Historians in 1941 and 1965 discovered original notes of the 1808 Digest drafters who stated their goal was to base Louisiana law on Spanish law and who make no mention of the Napoleonic Code.[18] The 1825 Code, however, which had the express purpose of repealing earlier Spanish law, elevated French law as the main source of Louisiana jurisprudence.[19][20] Currently, the Louisiana Civil Code consists of 3,556 individual code articles.[21]
Great differences exist between Louisianan civil law and common law found in all other American states. While many differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of common law, the "civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in Louisiana private law and in some parts of criminal law.
One often-cited distinction is that while common law courts are bound bystare decisis and tend to rule based onprecedents, judges in Louisiana rule based on their own interpretation of the law.[22] This distinction is not absolute, though. Civil law has its own respect for established precedent, the doctrine ofjurisprudence constante. But theLouisiana Supreme Court notes the principal difference between the two legal doctrines: a singlecourt decision can provide sufficient foundation forstare decisis; however, "aseries ofadjudicated cases, all in accord, form the basis forjurisprudence constante."[23] Moreover, Louisiana Courts of Appeals have explicitly noted thatjurisprudence constante is merely a secondary source of law, which cannot be authoritative and does not rise to the level ofstare decisis.[24]
Property,contractual,business entities structure, much ofcivil procedure, andfamily law are still strongly influenced by traditional Roman legal thinking. Louisiana law retains terms and concepts unique in American law:usufruct,forced heirship,redhibition, andlesion beyond moiety are a few examples.
Due to the civil law tradition, Louisiana's constitution does not contain a right to a trial by jury in civil cases, although this right is contained in the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Additionally, appellate courts have a much broader discretion to review findings of fact by juries in civil cases.[25] Also, damages are apportioned differently from in common law jurisdictions;specific performance is almost always available, and juries may hear cases that would be consideredequitable in other jurisdictions.
In commercial law, the 49 other states have completely adopted theUniform Commercial Code (UCC), thereby standardizing the rules of commercial transactions.Louisiana enacted most provisions of the UCC, except for Articles 2 and 2A,[26] which are inconsistent withcivil law traditions governing the sale and lease of goods. However, several articles regarding the incorporation of terms into a contract have been adopted into the Civil Code. Louisiana also refers to the major subdivisions of the UCC as "chapters" instead of articles, since the term "articles" is used in that state to refer to provisions of the LouisianaCivil Code.
Legal careers are also molded by the differences. Legal education, the bar exam, and standards of legal practice in Louisiana are significantly different from other states. For example, theLouisiana Bar Exam is the longest of any state, at 21.5 hours. TheMultistate Bar Examination is not administered in Louisiana.
Act No. 644 of the Regular Session 2006 enacted Code of Civil Procedure Article 2168 which provides for the posting of unpublished opinions on Internet websites and provides that such opinions may be cited as authority.
Court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of theHarvard Law Library