The Interaction of Civil and Common Law in the Supreme Court of Canada

The interplay between the common law and the civil law at the Supreme Court of Canada is characterized by several types of relationships that are structured in ways that vary from one period to another and from one area of the law to anothe.. Although the Supreme Court's concern in its early years was to standardize the law, the specificity and autonomy of the civil law came to be recognized, which has led to a genuine dialogue between the two legal tradition.. This dialogic relationship has been reinforced by sociological, cultura,, technica,, institutional and legal factors. As a result of their dialogue, each of the ttaditions influences the other through the occasional borrowing of legal solutions or through references made in comparative law analyse.. The authors also show that there is at the present time no real convergenee between the two legal tradition.. Convergent relationships are limited to situations in which similar legal concepss or problems exist in the two ttaditions. Moreove,, divergent relationships sometimes lead to conflict between the tradition.. The authors accordingly believe that the civil law and the common law will continue to evolve in paralle,, while influencing each other in a manner consistent with the general principles and structure of each tradition ss legal system.