That the doctrinal basis is different does not change that law requires interpretation by experts using something more sophisticated than "it's just code". Civ

That the doctrinal basis is different does not change that law requires interpretation by experts using something more sophisticated than "it's just code". Civil jurisdictions don't have caselaw as an independent source of legal rules, but they still have cases and they still have interpretation. It is not uncommon for an ancient Roman jurist's opinion to be cited in argument in Scots law, just as it is not uncommon to cite very old English cases in Australian law. And it is also common to have civil codes in common law jurisdictions -- the criminal law I was taught was based on a statutory instrument which asserted itself to be the whole of the criminal law and which was frequently amended whenever courts began to accrete rulings around it.