Socialist law

Socialist law is the legal system that is used in Communist countries. It is based on the civil law system, with modifications to help it suit Marxist-Lenninist ideology. Most important of these modifications is providing for most property to be owned by the state or agricultural co-operatives, and having special courts and laws for state enterprises.

Prior to the end of the Cold War, socialist law was generally considered to be one of the major legal systems of the world. However, due to the collapse of communism in most countries, and the fact that it is very similar to the civil law system, many no longer consider it to be such. Most of the remaining communist countries, such as China, are slowly losing many of the distinctively socialist features from their legal system, as they come to adopt more capitalist economies. The communist influence can still however be seen in places: witness for instance Chinese real estate law, where real property is normally not bought and sold (most of it being state-owned); use rights to the property are traded instead. While in practice this makes little real difference, the difference of terminology reveals the Chinese legal system's communist heritage.