Where did legal system originate from?

Answer 1

First of all, there is no single "legal system." Each country has its own legal system, with its own history.

For instance, the modern American legal system is an amalgamation of several legal systems - it does not have a single place or time of origin. Here are a few of the times and places in history which we might say the legal system "originated."

Much of the legal system is governed by the US Constitution, which was drafted in 1787 in Philadelphia. The constitution was itself based on earlier English legal documents, such as the Magna Carta, which was signed in 1215, in Runnymeade, near London, England. Even this was preceded by still earlier documents of legal rights, such as the Law of Twelve Tables, which formed the foundation of Roman law in 449 B.C. The modern legal system also incorporates elements of democracy drawn from ancient Athens, Greece, circa 500 B.C.

Other countries have legal systems with equally ancient origin. China, for instance, began to codify a set of laws and legal systems at least as far back as 536 B.C. There is also evidence of laws being in place in China hundreds or even thousands of years before this.