Law in the state of Louisiana is based on a more diverse set of sources than the laws of the other 49 states of the United States. Private law—that is, substantive law between private sector parties, principally contracts and torts—has a civil law character, based on French and Spanish codes and ultimately Roman law, with some common law influences. Louisiana's criminal law largely rests on American common law. Louisiana's administrative law is generally similar to the administrative law of the federal government and other states. Louisiana's procedural 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.
Sources
Legislation
The Louisiana Revised Statutes (R.S.) contain a very significant amount of legislation, arranged in titles or codes. Apart from this, the Louisiana Civil Code forms the core of private law, the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (C.C.P.) governs civil procedure, the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure (C.Cr.P.) governs criminal procedure, the Louisiana Code of Evidence governs the law of evidence, the Criminal Code (CrC) governs criminal law, the Louisiana Children's Code (Ch.C.) governs family law and juvenile adjudication, the Louisiana Insurance Code governs governs insurance law including property damage claims.
Regulations
The Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC) contains the compilation of rules and regulations (delegated legislation) adopted by state agencies. The Louisiana Register is the monthly published official journal which provides access to the certified regulations and legal notices issued by the executive branch of the state government.
Judicial opinions
Since 1972, there is no longer an official case reporter and courts themselves decide which decisions are published. Decisions of the Louisiana Supreme Court and Louisiana Court of Appeal are available in paper and via the Internet, while trial court decisions are not published. The Code of Civil Procedure provides for the posting of unpublished opinions of the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal on the Internet and provides that such opinions may be cited as authority. Slip opinions are available from the courts, while advance sheets and bound volumes of the case reports are contained in the Louisiana Cases (a Louisiana-specific version of the Southern Reporter).
Local ordinances
The Louisiana 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, 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. A number of subjects are regulated, restricted, and preempted by state law as the subject of local ordinances.
History
In 1664, under the royal charter creating the French East India Company, the Custom of Paris became the primary law in New France, supplemented with royal ordinances, e.g. the "Code Louis", consisting of the 1667 ordinance on civil procedure and 1670 ordinance on criminal procedure; the 1673 "Code Savary" on trade; and the 1685 Code noir on slavery. 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 the Siete Partidas. Commercial law was governed by the Ordinances of Bilbao. Other laws included: Leyes de Toro (1505), Fuero de Real, and the Fuero Juzgo.