What Does Hobbes Define as Civil Law?

Abstract

In his works, Hobbes refers to the civil law as the commands of a sovereign, and regards it as the statute law which is much superior to Common Law. Those who make a study of Hobbes's legal theory take it for granted taht the civil law is the commands of the sovereign. R. Peters, one of them, complain that "command' is too strong a word, which suggestes the picutre of a sergeant-major rather than of a judge or a legislator (Hobbes ; 220).' And thus those don't clarify the question of what is Hobbes's civil law. We should consider this question. hat is Hobbes's civil law? To be precise, what does Hobbes define as the civil law? Hobbes's division of law made a very good beginning in clarifyig this question. In Leviathan, he states that 'of Humane positive lawes, some are Distributive, some Penal (330).' In De Cive, he stresses that distributive and penal' are not too several species of the laws, but two parts of the same law (159).' According to these statements of Hobbes's, the law that contains " distribute and penal" is what is called criminal law. Consequently, Hobbes must have defined the criminal law as the civil law.