Not just in France. Most of Europe and the Americas use a civil law system, except for former British colonies.[1] This includes many nations that gave women the right to vote before the US did. And as for the death penalty, well, the US still has that.[2] So your examples haven't convinced me that civil law is slow to adapt.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#/media/File:Map_of_...

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Higgs