Civil Law and Criminal Law

CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW

The law often has been de­scribed as “a seamless web” in which principles are hope­lessly and end­lessly inter­twined. However, there are ways to classify legal subjects that ad­vance understanding of the law and legal principles.

Public LawandPrivate Law

Public lawincludes consti­tutional law, administrative law and criminal law.

Constitutional lawinvolves the interpretation and applica­tion of either the federal or a state constitu­tion.

Adminis­trative lawdescribes the legal principles that apply to gov­ernment agencies, bureaus, boards, and commissions.

Criminal lawencompasses all legal aspects of crime. In each of these areas, society, or “the people”, are directly in­volved in the issues. Their interests are repre­sented by a governmental agency, officer, or offi­cial whose obligation is to see that justice is accomplished and the ends of society achieved.

Public law provides a ma­jor portion of the legal envi­ronment of business.

Private lawencompasses those legal problems and rela­tionships that exist between individuals, as contrasted with those in which society is in­volved. Private law is traditionally separated into the law of con­tracts, the law of torts, and the law of property. Contract law addresses agreements between two par­ties. Tort law addresses wrongs other than a breach of con­tract, by which one party in­jures another. Property law deals with all aspects of ownership and pos­session of both tangible things and intangible rights.

Our whole economic sys­tem is based upon the rights of individuals to acquire and use private property

Subdivision of the classifi­cations of legal subjects:

The Law of Contracts: sales of goods, commercial paper, secured transactions,bank deposits and collections, creditor’s rights, consumer protection

The Law of Torts: assault and battery, slander and libel, invasion of privacy, interference with contracts, negligence, conversion, products liability

The Law of Property: real property, personal property, leases, bailments, wills, trusts and estates, mortgages.

Civil Law and Criminal Law

Another means of classifying the law is to divide it into civil law and crimi­nal law. For administrative purposes, courts usually separate criminal actions from all other lawsuits. Civil cases may include suits for breach of contract or tort cases, such as suits for personal injuries. Typically, they involve a re­quest for damages or other ap­propriate relief that does not in­volve punishment of the wrong­doer.

Substantive Law and Procedural Law

Another important classification or distinction in law is between substance and procedure.

Sub­stantive law defines the legal re­lationship of people with other people or between them and the state. Thus, the rules of con­tract law are substantive.

Procedural law deals with the method and means by which substantive law is made and administered. In other words, substantive rules of law define rights and du­ties, while procedural rules of law provide the machinery for enforc­ing those rights and duties. Every social institution has rules by which it conducts its affairs, or “proceeds”. Rules of law relating to legislative proce­dure govern the steps that must be taken for a statute to be valid – that all bills be read to the assem­bly twice before voting, for exam­ple. Failure to follow the rules of procedure might void the leg­islature’s attempt to create rights or duties. Judicial procedures involve the conduct of lawsuits and appeals and the enforcement of judgments. The rules for conducting civil trials are differ­ent from those for criminal trials. For example, each party may call the other party to the witness stand for cross-examination in a civil trial, but the defendant may not be required to testify in a criminal case. Procedural problems some­times arise concerning papers filed in lawsuits, the admis­sion of evi­dence, and various other tech­niques involved in trying the case. They are the rule’s of the game.

SOURCES OF LAW

The total body of law by which we are governed comes from four basic sources:

Constitutions

Legislation

Judicial decisions

The rules, regulations, and deci­sions of administrative agencies, called administrative law.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 710