Introduction to Law

• Law is a system of rules recognized and enforced by a country or community to regulate its members' actions, with penalties for violations.

Natural Law

• Natural Law is a system of rights/justice common to all humans, derived from nature, not societal rules or laws.

Positivist Law

• Positivist Law involves man-made laws governing and resolving civil disputes.

Legal Sources

• Codified Standards are legislations or acts of parliament, like the Napoleonic Code or the Civil Code of the Netherlands.
• Case Law is law based on past examples, such as Miliangos v George Frank Ltd or Brown v. Board of Education.
• Executive regulation consists of rules and directives issued by the executive branch to enforce laws (e.g., Coup d'etat, U.S. Presidential Executive Orders).
• Application of law refers to unconventional or indirect ways laws are interpreted or enforced, like military tribunals or revolutionary courts.
• Doctrine involves legal principles/theories from scholarly work or court rulings, such as the Monroe Doctrine or Doctrine of Precedent (Stare Decisis).
• Religious writings and teachings are laws from sacred texts or religious authorities, like Sharia Law (Quran) or Canon Law (Bible).
• Customs are long-standing traditions acquiring legal force over time, for example, common law marriage or customary international law.
• Principles are fundamental legal ideas guiding judicial reasoning and legislation, such as the presumption of innocence and equality before the law.

Legal Systems

• A Legal System is a set of legal rules expressed in legal sources with a specific hierarchy, usually defined by national borders.
• Examples of Legal Systems include those of the Netherlands, Spain, India, and the US.

Legal Families

• Legal Families are clusters of legal systems sharing similar basic characteristics, including the hierarchy of legal sources.
• Examples include the common law family and traditional law family.

Comparison of Legal Families

• Civil Law primarily uses codified standards as its primary source and has a judicial branch separated from the legislative and executive. The judges are independent legal professionals, found in Continental Europe (including the NL), Turkey, and Russia. Its origin is Roman law from the Roman Empire.
• Common Law primarily uses case law, and sometimes no constitution, as its primary source, its judicial branch is separated from the legislative and executive. Its judges are independent legal professionals, found in the UK, the US, the Commonwealth, and Hong Kong, and originates from Medieval England.
• Socialist Law relies on codified standards as well as application by the executive and its judicial branch is not fully separated from the legislative and executive. Its judges are party officials and is found in the Soviet Union and China, originating from Marxism and Soviet Law.
• Religious Law relies on religious teachings and writings as its primary source, its judicial branch may be more or less separated from legislative and executive and may require religious training. It is found in countries such as Iran, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
• Traditional Law relies on custom and its judicial branch may be more or less separated from legislative and executive. Its leaders may be tribal chiefs, found in places such as Borneo and Nigeria.

Public and Private Law

• Public Law involves the state exercising its power.
• Private Law involves private parties resolving disputes.

Aspects of Public and Private Law

• Public Law governs the relationship between individuals and the state (or between different state entities) with key focuses concerned with government actions, public policy, and state authority. Its enforcement is carried out by the state (e.g., police, regulatory agencies) and examples include criminal law and constitutional law.
• Private Law regulates disputes between private individuals or organizations, its key focus deals with private rights, obligations, and contracts. Its enforcement is carried out through civil courts (e.g., lawsuits for breach of contract) and its examples include contract law and tort law.

National and International Law

• National Law governs within a single country.
• International Law regulates relations between states, international organizations, and individuals across borders.

Aspects of National and International Law

• National Law is defined as laws which govern within a single country (state or federal) applies only to one nation’s territory and citizens, with its sources including a constitution, statutes (Acts of Parliament/Congress), case Law (Judicial Precedents) and executive regulations. It is enforced by national courts, police, and government agencies and involves subjects such as individuals, corporations, and government entities within the country with disputes handled by national courts.
• International Law encompasses rules that regulate relations between states, international organizations, and individuals across borders and binds multiple countries through treaties, customs, and agreements, and its sources include treaties (e.g., UN Charter), Customary International Law, general Principles of Law and Judicial Decisions (e.g., ICJ rulings). It lacks a centralized enforcement body; relies on diplomacy, sanctions, or international courts and typically involves states, international organizations (e.g., UN, WTO), and sometimes individuals (e.g., human rights cases) with dispute resolution resolved through negotiation, arbitration, or international tribunals.

International Private and Public Law

• International Private Law resolves legal disputes involving private parties across borders.
• International Public Law governs relations between states and international entities.

Aspects of International Private and Public Law

• International Private Law is the resolution of legal disputes involving private parties across borders (individuals, corporations) with the purpose to determine which national law applies in cross-border private disputes (e.g., contracts, marriage). Its key subjects involves individuals, businesses, NGOs, with sources of national laws (e.g., EU’s Rome Regulations) and treaties (e.g., Hague Conventions on private matters). It decides which country’s courts/laws govern a dispute (e.g., a Franco-German contract dispute) and is enforced through national courts.
• International Public Law governs relations between states and international entities and's purpose is to regulate state behavior, diplomacy, war, treaties, and global issues. Its key subjects are states, international organizations (UN, WTO), and sometimes individuals (human rights) with sources of treaties (UN Charter), customary international law, and ICJ rulings. It addresses state obligations (e.g., territorial disputes, human rights violations) and relies on state compliance, ICJ rulings, or sanctions for enforcement.

Supranational Law

• Supranational law consists of rules created by international organizations with authority above individual nations.
• Supranational laws override national laws, and citizens/companies can use them in national courts.
• Additionally, supranational bodies can impose penalties on non-compliant states.

Branches of Law

• Branches of law are sets of legal rules defined by the nature of the relationships they regulate.
• Examples of branches of law include constitutional, criminal, administrative, civil, and procedural law.

Constitutional Law

• Constitutional Law creates a government, controls power, and protects people’s rights.

Attribution of Power

• Federal States share power/sovereignty constitutionally between national/federal government and units/states where parts may have their own laws.
• Unitary States vest power/sovereignty in the national government, which might transfer some to territorial units.

Government System

• Democracy vests power in the people who elect the government.
• Autocracy vests power in an individual/group whose decisions aren't limited by law/people.

Democracy - Attribution of Power

• Trias politica separates key powers and vests them in different institutions (Legislature, Administration, Judiciary).
• Rule of law states that all persons/institutions, including the state itself, are subject to the law.

Freedoms and Rights

• Constitutional law defines key rights and freedoms that the state respects.
• The constitutional law establishes key rights and freedoms, relevant for business, like the Freedom of association, freedom of speech, right for an equal treatment.