EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 An Introduction to Law PDF

Emergency Health Sciences (EHS) Course EHS232 Law, Ethics, and Professionalism Chapter 1: Introduction to Legal System Lesson 1.1: An Introduction to Law 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 1 Learning Outcome: CLO...

Emergency Health Sciences (EHS) Course EHS232 Law, Ethics, and Professionalism Chapter 1: Introduction to Legal System Lesson 1.1: An Introduction to Law 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 1 Learning Outcome: CLO 1: Explain the legal status and requirements of medical care in the United Arab Emirates. Performance Indicators: 1. Define the term ‘Law’ and describe its role in society. 2. Differentiate between different types of General Law and Private Law. 3. Understand the Islamic Sharia law as principal source of law in the UAE. 4. Compare between Common law and Civil law legal systems. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 2  Vocabulary A Law The Sunnah General Law Ijma Constitutional Law Al Qiyas Administrative Law Legal System Criminal Law Common Legal System Felony Civil Legal System Misdemeanour Private Law Civil Law Case Law 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 3 What is a Law? There is a set of definitions of law which solidly agreed that a Law is a rule of conduct and system of regulations or processes that are designed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a legitimate authority. In other words, laws are system of principles by which individuals in a society deal with their disputes, disagreements and problems, looking for settling or solving them without resorting to force. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 4 What is a Law? Laws govern the relationships between individuals and organizations and between these two parties and the government. They are created to make sure that everyone in a society understands their duties, or obligations and their rights. Which means people in any community should know what is expected from them and what they expect from others in return. Governments legislate laws to keep society functioning efficiently and to control behavior that could threaten public safety. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 5 Why it is Important for the Paramedic to Understand Law and Legal systems?  It makes paramedics familiar with all vocabularies and terms that help them understand the concepts, ideas and structure of the law.  It makes paramedics knowledgeable of their legal responsibilities and helps them avoid legal entanglements that can threaten their ability to earn a living as a successful healthcare professional.  Paramedics will be aware of the limit of their practice and the implications of their actions and behaviours.  It protects the paramedics, patients, co-workers, and facilities.  It ensures paramedics ethical behaviour with patient and in workplace. They will be encouraged to function at the highest possible professional level and provide quality care for their patients, build positive relationships with co-workers and perform with professional manner in workplace. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 6 Areas of Law After laws are created, they are classified by type into two main areas or divisions, General Law and Private Law. General law is the term used to describe the laws that cover administration, constitutional and criminal acts (George D. Pozgar (2020)). Private Law, organizes the rights and duties between private individuals and organizations. Civil Law is one of the main subdivisions of private law. Criminal and Civil laws are most likely to pertain to healthcare practitioners. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 7 General Law General law is the body of law which governs the exercise of powers of the government and public authorities. It controls the actions between individuals and the government. General law consists of many regulations designed to fulfill societal objectives by obliging individuals and organizations to adopt a specific action in their activities and commitments. There are three main subdivisions of General law: - Constitutional law - Administrative law - Criminal law 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 8 Subdivisions of General law  Constitutional Law is The Law that derives from the constitution of the country.  Administrative Law Administrative Law is the body of law that governs the functions, organization and powers of the administrative agencies of the government. It is the branch of law that controls the administrative operations of the government. For example, laws related to regulation of courts, trade, economy, public service, environmental issues. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 9 Subdivisions of General law  Criminal Law A crime is an offense and illegal act against the country or sovereignty, committed or omitted, in violation of general law forbidding or commanding it. In other words, it is behavior that unjustifiably and inexcusability causes or threatens harms to individual(s) or public interests. The police act on behalf of the citizens of the State and bring criminal cases to court. The court considers a crime is committed, if two essential elements are present, 1. The action is considered an offence. 2. There was an intention to carry out the act. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 10  Subdivisions of General law  Criminal Law Criminal law is the body that concerns with maintaining justice, public order, safety and individual’s protection. This kind of law is often punitive in nature, meaning that it uses punishment against individuals and public bodies that violate the law as deterrent to crime by limitation on their freedom or something similar (e.g. community services). It also rehabilitates the criminal for return to society. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 11  Subdivisions of General law  Criminal Law A criminal act may be categorized as a felony or a misdemeanor.  A felony is a crime punishable by death or by imprisonment is a prison for more than one year. Some examples of felony include, abuse, illegal drug dealing, murder or attempted murder, practicing medicine without license, fraud, mayhem, and rape.  A misdemeanor is less serious crime than felony. It is punishable by fines or imprisonment in a facility rather than prison for one year or less. Examples of misdemeanor include some traffic violations, thefts under certain amount of money, and disturbing the peace. More details about criminal liability for healthcare professionals and paramedics will be discussed later. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 12 Private Law The Private Law is the body that concerns with the recognition and enforcement of the rights and duties of and between private individuals and organizations (George D. Pozgar (2020)). Civil Law is one of the main subdivisions of the private law. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 13  Civil Law Civil law characterizes the rights and duties of people and private bodies, in their relationship among the either. Under civil law, a person can sue another person, business, or the government. Civil disputes often arise over issues of contract violation, slander, libel, trespassing, product liability, or automobile accident. Many civil suits involve family matters such as divorce, child support, and child custody. Court judgment in civil cases often require the payment of a sum of money to the injured party. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 14  Civil Law In civil law, an action can be brought by one person against another. The person who brings the case to the court is known as the ‘Plaintiff’ while the other party is called the ‘Respondent’. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 15  Civil Law There are two basic subdivisions of liability in civil law, Tort and Contract. A Tort action is a wrongful civil conduct that causes one party to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act and compensating the injured person. You will learn more about Tort in future lessons. A contract is a legally binding agreement which governs the rights and duties of the parties to the agreement. A Contract action includes a claim by one party that another party did not fulfill the obligation and has breached the agreement. The law in this case orders that the injured party to be granted an appropriate compensation. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 16 Activity 1.1 I. Answer the following question. “It is believed that the areas of General and Private Law often overlap in their attempt to achieve the purpose of regulating the conduct of the individuals if the society”. 1. Use a road accident as an example to criticize and explain the above statement. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 17  Sources of Law Sources of law are the origins of laws. The term "source of law" may sometimes refers to the sovereign or to the seat of power from which the law derives its validity. Source of law Description The The Constitution is a set of fundamental ground rules setting out the powers of the different Constitution branches of government (i.e. executive, legislative and judicial) and how these entities operate and interrelate. The Constitution may also set out basic principles, such as fundamental freedoms and rights. The United Arab Emirates has written constitutions where these fundamental rules can be easily identified. Legislative Legislation usually takes priority over sources of law other than the Constitution. There may Enactment be more than one legislative body in a country such as the federal and local authorities. Judicial In some countries, judicial decisions are authoritative and develop into a source of law Decisions known as “Case Law”. Case law may extend the application of legislation and is deemed to form part of the law. Treaties Laws made by a regional or world grouping for example, the laws of the trade treaties, rules of the World Health Organization and bilateral treaties. Other sources Some countries such as the UAE, Islam is the official religion of the country and the Islamic of law might Sharia is the main source of legislation. be religious Table 1.1: Common sources of law in most countries in the world. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 18 Sources of Law in the United Arab Emirates - According to (Article 7) in the UAE Constitution of 1971 with amendments through 2009, the Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation in the UAE. - Followed by the laws of the Constitution, which laid down the basic rules on the judiciary and courts in the country. - Most codified legislations in the UAE are a mixture between Islamic Sharia laws and other Civil laws. - There is no single codification that brings together all the provisions relating to the law, but nevertheless the civil law remains the main source of the rules of the law. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 19 Activity 1.2 I. Answer the following question(s): 1. Use the link below to access to official portal of UAE government https://www.government.ae/en/about-the-uae/the-constitution-of-the-uae Read about the UAE constitution then prepare a poster that summarizes facts about the Constitution. Share with your class after reviewing it with your teacher. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 20 Islamic Sharia Law The Islamic law is embodied in the sharia. Sharia is an Arabic word meaning" the right path". All aspects of a Muslim's life are governed by Sharia. Source of Description Sharia Law The Holy Qu'ran is the principal source, being the word of The Holy Qu'ran Allah. The Sunnah The verbal teachings of Prophet Mohammed. A agreement among religious scholars regarding solutions Al Ijma to matters not covered in the Koran or the Sunnah. Al Qiyas is applied in the absence of a basis for a clear Al Qiyas ( Analogous) decision and which is drawn in conjunction with the three other sources of law. Table 1.2: Sources of Sharia Law. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 21 Legal Systems Legal system refers to a process or procedure for interpreting, enforcing and applying the law. The purpose of a legal system is to provide a systematic, orderly, and predictable mechanism for resolving disagreements. There are two main types of legal system in the world, with most countries adopting features from one or other into their own legal systems, Common law system and Civil law system. The legal system should have core set of principles that are fundamental to any legal system, including considerations such as procedural fairness, transparency, equality before the law, freedom from bias and the right to be heard. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 22 Legal Systems, Cont… Common Law System The term Common Law refers to the body of principles that have evolved and expanded from judicial decisions of courts. In common law systems, judicial decisions are binding. For example, in cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past precedential decisions of relevant courts, and makes the principles of those past cases as applicable to the current facts. The United States of America and England are examples of countries that apply common law jurisdictions. However, common law is not recognized or adopted in the United Arab Emirates. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 23 Legal Systems, Cont… Civil Law System Civil law systems place much less emphasis on precedent than they do on the codification of the law. Civil law systems rely on written laws that are emanating from federal and local legislative bodies or the constitution. In a civil law system, a judge merely establishes the facts of a case and applies remedies found in the codified law. Civil law system is the legal system adopted by the UAE. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 24 Activity 1.3 I. Answer the following question: 1. Draw a mind map to compare and contrast between sources of law, different types of laws and legal systems. 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 25 Lesson 1.1 Review I. Answer the following questions: 1. Define the term Law. 2. Describe the rule of law in societies. 3. Why it is important for paramedics to understand law and legal system? 4. What is meant by the term ‘Legal System’. Give examples. 5. At what circumstances ‘Al Qiyas’ is used as source of legislation in Islamic law? 6. Differentiate between a felony and a misdemeanor. 7. Compare between Civil law and Criminal law. II. Fill in the blank using either the term (Criminal) or (Civil) laws: 8. The written law that says murder is a crime is an example of _______ law. 9. _______ law involves crimes against the state. 10. _______ law involves wrongful acts against persons. 11. _______ law will be applied if a healthcare professional practiced his job without license. 12. _______ law may involve one person (patient) suing another (paramedic). 8/28/2023 EHS232-Yr2-T2-Ch1 26 References 8/28/2023 Grade 11 – Term 1 – Chapter 3 – Lesson 3.1 27