   #copyright

Law

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Law

   Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that
   underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). Her blindfold
   symbolises equality under the law through impartiality towards its
   subjects, the weighing scales represent the balancing of people's
   interests under the law, and her sword denotes the law's force of
   reason and the power of the sovereign to enforce the law.
   Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that
   underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). Her blindfold
   symbolises equality under the law through impartiality towards its
   subjects, the weighing scales represent the balancing of people's
   interests under the law, and her sword denotes the law's force of
   reason and the power of the sovereign to enforce the law.

   Law is a system of rules usually enforced through a set of
   institutions. Law affects everyday life and society in a variety of
   ways. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to
   trading swaptions on a derivatives market. Property law defines rights
   and obligations related to buying, selling, or renting real property
   such as homes and buildings. Trust law applies to assets held for
   investment, such as pension funds. Tort law allows claims for
   compensation when someone or their property is harmed. But if the harm
   is criminalised, and the act is intentional, criminal law offers means
   to prosecute and punish the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a
   framework for creating laws, protecting people's human rights, and
   electing political representatives, while administrative law allows
   ordinary citizens to challenge the way governments exercise power.
   International law regulates affairs between sovereign nation-states in
   everything from trade to the environment to military action. "The rule
   of law", wrote the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in 350 BC, "is
   better than the rule of any individual."

   Legal systems around the world elaborate legal rights and
   responsibilities in different ways. A basic distinction is made between
   civil law jurisdictions and systems using common law. Some countries
   base their law on religious scripts. Scholars investigate the nature of
   law through many perspectives, including legal history and philosophy,
   or social sciences such as economics and sociology. The study of law
   raises important questions about equality, fairness and justice, which
   are not always simple. "In its majestic equality", said the author
   Anatole France in 1894, "the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep
   under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." The most
   important institutions for law are the judiciary, the legislature, the
   executive, its bureaucracy, the military and police, the legal
   profession and civil society.

Legal subjects

   Though all legal systems deal usually with the same or similar issues,
   different countries often categorise and name legal subjects in
   different ways. Quite common is the distinction between " public law"
   subjects, which relate closely to the state (including constitutional,
   administrative and criminal law), and " private law" subjects
   (including contract, tort, property). In civil law systems, contract
   and tort fall under a general law of obligations and trusts law is
   dealt with under statutory regimes or international conventions.
   International, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law,
   contract, tort, property law and trusts are regarded as the
   "traditional core subjects", although there are many further
   disciplines which might be of greater practical importance.

International law

   Providing a constitution for public international law, the United
   Nations was conceived during World War II.
   Providing a constitution for public international law, the United
   Nations was conceived during World War II.

   In a global economy, law is globalising too. International law can
   refer to three things: public international law, private international
   law or conflict of laws and the law of supranational organisations.
     * Public international law concerns relationships between sovereign
       nations. It has a special status as law because there is no
       international police force, and courts lack the capacity to
       penalise disobedience. The sources for public international law to
       develop are custom, practice and treaties between sovereign
       nations. The United Nations, founded under the UN Charter and the
       Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is the most important
       international organisation, established after the Treaty of
       Versailles's failure and World War II. Other international
       agreements, like the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war, and
       international bodies such as the International Court of Justice,
       International Labour Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, or
       the International Monetary Fund, also form a growing part of public
       international law.

     * Conflict of laws (or "private international law" in civil law
       countries) concerns which jurisdiction a legal dispute between
       private parties should be heard in and which jurisdiction's law
       should be applied. Today, businesses are increasingly capable of
       shifting capital and labour supply chains across borders, as well
       as trading with overseas businesses. This increases the number of
       disputes outside a unified legal framework and the enforceability
       of standard practices. Increasing numbers of businesses opt for
       commercial arbitration under the New York Convention 1958.

     * European Union law is the first and only example of a supranational
       legal framework. However, given increasing global economic
       integration, many regional agreements—especially the South American
       Community of Nations—are on track to follow the same model. In the
       EU, sovereign nations have pooled their authority through a system
       of courts and political institutions. They have the ability to
       enforce legal norms against and for member states and citizens, in
       a way that public international law does not. As the European Court
       of Justice said in 1962, European Union law constitutes "a new
       legal order of international law" for the mutual social and
       economic benefit of the member states.

Constitutional and administrative law

   The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, whose
   principles still have constitutional value
   The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, whose
   principles still have constitutional value

   Constitutional and administrative law govern the affairs of the state.
   Constitutional law concerns both the relationships between the
   executive, legislature and judiciary and the human rights or civil
   liberties of individuals against the state. Most jurisdictions, like
   the United States and France, have a single codified constitution, with
   a Bill of Rights. A few, like the United Kingdom, have no such
   document; in those jurisdictions the constitution is composed of
   statute, case law and convention. A case named Entick v. Carrington
   illustrates a constitutional principle deriving from the common law. Mr
   Entick's house was searched and ransacked by Sheriff Carrington. When
   Mr Entick complained in court, Sheriff Carrington argued that a warrant
   from a Government minister, the Earl of Halifax, was valid authority.
   However, there was no written statutory provision or court authority.
   The leading judge, Lord Camden, stated that,

     "The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure
     their property. That right is preserved sacred and incommunicable in
     all instances, where it has not been taken away or abridged by some
     public law for the good of the whole… If no excuse can be found or
     produced, the silence of the books is an authority against the
     defendant, and the plaintiff must have judgment."

   The fundamental constitutional principle, inspired by John Locke, is
   that the individual can do anything but that which is forbidden by law,
   and the state may do nothing but that which is authorised by law.
   Administrative law is the chief method for people to hold state bodies
   to account. People can apply for judicial review of actions or
   decisions by local councils, public services or government ministries,
   to ensure that they comply with the law. The first specialist
   administrative court was the Conseil d'État set up in 1799, as Napoleon
   assumed power in France.

Criminal law

   A depiction of a 1600s criminal trial, for witchcraft in Salem
   A depiction of a 1600s criminal trial, for witchcraft in Salem

   Criminal law is the body of law that defines criminal offences and the
   penalties for convicted offenders. Apprehending, charging, and trying
   suspected offenders is regulated by the law of criminal procedure. In
   every jurisdiction, a crime is committed where two elements are
   fulfilled. First, the criminal must have the requisite malicious intent
   to do a criminal act, or mens rea (guilty mind). Second, he must commit
   the criminal act, or actus reus (guilty act). Examples of different
   kinds of crime include murder, assault, fraud or theft. In exceptional
   circumstances, defences can exist to some crimes, such as killing in
   self defence, or pleading insanity. Another example is in the 19th
   century English case of R v. Dudley and Stephens, which tested a
   defence of " necessity". The Mignotte, sailing from Southampton to
   Sydney, sank. Three crew members and a cabin boy were stranded on a
   raft. They were starving and the cabin boy close to death. Driven to
   extreme hunger, the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The crew
   survived and were rescued, but put on trial for murder. They argued it
   was necessary to kill the cabin boy to preserve their own lives. Lord
   Coleridge, expressing immense disapproval, ruled, "to preserve one's
   life is generally speaking a duty, but it may be the plainest and the
   highest duty to sacrifice it." The men were sentenced to hang, but
   public opinion, especially among seafarers, was outraged and
   overwhelmingly supportive of the crew's right to preserve their own
   lives. In the end, the Crown commuted their sentences to six months.

   Criminal law offences are viewed as offences against not just
   individual victims, but the community as well. The state, usually with
   the help of police, takes the lead in prosecution, which is why in
   common law countries cases are cited as "The People v. …" or "R. (for
   Rex or Regina) v. …" Also, lay juries are often used to determine the
   guilt of defendants on points of fact: juries cannot change legal
   rules. Some developed countries still have capital punishment and
   corporal punishment for criminal activity, but the normal punishment
   for a crime will be imprisonment, fines, state supervision (such as
   probation), or community service. Modern criminal law has been affected
   considerably by the social sciences, especially with respect to
   sentencing, legal research, legislation, and rehabilitation. On the
   international field, 104 countries have signed the enabling treaty for
   the International Criminal Court, which was established to try people
   for crimes against humanity.

Contract

   The Carbolic Smoke Ball offer, which bankrupted the Co. because it
   could not fulfill the terms it advertised
   The Carbolic Smoke Ball offer, which bankrupted the Co. because it
   could not fulfill the terms it advertised

   Contract is based on the Latin phrase pacta sunt servanda (agreements
   must be kept). Contracts can be simple everyday buying and selling or
   complex multi-party agreements. They can be made orally (e.g. buying a
   newspaper) or in writing (e.g. signing a contract of employment).
   Sometimes formalities, such as writing the contract down or having it
   witnessed, are required for the contract to take effect (e.g. when
   buying a house).

   In common law jurisdictions, there are three key elements to the
   creation of a contract. These are offer and acceptance, consideration
   and an intention to create legal relations. For example, in Carlill v.
   Carbolic Smoke Ball Company a medical firm advertised that its new
   wonder drug, the smokeball, would cure people's flu, and if it did not,
   buyers would get £100. Many people sued for their £100 when the drug
   did not work. Fearing bankruptcy, Carbolic argued the advert was not to
   be taken as a serious, legally binding offer. It was merely an
   invitation to treat, or mere puff, a gimmick. But the court of appeal
   held that to a reasonable man Carbolic had made a serious offer. People
   had given good "consideration" for it by going to the "distinct
   inconvenience" of using a faulty product. "Read the advertisement how
   you will, and twist it about as you will", said Lord Justice Lindley,
   "here is a distinct promise expressed in language which is perfectly
   unmistakable".

   "Consideration" means all parties to a contract must exchange something
   of value to be able to enforce it. Some common law systems, like
   Australia, are moving away from consideration as a requirement for a
   contract. The concept of estoppel or culpa in contrahendo can be used
   to create obligations during pre-contractual negotiations. In civil law
   jurisdictions, consideration is not a requirement for a contract at
   all. In France, an ordinary contract is said to form simply on the
   basis of a "meeting of the minds" or a "concurrence of wills". Germany
   has a special approach to contracts, which ties into property law.
   Their 'abstraction principle' (Abstraktionsprinzip) means that the
   personal obligation of contract forms separately from the title of
   property being conferred. When contracts are invalidated for some
   reason (e.g. a car buyer is so drunk that he lacks legal capacity to
   contract) the contractual obligation to pay can be invalidated
   separately from the proprietary title of the car. Unjust enrichment
   law, rather than contract law, is then used to restore title to the
   rightful owner.

Tort

   The "McLibel" two were involved in the longest running case in UK
   history for publishing a pamphlet criticising McDonald's restaurants
   The " McLibel" two were involved in the longest running case in UK
   history for publishing a pamphlet criticising McDonald's restaurants

   Torts, sometimes called delicts, are civil wrongs. To have acted
   tortiously, one must have breached a duty to another person, or
   infringed some pre-existing legal right. A simple example might be
   accidentally hitting someone with a cricket ball. Under negligence law,
   the most common form of tort, the injured party can make a claim
   against the party responsible for the injury. The principles of
   negligence are illustrated by Donoghue v. Stevenson. Mrs Donoghue
   ordered an opaque bottle of ginger beer in a café in Paisley. Having
   consumed half of it, she poured the remainder into a tumbler. The
   decomposing remains of a dead snail floated out. She fell ill and sued
   the manufacturer for carelessly allowing the drink to be contaminated.
   The House of Lords decided that the manufacturer was liable for Mrs
   Donoghue's illness. Lord Atkin took a distinctly moral approach, and
   said,

     "The liability for negligence… is no doubt based upon a general
     public sentiment of moral wrongdoing for which the offender must
     pay… The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law,
     you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question, Who
     is my neighbour? receives a restricted reply. You must take
     reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably
     foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour."

   This became the basis for the four principles of negligence; (1) Mr
   Stevenson owed Mrs Donoghue a duty of care to provide safe drinks (2)
   he breached his duty of care (3) the harm would not have occurred but
   for his breach and (4) his act was the proximate cause, or not too
   remote a consequence, of her harm. Another example of tort might be a
   neighbour making excessively loud noises with machinery on his
   property. Under a nuisance claim the noise could be stopped. Torts can
   also involve intentional acts, such as assault, battery or trespass. A
   better known tort is defamation, which occurs, for example, when a
   newspaper makes unsupportable allegations that damage a politician's
   reputation. More infamous are economic torts, which form the basis of
   labour law in some countries by making trade unions liable for strikes,
   when statute does not provide immunity.

Property law

   A painting of the South Sea Bubble, one of the world's first ever
   speculations and crashes, led to strict regulation on share trading
   A painting of the South Sea Bubble, one of the world's first ever
   speculations and crashes, led to strict regulation on share trading

   Property law governs everything that people call 'theirs'. Real
   property, sometimes called 'real estate' refers to ownership of land
   and things attached to it. Personal property, refers to everything
   else; movable objects, such as computers and sandwiches, or intangible
   rights, such as stocks and shares. A right 'in rem' is a right to a
   specific piece of property. If an individual loses his computer and
   another finds it and it changes hands, a right in rem gives the
   individual the ability to take the computer from whoever has it. A
   right 'in personam' however is a right against one specific individual
   for something equivalent to the property in question. If an individual
   loses his computer and it passes hands, the right in personam allows
   the individual to claim the price of the computer from the thief (but
   not the actual computer, as this might now belong to someone else.) The
   classic civil law approach to property, propounded by Friedrich Carl
   von Savigny, is that it is a right good against the world. This
   contrasts to an obligation, like a contract or tort, which is a right
   good between individuals. Preferred in common law jurisdictions is an
   idea closer to an obligation; that the person who can show the best
   claim to a piece of property, against any contesting party, is the
   owner. The idea of property raises important philosophical and
   political issues. John Locke famously argued that our "lives, liberties
   and estates" are our property because we own our bodies and mix our
   labour with our surroundings. The idea of privately owned property is
   still contentious. French philosopher Pierre Proudhon once famously
   wrote, "property is theft".

   Land law forms the basis for most kinds of property law, and is the
   most complex. It concerns mortgages, rental agreements, licences,
   covenants, easements and the statutory systems for registration of
   land. Regulations on the use of personal property fall under
   intellectual property, company law, trusts and commercial law.

Trusts and equity

   The Court of Chancery, London, early 19th century
   The Court of Chancery, London, early 19th century

   Equity is a body of rules that developed in England separately from the
   "common law". The common law was administered by judges, whilst the
   Lord Chancellor, as the King's keeper of conscience, could overrule the
   judge made law if he thought it equitable to do so. This meant equity
   came to operate more through principles than rigid rules. For instance,
   whereas neither the common law nor civil law systems allow people to
   split the ownership from the control of one piece of property, equity
   allows this through an arrangement known as a 'trust'. 'Trustees'
   control property, whereas the 'beneficial' (or 'equitable') ownership
   of trust property is held by people known as 'beneficiaries'. Trustees
   owe duties to their beneficiaries to take good care of the trust. In
   the early case of Keech v. Sandford a child had inherited the lease on
   a market in Romford, London. Mr Sandford was entrusted to look after
   this property until the child matured. But before then, the lease
   expired. The landlord had (apparently) told Mr Sandford that he did not
   want the child to have the renewed lease. Yet the landlord was happy
   (apparently) to give Mr Sandford the opportunity of the lease instead.
   Mr Sandford took it. When the child (now Mr Keech) grew up, he sued Mr
   Sandford for the profit that he had been making by getting the market's
   lease. Mr Sandford was meant to be trusted, but he put himself in a
   position of conflict of interest. The Lord Chancellor, Lord King,
   agreed and ordered Mr Sandford should disgorge his profits. He wrote,

     "I very well see, if a trustee, on the refusal to renew, might have
     a lease to himself few trust-estates would be renewed… This may seem
     very hard, that the trustee is the only person of all mankind who
     might not have the lease; but it is very proper that the rule should
     be strictly pursued and not at all relaxed."

   Of course, Lord King LC was worried that trustees might exploit
   opportunities to use trust property for themselves instead of looking
   after it. Business speculators using trusts had just recently caused a
   stock market crash. Strict duties for trustees made their way into
   company law and were applied to directors and chief executive officers.
   Another example of a trustee's duty might be to invest property wisely
   or sell it. This is especially the case for pension funds, the most
   important form of trust, where investors are trustees for people's
   savings until retirement. But trusts can also be set up for charitable
   purposes, famous examples being the British Museum or the Rockefeller
   Foundation.

Further disciplines

   Law spreads far beyond the core subjects into virtually every area of
   life. Three categories are presented for convenience, though the
   subjects intertwine and flow into one another.

   Law and society

   A trade union protest by UNISON while on strike
   A trade union protest by UNISON while on strike
     * Labour law is the study of a tripartite industrial relationship
       between worker, employer and trade union. This involves collective
       bargaining regulation, and the right to strike. Individual
       employment law refers to workplace rights, such as health and
       safety or a minimum wage.
     * Human rights and human rights law are important fields to guarantee
       everyone basic freedoms and entitlements. These are laid down in
       codes such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
       European Convention on Human Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
     * Civil procedure and criminal procedure concern the rules that
       courts must follow as a trial and appeals proceed. Both concern
       everybody's right to a fair trial or hearing.
     * Evidence law involves which materials are admissible in courts for
       a case to be built.
     * Immigration law and nationality law concern the rights of
       foreigners to live and work in a nation-state that is not their own
       and to acquire or lose citizenship. Both also involve the right of
       asylum and the problem of stateless individuals.
     * Social security law refers to the rights people have to social
       insurance, such as jobseekers' allowances or housing benefits.
     * Family law covers marriage and divorce proceedings, the rights of
       children and of course the rights to property and money in the
       event of separation.

   Law and commerce

   The New York Stock Exchange trading floor
   The New York Stock Exchange trading floor
     * Commercial law covers complex contract and property law. The law of
       agency, insurance law, bills of exchange, insolvency and bankruptcy
       law and sales law are all important, and trace back to the mediæval
       Lex Mercatoria. The UK Sale of Goods Acts and the U.S. Uniform
       Commercial Code are examples of codified common law commercial
       principles.
     * Company law sprung from the law of trusts, on the principle of
       separating ownership of property and control. The law of the modern
       company began with the Joint Stock Companies Act, passed in the
       United Kingdom in 1865, which protected investors with limited
       liability and conferred separate legal personality.
     * Intellectual property deals with patents, trademarks and
       copyrights. These are intangible assets: the right to protect your
       invention from imitation, your brand name from appropriation, or a
       song you wrote from performance and plagiarism.
     * Restitution deals with the recovery of someone else's gain, rather
       than compensation for one's own loss.
     * Unjust enrichment is law covering a right to retrieve property from
       someone that has profited unjustly at another's expense.

   Law and regulation

   The New York Stock Exchange trading floor after the Wall Street Crash
   of 1929, before tougher banking regulation was introduced
   The New York Stock Exchange trading floor after the Wall Street Crash
   of 1929, before tougher banking regulation was introduced
     * Tax law is probably the most complicated and well-paid discipline,
       involving value added tax, corporate tax, income tax, and most
       importantly, lots of money.
     * Banking law and financial regulation set minimum standards on the
       amounts of capital banks must hold, and rules about best practice
       for investment. This is to insure against the risk of economic
       crises, such as the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
     * Regulated industries are attached to an important body of law, for
       instance water law, for the provision of public services.
       Especially since privatisation became popular, private companies
       doing the jobs previously controlled by government have been bound
       by social responsibilities. Energy, gas telecomms and water are
       regulated industries in most OECD countries.
     * Competition law, known in the U.S. as anti- trust law, is an
       evolving field that traces as far back as Roman decrees against
       price fixing and the English restraint of trade doctrine. Modern
       competition law derives from the U.S. anti-cartel and anti-monopoly
       statutes (the Sherman Act and Clayton Act) of the turn of the 20th
       century. It is used to control businesses who attempt to use their
       economic influence to distort market prices at the expense of
       consumer welfare.
     * Consumer law could include anything from regulations on unfair
       contract terms and conditions to directives on airline baggage
       insurance.
     * Environmental law is increasingly important, especially in light of
       the Kyoto Protocol and the imminent danger of climate change.
       Environmental protection also serves to penalise polluters within
       domestic legal systems.

Legal systems

   In general, legal systems around the world can be split between civil
   law jurisdictions, on the one hand, and systems using common law and
   equity, on the other. The term civil law, referring to a legal system,
   should not be confused with civil law as a group of legal subjects, as
   distinguished from criminal law or public law. A third type of legal
   system — still accepted by some countries in part, or even in whole —
   is religious law, based on scriptures and interpretations thereof. The
   specific system that a country follows is often determined by its
   history, its connection with countries abroad, and its adherence to
   international standards. The sources that jurisdictions recognise as
   authoritatively binding are the defining features of legal systems. Yet
   classification of different systems is a matter of form rather than
   substance, since similar rules often prevail.

Civil law

   First page of the 1804 edition of the Napoleonic Code
   First page of the 1804 edition of the Napoleonic Code

   Civil law is the legal system used in most countries around the world
   today. In civil law the sources recognised as authoritative are,
   primarily, legislation – especially codifications in constitutions or
   statutes passed by government – and, secondarily, custom. Codifications
   date back millennia, with one early example being the ancient
   Babylonian Codex Hammurabi, but modern civil law systems essentially
   derive from the legal practice of the Roman Empire, whose texts were
   rediscovered in medieval Europe. Roman law in the days of the Roman
   Republic and Empire was heavily procedural, and there was no
   professional legal class. Instead a lay person, iudex, was chosen to
   adjudicate. Precedents were not reported, so any case law that
   developed was disguised and almost unrecognised. Each case was to be
   decided afresh from the laws of the state, which mirrors the
   (theoretical) unimportance of judges' decisions for future cases in
   civil law systems today. During the 6th century AD in the Eastern Roman
   Empire, the Emperor Justinian codified and consolidated the laws that
   had existed in Rome, so that what remained was one-twentieth of the
   mass of legal texts from before. This became known as the Corpus Juris
   Civilis. As one legal historian wrote, "Justinian consciously looked
   back to the golden age of Roman law and aimed to restore it to the peak
   it had reached three centuries before." Western Europe, meanwhile,
   slowly slipped into the Dark Ages, and it was not until the 11th
   century that scholars in the University of Bologna rediscovered the
   texts and used them to interpret their own laws. Civil law
   codifications based closely on Roman law continued to spread throughout
   Europe until the Enlightenment; then, in the 19th century, both France,
   with the Code Civil, and Germany, with the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch,
   modernised their legal codes. Both these codes influenced heavily not
   only the law systems of the countries in continental Europe (e.g.
   Greece), but also the Japanese and Korean legal traditions. Today
   countries that have civil law systems range from Russia and China to
   most of Central and Latin America.

Common law and equity

   King John of England signs Magna Carta
   King John of England signs Magna Carta

   Common law and equity are systems of law whose special distinction is
   the doctrine of precedent, or stare decisis (Latin for "to stand by
   decisions"). Alongside this "judge-made law", common law systems always
   have governments who pass new laws and statutes. But these are not put
   into a codified form. Common law comes from England and was inherited
   by almost every country that once belonged to the British Empire, with
   the exceptions of Malta, Scotland, the U.S. state of Louisiana and the
   Canadian province of Quebec. Common law had its beginnings in the
   Middle Ages, when the English monarchy had been weakened by the
   enormous cost of fighting for control over large parts of France. King
   John had been forced by his barons to sign a document limiting his
   authority to pass laws. This "great charter" or Magna Carta of 1215
   also required that the King's entourage of judges hold their courts and
   judgements at "a certain place" rather than dispensing autocratic
   justice in unpredictable places about the country. A concentrated and
   elite group of judges acquired a dominant role in law-making under this
   system, and compared to its European counterparts the English judiciary
   became highly centralised. In 1297, for instance, while the highest
   court in France had fifty-one judges, the English Court of Common Pleas
   had five. This powerful and tight-knit judiciary gave rise to a rigid
   and inflexible system of common law. As a result, as time went on,
   increasing numbers of citizens petitioned the King to override the
   common law, and on the King's behalf the Lord Chancellor gave judgement
   to do what was equitable in a case. From the time of Sir Thomas More,
   the first lawyer to be appointed as Lord Chancellor, a systematic body
   of equity grew up alongside the rigid common law, and developed its own
   Court of Chancery. At first, equity was often criticised as erratic,
   that it "varies like the Chancellor's foot". But over time it developed
   solid principles, especially under Lord Eldon. In the 19th century the
   two systems were fused into one another. In developing the common law
   and equity, academic authors have always played an important part.
   William Blackstone, from around 1760, was the first scholar to describe
   and teach it. But merely in describing, scholars who sought
   explanations and underlying structures slowly changed the way the law
   actually worked.

Religious law

   Ashkenazi Torah scroll
   Ashkenazi Torah scroll

   Religious law refers to the notion that the word of God is law.
   Examples include the Jewish Halakha and Islamic Sharia, both of which
   mean the "path to follow". Christian Canon law also survives in some
   Church communities. The implication of religion for law is
   unalterability, because the word of God cannot be amended or legislated
   against by judges or governments. However, religious texts usually do
   not provide for a thorough and detailed legal system. For instance, the
   Quran has some law but not much, and it acts merely as a source of
   further law through interpretation. This is mainly contained in a body
   of jurisprudence known as the fiqh. The first five books of the Old
   Testament are known as the Torah and include Genesis, Exodus,
   Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Halakha is the interpretation
   of teachings and is followed by orthodox and conservative Jews in both
   ecclesiastical and civil relations. Nevertheless, Israel is not
   governed by Halakha, but under Israeli law, the litigants may decide,
   because of personal belief, to have a dispute heard by a Rabbinic court
   and be bound by its rulings. Canon law is only in use by members of the
   clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and
   the Anglican Communion. Until the 18th century Sharia law reigned
   supreme, nominally at least, throughout the Muslim world; but since the
   mid-1940s efforts have been made, in country after country, to bring
   the law more into line with modern conditions and conceptions.
   Nowadays, Sharia is merely an optional supplement to the civil or
   common law of most countries, though Saudi Arabia and Iran's whole
   legal systems source their law in Sharia. During the last few decades,
   one of the fundamental features of the movement of Islamic resurgence
   has been the call to restore the Sharia, which has generated a vast
   amount of literature and affected world politics.

Jurisdictions

   Despite the usefulness of different classifications, every legal system
   has its own individual identity. Below are groups of legal systems,
   categorised by their geography. Click the "show" buttons on the right
   for the lists of countries.
   Law of Africa

   Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi ·
   Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros ·
   Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo ·
   Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea ·
   Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea ·
   Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar ·
   Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique ·
   Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal ·
   Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan ·
   Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe

   Dependencies and other territories
   Canary Islands · Ceuta · Madeira · Mayotte · Melilla · Puntland ·
   Réunion · St. Helena · Socotra · Somaliland · Western Sahara (SADR)
   Law of North America

   Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada ·
   Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador ·
   Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua ·
   Panama · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and
   the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · United States

   Dependencies and other territories
   Anguilla · Aruba · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands ·
   Greenland · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Montserrat · Navassa Island ·
   Netherlands Antilles · Puerto Rico · Saint Pierre and Miquelon ·
   Turks and Caicos Islands · U.S. Virgin Islands
   Law of South America

   Sovereign states
   Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Chile · Colombia · Ecuador · Guyana ·
   Panama* · Paraguay · Peru · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago* · Uruguay ·
   Venezuela

   Dependencies
   Aruba* (Netherlands) · Falkland Islands (UK) · French Guiana (France) ·
   Netherlands Antilles* (Netherlands) · South Georgia and the
   South Sandwich Islands (UK)
   * Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas
   (North America).
   Law of Asia

   Afghanistan · Armenia · Azerbaijan^1 · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan ·
   Brunei · Cambodia · China ( People's Republic of China ( Hong Kong •
   Macau) · Republic of China ( Taiwan)) · Cyprus · East Timor ·
   Georgia^1 · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan ·
   Kazakhstan^1 · Korea ( North Korea · South Korea) · Kuwait ·
   Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia ·
   Myanmar · Nepal · Oman · Pakistan · Palestinian territories ·
   Philippines · Qatar · Russia^1 · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka ·
   Syria · Tajikistan · Thailand · Turkey^1 · Turkmenistan ·
   United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen

   ^1 Has some territory in Europe.
   Law of Europe

   Albania · Andorra · Armenia^2 · Austria · Azerbaijan^4 · Belarus ·
   Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus^2 ·
   Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia^4 ·
   Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan^1 ·
   Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of
   Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands ·
   Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia^1 · San Marino · Serbia ·
   Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey^1 ·
   Ukraine · United Kingdom

   Dependencies, autonomies and other territories
   Abkhazia^4 · Adjara^2 · Åland · Azores · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Canary
   Islands · Crimea · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Isle of Man ·
   Jersey · Kosovo · Madeira · Nagorno-Karabakh^2 · Nakhichevan^2 ·
   Republika Srpska · Transnistria · Turkish Republic of Northern
   Cyprus^2, 3 · Vojvodina

   ^1 Has significant territory in Asia. ^2 Entirely in West Asia, but
   considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons.
   ^3 Only recognised by Turkey. ^4 Partially or entirely in Asia,
   depending on the definition of the border between Europe and Asia.
   Law of Oceania

   Australia

   Australia · Norfolk Island · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands

   Melanesia

   East Timor · Fiji · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea ·
   Solomon Islands · Vanuatu

   Micronesia

   Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands ·
   Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau

   Polynesia

   American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · New Zealand · Niue ·
   Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna

Legal theory

Philosophy of law

   "But what, after all, is a law? […] When I say that the object of laws
   is always general, I mean that law considers subjects en masse and
   actions in the abstract, and never a particular person or action. […]
   On this view, we at once see that it can no longer be asked whose
   business it is to make laws, since they are acts of the general will;
   nor whether the prince is above the law, since he is a member of the
   State; nor whether the law can be unjust, since no one is unjust to
   himself; nor how we can be both free and subject to the laws, since
   they are but registers of our wills."
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, II, 6.

   The philosophy of law is known as jurisprudence. Normative
   jurisprudence is essentially political philosophy and asks "what should
   law be?". Analytic jurisprudence, on the other hand, is a distinctive
   field which asks "what is law?". An early famous philosopher of law was
   John Austin, a student of Jeremy Bentham and first chair of law at the
   new University of London from 1829. Austin's utilitarian answer was
   that law is "commands, backed by threat of sanctions, from a sovereign,
   to whom people have a habit of obedience". This approach was long
   accepted, especially as an alternative to natural law theory. Natural
   lawyers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, argue that human law reflects
   essentially moral and unchangeable laws of nature. Immanuel Kant, for
   instance, believed a moral imperative requires laws "be chosen as
   though they should hold as universal laws of nature". Austin and
   Bentham, following David Hume, thought this conflated what "is" and
   what "ought to be" the case. They believed in law's positivism, that
   real law is entirely separate from "morality". Kant was also criticised
   by Friedrich Nietzsche, who believed that law emanates from The Will to
   Power and cannot be labelled as "moral" or "immoral". Thus, Nietzsche
   criticised the principle of equality, and believed that law should be
   committed to freedom to engage in will to power.

   In 1934, the Austrian philosopher Hans Kelsen continued the positivist
   tradition in his book the Pure Theory of Law. Kelsen believed that
   though law is separate from morality, it is endowed with "normativity",
   meaning we ought to obey it. Whilst laws are positive "is" statements
   (e.g. the fine for reversing on a highway is €500), law tells us what
   we "should" do (i.e. not drive backwards). So every legal system can be
   hypothesised to have a basic norm ( Grundnorm) telling us we should
   obey the law. Carl Schmitt, Kelsen's major intellectual opponent,
   rejected positivism, and the idea of the rule of law, because he did
   not accept the primacy of abstract normative principles over concrete
   political positions and decisions. Therefore, Schmitt advocated a
   jurisprudence of the exception ( state of emergency), which denied that
   legal norms could encompass of all political experience.
   Bentham's utilitarian theories remained dominant in law until the 20th
   century.
   Bentham's utilitarian theories remained dominant in law until the 20th
   century.

   Later in the 20th century, H. L. A. Hart attacked Austin for his
   simplifications and Kelsen for his fictions in The Concept of Law. As
   the chair of jurisprudence at Oxford University, Hart argued law is a
   "system of rules". Rules, said Hart, are divided into primary rules
   (rules of conduct) and secondary rules (rules addressed to officials to
   administer primary rules). Secondary rules are divided into rules of
   adjudication (to resolve legal disputes), rules of change (allowing
   laws to be varied) and the rule of recognition (allowing laws to be
   identified as valid). Two of Hart's students have continued the debate
   since. Ronald Dworkin was his successor in the Chair of Jurisprudence
   at Oxford and his greatest critic. In his book Law's Empire, Dworkin
   attacked Hart and the positivists for their refusal to treat law as a
   moral issue. Dworkin argues that law is an " interpretive concept",
   that requires judges to find the best fitting and most just solution to
   a legal dispute, given their constitutional traditions. Joseph Raz, on
   the other hand, has defended the positivist outlook and even criticised
   Hart's 'soft social thesis' approach in The Authority of Law. Raz
   argues that law is authority, identifiable purely through social
   sources, without reference to moral reasoning. Any categorisation of
   rules beyond their role as authoritative dispute mediation is best left
   to sociology, rather than jurisprudence.

Economic analysis of law

   Becker, one of the Chicago School, runs a blog with economist and
   lawyer Richard Posner.
   Becker, one of the Chicago School, runs a blog with economist and
   lawyer Richard Posner.

   Economic analysis of law is an approach to legal theory that
   incorporates and applies the methods and ideas of economics to law. The
   discipline arose partly out of a critique of trade unions and U.S.
   antitrust law. The most influential proponents, such as Richard Posner
   and Oliver Williamson and the so-called Chicago School of economists
   and lawyers including Milton Friedman and Gary Becker, are generally
   advocates of deregulation and privatisation, and are hostile to state
   regulation or what they see as restrictions on the operation of free
   markets.

   The most decorated economic analyst of law is 1991 Nobel Prize winner
   Ronald Coase. His first major article, The Nature of the Firm (1937),
   argued that the reason for the existence of firms ( companies,
   partnerships, etc.) is the existence of transaction costs. Rational
   individuals trade through bilateral contracts on open markets until the
   costs of transactions mean that using corporations to produce things is
   more cost-effective. His second major article, The Problem of Social
   Cost (1960), argued that if we lived in a world without transaction
   costs, people would bargain with one another to create the same
   allocation of resources, regardless of the way a court might rule in
   property disputes. Coase used the example of a nuisance case named
   Sturges v. Bridgman, where a noisy sweetmaker and a quiet doctor were
   neighbours and went to court to see who should have to move. Coase said
   that regardless of whether the judge ruled that the sweetmaker had to
   stop using his machinery, or that the doctor had to put up with it,
   they could strike a mutually beneficial bargain about who moves house
   that reaches the same outcome of resource distribution. Only, the
   existence of transaction costs may prevent this. So the law ought to
   pre-empt what would happen, and be guided by the most efficient
   solution. The idea is that law and regulation are not as important or
   effective at helping people as lawyers and government planners believe.
   Coase and others like him wanted a change of approach, to put the
   burden of proof for positive effects on a government that was
   intervening in the market, by analysing the costs of action.

Sociology of law

   Max Weber in 1917 - Weber who began as a lawyer is regarded as one of
   the founders of sociology and sociology of law
   Max Weber in 1917 - Weber who began as a lawyer is regarded as one of
   the founders of sociology and sociology of law

   Sociology of law is a diverse field of study that examines the
   interaction of law with society. Sociology of law overlaps with
   jurisprudence, economic analysis of law and more specialised subjects
   such as criminology. The institutions of law and the social
   construction of legal issues and systems are relevant areas of inquiry.
   Initially, legal theorists were suspicious of the discipline. Kelsen
   attacked one of its founders, Eugen Ehrlich, who wanted to emphasise
   the difference between positive law, which lawyers learn and apply, and
   other forms of 'law' or social norms that regulate everyday life,
   generally preventing conflicts from reaching lawyers and courts. Around
   1900 Max Weber defined his "scientific" approach to law, identifying
   the "legal rational form" as a type of domination, not attributable to
   people but to abstract norms. Legal rationalism was his term for a body
   of coherent and calculable law which formed a precondition for modern
   political developments and the modern bureaucratic state and developed
   in parallel with the growth of capitalism. Another sociologist, Émile
   Durkheim, wrote in The Division of Labour in Society that as society
   becomes more complex, the body of civil law concerned primarily with
   restitution and compensation grows at the expense of criminal laws and
   penal sanctions. Other notable early legal sociologists included Hugo
   Sinzheimer, Theodor Geiger, Georges Gurvitch and Leon Petrażycki in
   Europe, and William Graham Sumner in the U.S.

Legal institutions

   "It is a real unity of them all in one and the same person, made by
   covenant of every man with every man, in such manner as if every man
   should say to every man: I authorise and give up my right of governing
   myself to this man, or to this assembly of men, on this condition; that
   thou give up, thy right to him, and authorise all his actions in like
   manner.
   Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, XVII

   The main institutions of law in industrialised countries are
   independent courts, representative parliaments, an accountable
   executive, the military and police, bureaucratic organisation, the
   profession of lawyers and civil society itself. John Locke in Two
   Treatises On Civil Government, and Baron de Montesquieu after him in
   The Spirit of the Laws, advocated a separation of powers between the
   institutions that wield political influence, namely the judiciary,
   legislature and executive. Their principle was that no person should be
   able to usurp all powers of the state, in contrast to the absolutist
   theory of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. More recently, Max Weber and many
   others reshaped thinking about the extensions of the state that come
   under the control of the executive. Modern military, policing and
   bureaucratic power over ordinary citizens' daily lives pose special
   problems for accountability that earlier writers like Locke and
   Montesquieu could not have foreseen. The custom and practice of the
   legal profession itself is an important part of people's access to
   justice, whilst civil society is a term used to refer to the social
   institutions, communities and partnerships that are the political base
   of the law.

Judiciary

   The judges of the International Court of Justice in the Hague
   The judges of the International Court of Justice in the Hague

   A judiciary is a group of judges who mediate people's disputes and
   determine the outcome. Most countries have a system of appeals courts,
   up to a supreme authority. In the U.S., this is the Supreme Court; in
   Australia, the High Court; in the U.K., the House of Lords; in Germany,
   the Bundesverfassungsgericht; in France, the Cour de Cassation.
   However, for most European countries the European Court of Justice in
   Luxembourg may overrule national law, where EU law is relevant. The
   European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg allows citizens of the
   Council of Europe member states to bring cases to it concerning human
   rights issues.

   Almost every country allows its highest judicial authority to strike
   down legislation determined to be unconstitutional. For instance, the
   United States Supreme Court struck down a Texan law forbidding
   assistance to women in abortion, in Roe v. Wade. The constitution's
   fourteenth amendment was interpreted to give Americans a right to
   privacy, hence a woman's right to choose abortion. The judiciary is
   theoretically bound by the constitution, much as legislative bodies
   are. In most countries judges may only interpret the constitution and
   all other laws. But in common law countries, where matters are not
   constitutional, the judiciary may also create law under the doctrine of
   precedent. On the other hand, the United Kingdom, Finland and New
   Zealand still assert the ideal of parliamentary sovereignty, whereby
   the unelected judiciary may not overturn law passed by a democratic
   legislature.

Legislature

   The debating chamber of the European Parliament
   The debating chamber of the European Parliament

   Prominent examples of legislatures are the Houses of Parliament in
   London, the Congress in Washington D.C., the Bundestag in Berlin, the
   Duma in Moscow and the Assemblée nationale in Paris. By the principle
   of representative government, people vote for political decision-makers
   in order to make them carry out their wishes. Although some countries —
   for instance, Israel, Greece, Sweden and China — are unicameral, most
   legislatures are bicameral. In the 'lower house' politicians are
   elected to represent smaller constituencies. The 'upper house' is
   usually elected to represent a larger state in a federal system (as in
   Australia or Germany), a different voting configuration in a unitary
   system (as in France). In the UK the upper house is appointed by the
   government as a house of review. One criticism of bicameral systems
   with two elected chambers is that the upper and lower houses may simply
   mirror one another. On the other hand, the traditional justification of
   bicameralism is that it minimises arbitrariness and injustice in
   governmental action.

   To pass legislation, a majority of Members of Parliament must vote for
   a bill in each house. Normally there will be several readings and
   amendments proposed by the different political factions. If a country
   has an entrenched constitution, a special majority for changes to the
   constitution will be required, making changes to the law more
   difficult. A government usually leads the process, which can be formed
   from Members of Parliament (e.g. the UK or Germany). But in a
   presidential system, an executive appoints a cabinet to govern from his
   or her political allies whether or not they are elected (e.g. the U.S.
   or Brazil), and the legislature's role is reduced to either
   ratification or veto.

Executive

   Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the elected by popular vote President of
   Brazil. Brazil, like most states in the Americas, is a democracy with a
   presidential system of government.
   Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the elected by popular vote President of
   Brazil. Brazil, like most states in the Americas, is a democracy with a
   presidential system of government.

   The "executive" in a legal system refers to the government's centre of
   political authority. In most democratic countries, like the UK,
   Germany, India and Japan, it is elected into and drawn from the
   legislature and is often called the cabinet. Alongside this is usually
   the head of state, who lacks formal political power but symbolically
   enacts laws. The head of state is sometimes appointed (the
   Bundespräsident in Germany), sometimes hereditary (British monarch) and
   sometimes elected by popular vote (the President of Austria). The other
   important model is found in countries like France, the U.S. and Russia,
   under whose presidential systems the executive branch exists and
   presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not
   accountable, and the legislature cannot in normal circumstances dismiss
   it.

   The executive's role may vary from country to country. Usually it will
   initiate or propose the majority of legislation and handle a country's
   foreign relations. The military and police often fall under executive
   control, as well as the bureaucracy. Ministers, or secretaries of state
   of the government, head a country's public offices; for instance the
   health department or the department of justice. The election of a
   different executive is therefore capable of revolutionising an entire
   country's approach to government.

Military and police

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers
   U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers

   The military and police are sometimes referred to as "the long and
   strong arm of the law". While military organisation have existed as
   long as governments themselves, a standing police force is relatively
   modern. Mediæval England used a system of travelling criminal courts,
   or assizes, which used show trials and public executions to instill
   communities with fear and keep them under control. The first modern
   police were probably those in 17th-century Paris, in the court of Louis
   XIV, although the Paris Prefecture of Police claim they were the
   world's first uniformed policemen. In 1829, after the French Revolution
   and Napoleon's dictatorship, a government decree created the first
   uniformed policemen in Paris and all other French cities, known as
   sergents de ville ("city sergeants"). In Britain, the Metropolitan
   Police Act 1829 was passed by Parliament under Home Secretary Sir
   Robert Peel, founding the London Metropolitan Police.

   Sociologist Max Weber famously argued that the state is that which
   controls the legitimate monopoly of the means of violence. The military
   and police carry out enforcement at the request of the government or
   the courts. The term failed state is used where the police and military
   no longer control security and order and society moves into anarchy,
   the absence of government.

Bureaucracy

   The United Nations' New York headquarters houses civil servants that
   cater for its 192 member states.
   The United Nations' New York headquarters houses civil servants that
   cater for its 192 member states.

   The word "bureaucracy" derives from the French for "office" (bureau)
   and Ancient Greek for "power" (kratos). Like the military and police,
   all of a legal system's government servants and bodies that make up the
   bureaucracy carry out the wishes of the executive. One of the earliest
   references to the concept was made by Baron de Grimm, a German author
   who lived in France. In 1765 he wrote,

     "The real spirit of the laws in France is that bureaucracy of which
     the late Monsieur de Gournay used to complain so greatly; here the
     offices, clerks, secretaries, inspectors and intendants are not
     appointed to benefit the public interest, indeed the public interest
     appears to have been established so that offices might exist."

   Cynicism over "officialdom" is still common, and the workings of public
   servants is typically contrasted to private enterprise motivated by
   profit. In fact private companies, especially large ones, also have
   bureaucracies. Negative perceptions of " red tape" aside, public
   services such as schooling, health care, policing or public transport
   are a crucial state function making public bureaucratic action the
   locus of government power. Writing in the early 20th century, Max Weber
   believed that a definitive feature of a developed state had come to be
   its bureaucratic support. Weber wrote that the typical characteristics
   of modern bureaucracy are that officials define its mission, the scope
   of work is bound by rules, management is composed of career experts,
   who manage top down, communicating through writing and binding public
   servants' discretion with rules.

Legal profession

   An English barrister
   An English barrister

   Lawyers give their clients advice about their legal rights and duties,
   and represent them in court. As European Court of Human Rights has
   stated, the law should be adequately accessible to everyone and people
   should be able to foresee how the law affects them. In order to
   maintain professionalism, the practice of law is typically overseen by
   either a government or independent regulating body such as a bar
   association, bar council or law society. An aspiring practitioner must
   be certified by the regulating body before undertaking his practice.
   This usually entails a two or three year programme at a university
   faculty of law or a law school, earning the student a Bachelor of Laws,
   a Bachelor of Civil Law or a Juris Doctor degree. This course of study
   is followed by an entrance examination (e.g. admission to the bar).
   Some countries require a further vocational qualification before a
   person is permitted to practice law. For those wishing to become a
   barrister, this would lead to a Barrister-at-law degree, followed by a
   year's pupillage under the oversight of an experienced barrister.
   Beyond the requirements for legal practice higher academic degrees may
   be pursued. Examples include a Master of Laws, a Master of Legal
   Studies or a Doctor of Laws.

   Once accredited, a lawyer will often work in a law firm, in a chambers
   as a sole practitioner, in a government post or in a private
   corporation as an internal counsel. In addition a lawyer may become a
   legal researcher who provides on-demand legal research through a
   commercial service or through freelance work. Many people trained in
   law put their skills to use outside the legal field entirely.
   Significant to the practice of law in the common law tradition is the
   legal research to determine the current state of the law. This usually
   entails exploring case-law reports, legal periodicals and legislation.
   Law practice also involves drafting documents such as court pleadings,
   persuasive briefs, contracts, or wills and trusts. Negotiation and
   dispute resolution skills are also important to legal practice,
   depending on the field.

Civil society

   A march in Washington D.C. during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in
   1963
   A march in Washington D.C. during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in
   1963

   The term "civil society" dates back to John Locke, who saw civil
   society as being of people who have "a common established law and
   judicature to appeal to, with authority to decide controversies between
   them." German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel also
   distinguished the "state" from "civil society" (Zivilgesellschaft) in
   Elements of the Philosophy of Right. Hegel believed that civil society
   and the state were polar opposites, within the scheme of his dialectic
   theory of history. Civil society is necessarily a source of law, by
   being the basis from which people form opinions and lobby for what they
   believe law should be. As Australian barrister and author Geoffrey
   Robertson QC wrote of international law,

     "one of its primary modern sources is found in the responses of
     ordinary men and women, and of the non-governmental organizations
     which many of them support, to the human rights abuses they see on
     the television screen in their living rooms."

   Freedom of speech, freedom of association and many other individual
   rights allow people to meet together, discuss, criticise and hold to
   account their governments, from which the basis of a deliberative
   democracy is formed. The more people are involved with, concerned by
   and capable of changing how political power is exercised over their
   lives, the more acceptable and legitimate the law becomes to the
   people. Developed political parties, debating clubs, trade unions,
   impartial media, business and charities are all part of a healthy civil
   society.

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