Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences INTRODUCTION TO LAW MAN 206 LECTURE 1

Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences

INTRODUCTION TO LAW MAN 206

LECTURE 1

Gulay Suleymanoglu

L.L.B(Hons), L.L.M(International and European Law) Member of Cyprus Bar Assosiation

M: [email protected]

Society and Order

 Since the earliest days of the recorded history, human beings have been living in communities.

Society means; people living together.

There must be an “Order” to live together.

“Order of Society” is provided by social rules.

Social rules are; rules of good manners, moral rules, religious rules and social traditions and customs and legal rules.

What limits and regulates most if the activities of

individuals in a society is the legal order, in short, the

l aw .

Social Rules

• “Social Order Rules” are necessary for

preventing chaos and anarchy in society, and

for providing peace and security for

everybody.

Social Order Rules

 Legal Rules

 Moral Rules

 Religious Rules

Legal Rules

• Legal rules are; most important and most effective social rules within the order of society,

• In a broad sense, all rules or principles that regulate and the limit the conduct of individuals in a society may be called the law or legal order.

• Law means a set of rules which govern the lives and behavior of persons living together in a community, this body of rules is for

guidance of human conduct and is imposed upon, and enforced among the citizens of a state.

• The legal order (i.e legal norms) constitutes only one part of the

“patterns of social conduct”, i.e. the whole body of rules which

regulate the actions of individuals in a society.

Legal Order provides:

• Peace; legal rules restrict the power of individuals and groups to secure other’s rights,

• Security; legal order protects the weak individual and groups against the powerful ones,

• Equality, everybody is equal in front of law,

• Freedom, restricted but steady freedom is

guaranteed for everybody.

Moral Rules

• Perhaps the most important of the rules of social conduct,

apart from the law, are moral rules. Moral rules are principles, or standards, concerning right or wrong conduct, which are also called ethics.

• In every society there exist certain general moral principles that are strongly and deeply held. People have always made distinctions between what is right and what is wrong or

between good and bad in human conduct.

• Our daily experiences teach us that moral rules are necessary

in social life although not always practiced. Alongside the law,

morals also constitute a social institution.

Public and Private Morality

• Whether an action and/or contract is against good morals is usually determined according to general standards of morality.

• Generally subjective morality standards of a

person are not taken into account.

Relationship Between Moral and Legal Rules

• Law and ethics( moral rules) are related insofar as both are concerned with human conduct. There is close relationship between moral and legal rules. Many legal rules are derived from morality. Actions such as murder, theft, defamation and the like are prohibited by both morals and law.

• Law and Morality do not coincide in meaning, though there is there should be - a necessary interdependence between them. Moral law distinguishes right and wrong in (free) human actions. It is aimed above all at personal improvement and ultimately at salvation.

• Human civilization is not possible without law and morality,

standing in right relationship.

Religious Rules

• In general a religion is a set of beliefs and ideas and rules which that particular religion imposes on its followers. Some of these rules may be concerned with spiritual obligations, for example: to pray 5 times in Islam and to go to church on Sunday.

• The subject of the relationship between law and religion has been an integral part of the development of modern legal systems.

• In such a state religious rules become legal rules which in such

society aree the presumed will of god. In modern times most

societies are organized by non-religious legal rules and such

states are called secular states.

Law and Justice

 The concept of justice, meaning the fair, correct outcome of a legal dispute, is the core of the longstanding and popular view of the essence of law.

 Law and Justice may be regarded as close neighbors, justice meaning the proper and fair administration of laws.

 Legal rules are expected to achieve the ends of justice. In other words, the purpose of every law must be uphold justice.

 The question as to whether law must embody justice has

given rise to two separate jurisprudential views: legal

positivism and natural law.

What is law?

 System of rules

 Lays down standards to which we ought to conform

 Legal rule, moral rule and social convention

 Difference is: Failure to adhere to legal rules may result in a penalty

 Law is never static it is always changing.

Definition of Law

 Rules,

 for regulating society and pushing everybody to obey them with the sanctions by public(state) force,

 which are put for the general profits of society and

fundamental rights of individuals .

Law;

 The positive law (Applied Law)

 Natural Law/Ideal Law

The positive law (Applied Law)

 Body of man-made laws consisting of codes, regulations and statutes enacted or imposed within political entity such as a state or nation. Contrasts with natural law.

Positive law consists of;

 Constitution

 Codes

 international treaties

 governmental decrees

 regulations

 law orders(by laws)

 Unwritten rules,such as customary rules etc.

Natural Law

 Natural law, or the law of nature , is a system of law that is

determined by nature, and so is universal. Classically, natural

law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature both

social and personal — and deduce binding rules of moral

behavior from it. Natural law is often contrasted with

the positive law of a given political community, society,

or state. In legal theory, on the other hand, the interpretation

of positive law requires some reference to natural law.

Legal Systems of the World

 There are hundreds of legal systems in the world.

 The fact is that every nation has her own domestic (national) law which is different from others.

 In today's world, this means that there exist about 200 systems of domestic law systems living side by side.

 The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of three basic systems: civil law, common law, and religious law– or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and so incorporates individual variations.

 The three major legal systems of the world today consist of

civil law, common law, and religious law.

Civil Law

• Civil law is the most widespread system of law around the world. It is also sometimes known as Continental European law . The central source of law that is recognized as authoritative is codifications in a constitution or statute passed by legislature, to amend a code.

• Civil law systems mainly derive from the Roman Empire.

• Civil law was also partly influenced by religious laws such as Canon Law and Islamic law.

• Civil law today, in theory , is interpreted rather than

developed or made by Judges.

Civil Law Groups

• Civil law divides into four distinct groups:

• French civil law: in France, the Benelux countries, Italy, Spain and former colonies of those countries.

• German civil law: in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Japan and the Republic of China.

• Scandinavian civil law: in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

• Chinese law is a mixture of civil law and socialist law.

Common Law

 The basis for common law is tradition, past practices, and legal precedents set by the courts through interpretations of statutes, legal legislation, and past rulings. Common law seeks “interpretation through the past decisions of higher courts which interpret the same statutes or apply established and customary principles of law to a similar set of facts”.

 Common law refers to law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals (called case law), rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law.

 The body of precedent is called “common law” and it binds future

decisions. In future cases, when parties disagree on what the law is, an

idealized common law court looks to past precedential decisions of

relevant courts.

Adopting Countries

• Common law is currently in practice in Ireland, most of the United Kingdom (England and Wales and Northern Ireland), Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Hong Kong, India( excluding Goa), Canada (excluding Quebec) and the United States (excluding Louisiana).

• In addition to these countries, several others have adapted

the common law system into a mixed system.

Religious Law

• Religious law refers to the notion of a religious system or document being used as a legal source.

• For example; the use of Halakha ( Jewish Religious Laws) for public law has a static and unalterable quality.

• Christian Canon Law is more similar to civil law in its use of civil codes; and Islamic Sharia law is based on legal precedent and reasoning by analogy , and is thus considered similar to common law.

• The main kinds of religious law are Sharia in Islam, Halakha in

Juadism and Canon law in some Christian groups.

Religious Law Countries

 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, The

Gambia, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Oman,

Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen.

Pluralistic Systems

 There are some countries that using two types of the legal systems. These countries are called pluralistic countries.

 Example for;

Civil law and Common law countries: Israel , Malta, Thailand

Civil law and religious law countries: Indonesia, Bahreyn, Afganistan

Common law and religious law countries: Pakistan,

Nigeria and Malaysia.