Under a presidential system, the executive branch is separate from the legislature to which it is not accountable. The executive in a legal system serves as the centre of political authority of the State. In a parliamentary system, as with Britain, Italy, Germany, India, and Japan, the executive is Law News known as the cabinet, and composed of members of the legislature. The executive is led by the head of government, whose office holds power under the confidence of the legislature. Because popular elections appoint political parties to govern, the leader of a party can change in between elections.
- Max Weber famously argued that the state is that which controls the monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
- There are also many other arguments and cannons of interpretation which altogether make statutory interpretation possible.
- Administrative law is the chief method for people to hold state bodies to account.
- 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.
Admiralty law also encompasses specialised issues such as salvage, maritime liens, and injuries to passengers. Family law covers marriage and divorce proceedings, the rights of children and rights to property and money in the event of separation. Evidence law involves which materials are admissible in courts for a case to be built. In exceptional circumstances defences can apply to specific acts, such as killing in self defence, or pleading insanity.
Looking for some inspiration? Here are a few legal terms to get you started
In all three traditions, a canon was originally a rule adopted by a church council; these canons formed the foundation of canon law. In 1934, the Austrian philosopher Hans Kelsen continued the positivist tradition in his book the Pure Theory of Law. Kelsen believed that although law is separate from morality, it is endowed with “normativity”, meaning we ought to obey it. While laws are positive “is” statements (e.g. the fine for reversing on a highway is €500); law tells us what we “should” do. Thus, each legal system can be hypothesised to have a basic norm instructing us to obey. Kelsen’s major opponent, Carl Schmitt, rejected both 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.
Once you have your launching pad for your research, leverage Westlaw features to easily expand your research.
Consideration indicates the fact that all parties to a contract have exchanged something of value. Some common law systems, including Australia, are moving away from the idea of consideration as a requirement. The idea of estoppel or culpa in contrahendo, can be used to create obligations during pre-contractual negotiations. These rules enable the translation of the will of the people into functioning democracies.
By contrast, the classic civil law approach to property, propounded by Friedrich Carl von Savigny, is that it is a right good against the world. Obligations, like contracts and torts, are conceptualised as rights good between individuals. The idea of property raises many further philosophical and political issues.
Law and order is the condition of a society in which laws are obeyed, and social life and business go on in an organized way. As a law student, you will be expected to read many articles, journals, magazines, or textbooks. Civil law jurisdictions recognise custom as “the other source of law”; hence, scholars tend to divide the civil law into the broad categories of “written law” or legislation, and “unwritten law” (ius non-scriptum) or custom.