Lecture 1
Law
- Law is a set of legal rules that govern the way members of a society act towards one another.
- Behavioral codes that guide people into actions that conform to societal expectation
- Laws are norms supported codified social sanctions
- Unique social-political phenomenon; depends on the context
- There are different sources of law
- Constitution
- Legislation (national and international)
- General administrative decisions
- International treaties
- Recognized custom
- Case law/ Jurisprudence → active sources of law
- Religious texts
- Different legal systems
- Civil law: Romano - Germani (continental). Codified legal texts and scholars
- common law: Anglo- American. Originally unwritten law and precedent
- There is cross-pollination among civil and common law
- Religious law: law integral to religious sources. Sanctions are religious
- Customary law: unwritten law. They are oral, informal and flexible, and related to culture
- Mixed systems
- Due to colonization/ imperialism, certain areas have developed more Western legal
systems.
- Different levels of law
- National law
- National boundaries
- Individuals
- Internal domestic affairs
- Law enforcement to protect legislature and court system
- Tort law: individual to individual law
- International law
- Relationship state and other subjects
- External affairs of a state
- International Court System based on treaties
- No international law enforcement system
-
- Domains of international law
- International law includes basic, classic law concepts in national legal systems (i.e.,
statutes, property law, etc.). It also includes substantive law, procedural law, due process,
and remedies.
- International Human rights law → generally through times of peace.
- International human rights law, through treaties, acts upon states
- Documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaim the ideals
of nations aspiring to respect the human rights of people of all nations. Legally,
however, these documents do not bind the country.
- Under these treaties, nations agree to abide by certain restrictions on their conduct
and to uphold certain freedoms and basic needs for citizens.
, - The enforcement of human rights treaties naturally requires nations to comply
with the terms of their agreements. International Humanitarian Law → before and
during a conflict
- Regulates conflict between states, and more recently, between state and informal
groups and individuals
- IHL governs both the legality of justifications for war (jus ad Bellum, or when
states can resort to war) and the legality of wartime conduct (jus in bello, or how
states must behave themselves during the war)
- Core principles: Geneva convention
The rule of law
- Sovereignty: the power of a government to reign over its territory without any interference
- The peculiar relationship between law and politics.
- Development of societal relations: function to bring about justice and order
- Governance triangle (Politics and Law)
- It helps protect the status quo and allows for a just society to be protected.
- The rule of law. essentials: separation of power
- The legislative branch, the executive branch (governments implementing laws) the
judicial branch (checking on how rules and laws are designed and implemented)
- Based on fairness, rationality, predictability, consistency, impartiality
- How to make laws Fuller (1964)
- Rules should apply to everyone
- Rules should be known
- Rules should only govern the future
- Rules should be clear to those who have to obey them
- Rules should be internally consistent
- Rules should not be impossible to obey
- RUles should be relatively stable
- Protection from whom
- The rule of law is about protecting people by the state and protecting people from the
state.
- Everybody makes mistakes
- Abuse of power is not impossible
- Justice for everyone?
- National law and international law
- Citizens want protection and freedom
- Constitutional democracy
- The law cannot be static → changes are necessary
- Why change?
- Society changes
- Circumstance change
- But not all change is good/ wanted
Rights
- Things that you are allowed to do because of nature or because of law
- ‘Because of nature’ John Locke. Every human pursues:
- Life (survival)
- Liberty (freedom)
- Property (owning things to help us survive)
- ‘Because of law’: rights that are created by the laws
- Parliaments can pass a law that gives people new rights
- Rights can increase and don’t impact already existing rights
- DIfference between human and fundamental rights
Law
- Law is a set of legal rules that govern the way members of a society act towards one another.
- Behavioral codes that guide people into actions that conform to societal expectation
- Laws are norms supported codified social sanctions
- Unique social-political phenomenon; depends on the context
- There are different sources of law
- Constitution
- Legislation (national and international)
- General administrative decisions
- International treaties
- Recognized custom
- Case law/ Jurisprudence → active sources of law
- Religious texts
- Different legal systems
- Civil law: Romano - Germani (continental). Codified legal texts and scholars
- common law: Anglo- American. Originally unwritten law and precedent
- There is cross-pollination among civil and common law
- Religious law: law integral to religious sources. Sanctions are religious
- Customary law: unwritten law. They are oral, informal and flexible, and related to culture
- Mixed systems
- Due to colonization/ imperialism, certain areas have developed more Western legal
systems.
- Different levels of law
- National law
- National boundaries
- Individuals
- Internal domestic affairs
- Law enforcement to protect legislature and court system
- Tort law: individual to individual law
- International law
- Relationship state and other subjects
- External affairs of a state
- International Court System based on treaties
- No international law enforcement system
-
- Domains of international law
- International law includes basic, classic law concepts in national legal systems (i.e.,
statutes, property law, etc.). It also includes substantive law, procedural law, due process,
and remedies.
- International Human rights law → generally through times of peace.
- International human rights law, through treaties, acts upon states
- Documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaim the ideals
of nations aspiring to respect the human rights of people of all nations. Legally,
however, these documents do not bind the country.
- Under these treaties, nations agree to abide by certain restrictions on their conduct
and to uphold certain freedoms and basic needs for citizens.
, - The enforcement of human rights treaties naturally requires nations to comply
with the terms of their agreements. International Humanitarian Law → before and
during a conflict
- Regulates conflict between states, and more recently, between state and informal
groups and individuals
- IHL governs both the legality of justifications for war (jus ad Bellum, or when
states can resort to war) and the legality of wartime conduct (jus in bello, or how
states must behave themselves during the war)
- Core principles: Geneva convention
The rule of law
- Sovereignty: the power of a government to reign over its territory without any interference
- The peculiar relationship between law and politics.
- Development of societal relations: function to bring about justice and order
- Governance triangle (Politics and Law)
- It helps protect the status quo and allows for a just society to be protected.
- The rule of law. essentials: separation of power
- The legislative branch, the executive branch (governments implementing laws) the
judicial branch (checking on how rules and laws are designed and implemented)
- Based on fairness, rationality, predictability, consistency, impartiality
- How to make laws Fuller (1964)
- Rules should apply to everyone
- Rules should be known
- Rules should only govern the future
- Rules should be clear to those who have to obey them
- Rules should be internally consistent
- Rules should not be impossible to obey
- RUles should be relatively stable
- Protection from whom
- The rule of law is about protecting people by the state and protecting people from the
state.
- Everybody makes mistakes
- Abuse of power is not impossible
- Justice for everyone?
- National law and international law
- Citizens want protection and freedom
- Constitutional democracy
- The law cannot be static → changes are necessary
- Why change?
- Society changes
- Circumstance change
- But not all change is good/ wanted
Rights
- Things that you are allowed to do because of nature or because of law
- ‘Because of nature’ John Locke. Every human pursues:
- Life (survival)
- Liberty (freedom)
- Property (owning things to help us survive)
- ‘Because of law’: rights that are created by the laws
- Parliaments can pass a law that gives people new rights
- Rights can increase and don’t impact already existing rights
- DIfference between human and fundamental rights
