LAW: summary powerpoints
1. General introduction
What is law?
Definition of law
- Enforceable
- Rules of conduct
- Imposed by the public authority
- Structuring civil society
The principle is a rule of civility and decent behaviour
Distinction
Mandatory vs default rules of law
- Mandatory rules of law
“Laws that purport to apply irrespective of the law chosen by the parties to govern their
contractual relations”
- Default rules of law
“Rules of law that can be overridden by a legally effective agreement (Gap filler)”
Public policy rules vs mandatory protective rules (mandatory rules of law)
- Public policy rules of law (Ordre Public)
Body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses
the social, moral, and economic values that tie a society together: values that vary in different
cultures and change over time
- Mandatory protective rules
Rules that purport to apply with the aim to protect the economic weaker party to a contract
Sources of law
Where can the rules of law be found?
- Legislation
o Legislation ‘sensu stricto’ (act of parliament)
o Legislation ‘sendu lato’ (treaties, constitution, acts, presidential/royal decrees,
governemental decisions, European regulations or directives
- Jurisprudence (case law)
o Interpretation and application of a general rule of law by a judge or a court of law on
an individual situation
o In continental European law:
No precedent or authority (<-> common law)
Only binding for litigating parties
- Legal doctrine
o The systematic, analytically evaluative exposition of the substance of private law,
criminal law, public law, etc.
o Legal doctrine picks up questions from legal practice and discusses them in a more
general and profound manner.
- Customary law and legal systems of law
Customary law
o Intrinsic to the life and custom of indigenous peoples and local communities .
o Actual importance in modern legal systems is limited
(unwritten) legal principles of law
o They are mostly derived from existing elements of the legal system:
With statutory support
(for example: general principle of “good faith”)
Without statutory support
(for example: reasonableness principle)
, Legal systems
- Civil law systems
“a body of law derived and evolved directly from Roman law, the primary feature of which is
that law are struck in writing, codified, and not determines, as in common law, by the
opinions of judges”
- Common law systems
“a body of law based on the opinions of judges and historic customs”
- Religious law system
Branches of law
Summa divisio: public <-> private law
- Public law
“The law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and those
relationships between individuals which are of direct concern to the society”
o Constitutional law
o Administrative law
o Taw law
o Criminal law
o Procedural law
- Private law
“Private law governs the relationships between individual parties rather than between
individuals and the state”
o Civil law
Civil code (main source of civil law)
o Commercial law
“body of law that apples to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and
business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales (= business law)
2. A - Constitutional law
The purpose of constitutional law
Three types of rules
- Defining the state (boundaries, flag, anthem, …)
- Recognition of rights of the citizens of that state
- Attribution (and limitation) of power to state institutions
Example: The Belgian constitution
- Title I: on federal Belgium, its components and its territory
o Title I bis: On general politics objectives of federal Belgium, the communities and the
Regions
- Title II : On Belgians an their rights
- Title III: On powers
The struggle for power
State power and freedom
- To what extent is the interference of the authorities desirable?
- Idea of ‘social contract’: starting point for organizing states in most European countries
Trias politica
, The language of constitutional law
- The state structure
“The way power is distributed amongst the entities of the state”
Unitary state vs federation
o Unitary state
The legislative, executive & judicial branch are centrally focusses and have the
exclusive power to ultimately deal with the adoption, execution & interpretation of
law
o Federation
Unites federated areas that are self-governing whitin the boundaries set by the
federation
Certain level of authority in legislation and government
Provinces, regions, cities, states
Often: constitutional court
- The government system
Monarchy vs republic
o Monarchy
Highest power is invested in 1 person & transferred from generation to
generation
Appointed based on tradition (family ties)
o Republic
Highest power is attributed to political bodies that rule within the
boundaries of a constitution
Headed by a president
Highest legislative power consists of a body that represents the people
(democratic level can differ)
Democracy
“a form of government in which the highest power is vested in the people that are governed”
Direct vs representative democracy
o Direct
The people involved in the decision-making process
o Representative
The people decide who represent them in the decision-making process (legislative
and/or executive branch, not the judiciary)
- About the head of the state
o Exact power can differ
o Especially, in a republic the role of the president can differ
- About the legislature
o Mostly composed by 2 houses
- About the executive branch (Executes the law)
o The government: mostly les by a prime minister and/or president
o Mostly: margin of discretion
o Is controlled by the legislator (budget laws)
1. General introduction
What is law?
Definition of law
- Enforceable
- Rules of conduct
- Imposed by the public authority
- Structuring civil society
The principle is a rule of civility and decent behaviour
Distinction
Mandatory vs default rules of law
- Mandatory rules of law
“Laws that purport to apply irrespective of the law chosen by the parties to govern their
contractual relations”
- Default rules of law
“Rules of law that can be overridden by a legally effective agreement (Gap filler)”
Public policy rules vs mandatory protective rules (mandatory rules of law)
- Public policy rules of law (Ordre Public)
Body of principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. This addresses
the social, moral, and economic values that tie a society together: values that vary in different
cultures and change over time
- Mandatory protective rules
Rules that purport to apply with the aim to protect the economic weaker party to a contract
Sources of law
Where can the rules of law be found?
- Legislation
o Legislation ‘sensu stricto’ (act of parliament)
o Legislation ‘sendu lato’ (treaties, constitution, acts, presidential/royal decrees,
governemental decisions, European regulations or directives
- Jurisprudence (case law)
o Interpretation and application of a general rule of law by a judge or a court of law on
an individual situation
o In continental European law:
No precedent or authority (<-> common law)
Only binding for litigating parties
- Legal doctrine
o The systematic, analytically evaluative exposition of the substance of private law,
criminal law, public law, etc.
o Legal doctrine picks up questions from legal practice and discusses them in a more
general and profound manner.
- Customary law and legal systems of law
Customary law
o Intrinsic to the life and custom of indigenous peoples and local communities .
o Actual importance in modern legal systems is limited
(unwritten) legal principles of law
o They are mostly derived from existing elements of the legal system:
With statutory support
(for example: general principle of “good faith”)
Without statutory support
(for example: reasonableness principle)
, Legal systems
- Civil law systems
“a body of law derived and evolved directly from Roman law, the primary feature of which is
that law are struck in writing, codified, and not determines, as in common law, by the
opinions of judges”
- Common law systems
“a body of law based on the opinions of judges and historic customs”
- Religious law system
Branches of law
Summa divisio: public <-> private law
- Public law
“The law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and those
relationships between individuals which are of direct concern to the society”
o Constitutional law
o Administrative law
o Taw law
o Criminal law
o Procedural law
- Private law
“Private law governs the relationships between individual parties rather than between
individuals and the state”
o Civil law
Civil code (main source of civil law)
o Commercial law
“body of law that apples to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and
business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales (= business law)
2. A - Constitutional law
The purpose of constitutional law
Three types of rules
- Defining the state (boundaries, flag, anthem, …)
- Recognition of rights of the citizens of that state
- Attribution (and limitation) of power to state institutions
Example: The Belgian constitution
- Title I: on federal Belgium, its components and its territory
o Title I bis: On general politics objectives of federal Belgium, the communities and the
Regions
- Title II : On Belgians an their rights
- Title III: On powers
The struggle for power
State power and freedom
- To what extent is the interference of the authorities desirable?
- Idea of ‘social contract’: starting point for organizing states in most European countries
Trias politica
, The language of constitutional law
- The state structure
“The way power is distributed amongst the entities of the state”
Unitary state vs federation
o Unitary state
The legislative, executive & judicial branch are centrally focusses and have the
exclusive power to ultimately deal with the adoption, execution & interpretation of
law
o Federation
Unites federated areas that are self-governing whitin the boundaries set by the
federation
Certain level of authority in legislation and government
Provinces, regions, cities, states
Often: constitutional court
- The government system
Monarchy vs republic
o Monarchy
Highest power is invested in 1 person & transferred from generation to
generation
Appointed based on tradition (family ties)
o Republic
Highest power is attributed to political bodies that rule within the
boundaries of a constitution
Headed by a president
Highest legislative power consists of a body that represents the people
(democratic level can differ)
Democracy
“a form of government in which the highest power is vested in the people that are governed”
Direct vs representative democracy
o Direct
The people involved in the decision-making process
o Representative
The people decide who represent them in the decision-making process (legislative
and/or executive branch, not the judiciary)
- About the head of the state
o Exact power can differ
o Especially, in a republic the role of the president can differ
- About the legislature
o Mostly composed by 2 houses
- About the executive branch (Executes the law)
o The government: mostly les by a prime minister and/or president
o Mostly: margin of discretion
o Is controlled by the legislator (budget laws)
