Cases are legal decisions based on a specific set of facts involving parties who have a real interest in the controversy. ConstitutionsThe founding documents of the legal system of each nation-state. are the basis for other laws of a state or nation and form the legislative, executive and legal framework of the country. Among the nations of the world, the United States has the oldest constitution still in use. It is difficult to change, which is why there were only seventeen changes after the first ten in 1789; Two-thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate must pass amendments, and three-quarters of states must approve them. On the other hand, the West has long been seen as an example of economic growth and commercial success, which are closely linked to the efficiency of the legal and judicial system. The conduct of business and trade requires laws and regulations, and more importantly, there must be a mechanism to enforce these laws and regulations. “Law is the command of a sovereign” represents which school of legal thought? For more information about legal systems, see this article from Florida State Law Review, this article from the University of Berkeley Law Review, and this article from the Louisiana State University Law Review. Other legal and political systems are very different from the American system, which derives from the traditions of English common law and the framers of the American Constitution. Our legal and political traditions differ both in the type of laws we pass and respect and in the way disputes are resolved in court. Countries that follow a civil justice system are usually those that were former French, Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies or protectorates, including much of Central and South America.
Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe and East Asia also follow a civil law structure. Most judicial decisions that do not apply legislative acts (so-called laws) concern one of the three areas of law: property, contract or tort. Property law deals with the rights and obligations of those who can legally own land (immovable property), how such property can be legally confirmed and protected, how property can be bought and sold, the rights of tenants and the different types of land “estates” (e.g. fee simple, life assets, future interest, easements or rights of way B. Contract law deals with the types of promises that courts should enforce. For example, should the courts enforce a contract where one of the parties was drunk, underage or mentally ill? Should the courts enforce a contract if one of the parties appears to have an unfair advantage? What types of contracts should be written to be enforced in court? The law on damages deals with the types of cases that involve a certain type of damage and/or prejudice between the plaintiff and the defendant in the absence of a contract. So if you are slandered or a competitor lies about your product, your remedy would be a tort, not a contract. We could look at existing laws, guidelines, which take the form of general rules to be followed in the nation-state or its subdivisions. Laws control judicial decisions or the common law, but are subject to (and are controlled by) constitutional law – decrees, regulations or court decisions – in a manner precise enough to know what the law says. For example, we could look at the published speed limits on most U.S.
highways and conclude that the “right” or “right” speed does not exceed fifty-five miles per hour. Or we could look a little deeper and find out how the written law is usually enforced. In this way, we could conclude that sixty-one miles per hour are generally authorized by most state troops, but that sometimes someone receives a ticket for fifty-seven miles per hour within a fifty-five miles per hour zone. Both approaches are empirical, but not strictly scientific. The first approach, which examines exactly what the rule itself says, is sometimes called the “positivist” school of legal thought. The second approach, based on the social context and actual behaviour of key law enforcement actors, is similar to the “legal realist” school of thought (see Section 1.2.3 “Other Schools of Legal Thought”). Legal systems vary considerably in their objectives and in the way they deal with civil and criminal cases. Common law systems use juries, have a judge and respect precedents. Civil law systems adjudicate cases without a jury, often appoint three judges, and often issue shorter opinions without reference to cases that have already been decided. There are various sources of law in the U.S. legal system. The Constitution of the United States is fundamental; American law and common law must not conflict with its provisions.
Congress creates the legal law (with the signature of the president), and the courts will interpret the constitutional law and the law. Where there is no constitutional or statutory law, the courts work in the common law domain. The same applies to the law in the fifty states, each of which also has a constitution or a fundamental law. At the local level, counties and municipal corporations or municipalities may be empowered under a state constitution to issue or issue ordinances. Examples of ordinances include local building codes, zoning laws and misdemeanors, or violations such as skateboarding or jaywalking. Many of the most unusual laws that make headlines from time to time are local ordinances. For example, in Logan County, Colorado, it is illegal to kiss a sleeping woman; In Indianapolis, Indiana, and Eureka, Nebraska, it`s a crime to kiss if you have a mustache. But according to reports, some states still have strange laws here and there. Kentucky law states that every person in the state must take a bath at least once a year, and it is illegal not to do so.
Two common patterns are that of the presidential system and that of the parliamentary system. The former merges ceremonial and political power into a single office, with its holder elected directly and completely separately from the legislature: it is therefore quite possible (and common in the United States) for the president of one party and a majority of the legislature to belong to another party. It separates the executive and legislative powers, so neither institution can dissolve the other: the president is impeached only for serious crimes in which the legislature acts as a court. The president appoints ministers for confirmation by the legislature, but there is no collective responsibility of cabinet. The president usually has veto power over laws, which can only be overridden by a special parliamentary majority. On the other hand, the decisive power of taxation lies with the legislator. In the United States, all state procedural laws must be fair, since the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states that no state may deprive a citizen of “life, liberty, or property” without due process. (The $200 fine plus court fees is designed to deprive you of property, i.e.
money, if you break the speed limit.) Federal laws must also be fair because the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution has exactly the same procedural language as the Fourteenth Amendment. This suggests that some laws are more powerful or more important than others, which is true. The following section examines the different types of positive law and their relative importance. There are hundreds of legal systems in the world. At the global level, international law is of great importance, whether through the practice of sovereign States or through agreement between them in the form of treaties and other agreements. Some transnational entities, such as the European Union, have created their own legal structures. At the national level, the United Nations has more than 180 sovereign States. Many of them are federal and their components may have their own additional laws.
In the early years of our country, federal courts were not as active or important as state courts. States have jurisdiction (the power to legislate and enforce) over the most important aspects of cases. The power of state law has historically included the resolution of the following types of issues and claims: Therefore, the importance of an effective judicial and legal system for the continued success of market economies cannot be overstated.