Non legal rules are derived from
- moral or philosophical beliefs
- Religious beliefs
- Social values
- Rules that have become customary in a community
Legal principles
are statements of the broad fun. Viewpoints that the policy and philosophical direction of an area of law
E.G. A legal principle is that if you are over 18 you can vote in a parliamentary election
Legal rules
are the more detailed mechanisms by which the principles are given effect
E.G. The electoral rules which are attached, e.g. If your address is correct.
Legal system
means all the legal principles and rules that exist in a particular country.
Common law vs civil law
common law is adversarial ( a dispute)
civil law is isquisitorial (based on codes)
What function does the law serve?
- That if you pay for goods or services you will be provided with them (consumer law)
- That if you own property nobody else is able to inhabit it without your permission (property law)
- Driving on the road is made safer by the requirement that every driver have a valid drivers license (administrative law, criminal law)
Encourages and discourages certain conduct:
- Criminal law discourages violent behaviour in society
- Intellectual property law encourages business to register their design or patents
- Corp law discourages directors from abusing position of power
Grants rights and powers to individuals and groups of people
- A party to a contract has the right to enforce the other against the other party if they refuse to honour their obligations (contract law)
- Creditors have the power to wind up a company if it is unable to pay its debts (corp law)
- Cons have the right to have defective goods replaced or refunded when a replacement item is unavailable (consumer law)
Imposes obligations on ind/ org to meet their legal responsibilities:
- Food producers must ensure that their products are safe to consume (consumer law)
- Cyclists must be careful not to harm pedestrians by riding negligently (tort law)
- Council members must make dec that conform to protocols and do not extent beyond their official power (admin law)
Allows enforcement of recognised rights and duties:
- police are allowed to arrest ind who commit crimes (criminal law)
- ATO is given power to inv a false dec on a tax return (admin law, taxation law)
- The comm minister can impose mandatory safety stand for consumer goods or product related services (admin law, consumer law)
Provides remedies when an injustice has been done:
- Damages can be awarded when an ind has been harmed by negligent conduct (tort law)
- A customer can be provided with a replacement item when the item was purchased defective (consumer law)
- An order of specific perf can be made when a party to a contract refuses to honour an important term of the contract (contract law)
