CIVIL LAW
INTRODUCTION TO LAW
WHAT IS LAW
notion of law
influence of ethics morality and religion
main features of legal rules
general and impersonal
external
parliament
government
cohesive
mandatory
preventive sanctions
repressive sanctions
compensatory sanctions
by default
notion of rights
Objective law
Subjective rules
Who are the subjects?
natural persons
legal persons
classification of law
private law
civil law
criminal law
property law
commercial law
public law
administrative law
constitutional law
Notion of legal system
customs/religious legal systems
commun law
Legal precedents (Jurisprudence)
civil law
based on roman law
written legislation (codified)
French sources of law (Kelsen's pyramid)
Constitution
International treaties
Statutes
European statutes
EU council / EU parliament
regulations
directives
French Statutes
parliament "proposition"
Government "project"
Regulatory acts
Ordonnance president
decret 1st and other ministers
arrete secretary of state, mayor or prefect
Jurisprudence
Doctrine
pluralistic systems
HOW IS LAW IMPLEMENTED AND ENFORCED?
the judiciary system: courts = from for disputes to be heard/ jugements to be provided
shared principles
who is the juge?
specialised jurisdictions lay judges
labour tribunal
trade tribunal
competent forum?: the legal ability of a court to exert jurisdiction over a person that is the subject of a suit.
ratione materiae (material criteria)
nature of dispute
==> amount of the claims
ratione loci (geographic criteria)
jurisdiction of the defendant's place of residence
immovable goods
the French example
Public Law
conseil d'état
advisory
cour de cassation
exclusive jurisdiction
elections
court of appeal
administrative tribunal
Private Law
Civil Law
tribunal de grande instance (+10 000)
civil disputes between private persons not allocated to any other civil court
Tribunal d'instance
exclusive jurisdiction for disputes such as unpaid rent.
easy to access (all civil cases)
Tribunal de commerce
disputes between private persons and traders or between traders and commercial companies
commercial transactions between companies and between individuals
conseil de prud'hommes
individual disputes between employees or apprentices and employers
Criminal Law
contraventions
Tribunal de police
delits
tribunal correctionnel
crimes
cour d'assises
the Uk example
Private law
civil law
Supreme Court
Cout of appeal
High court
Queen's bench: contract law and torts law suits
Chancery division: tax, company law and bankruptcy law, trust law
Family division: family dispute
county court: minor claims
contract: no complex legal issues and value < £15,000
Tort: <£15,000 Except for personal injury cases where the value of the claim can run up to £50,000
criminal law