Essential elements of legal systems

1.

Corporate and Business Law (F4)
Essential elements of
legal systems
Introductory Lecture
Shynar Altynbekova

2.

Economic, political and legal systems
The inter-relationship between economic, political and legal systems
What is Law & Economics?
The law and the economy interact in many ways. Whereas private
law assists individuals and groups who are willing to enter into
agreements in a free market, public law seeks to correct the
outcomes of a free market system by means of economic and
social Economists themselves should be informed about the legal
environment in which economic activities must be conducted, while
lawyers should be aware of the economic effects of current legal
rules and the expected outcome under a different legal regime.
Law & Economics meshes together two of society’s fundamental
social constructs into one subject, allowing a multi-faceted study of
significant problems which exist in each subject.

3.

4.

Economic systems
There are three main types of economic system:
Planned
Market
Mixed

5.

Planned
Planned – where decisions and choices are made by the government, e.g. how
natural resources in the country are to be used and what prices should be
paid for them.
Planning in developed countries: origins and
objectives
Since the end of World War II in 1945, most
noncommunist developed countries have practiced
some explicit form of economic plan. Such
countries include Belgium, Canada, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

6.

Market
A market economy can be defined as an economic system where the production and
prices are determined by market forces rather than a central authority.
The United States, England, and Japan are
all examples of market economies.

7.

Mixed
Mixed – which is a mixture of the two types above (in practice, most countries
have a mixed economy, and what makes the difference is the proportion
between market forces and planned economy in that country)
Countries like England, France, and India follow the mixed economic system where
both, the state and private players, have control over the resources of distribution.

8.

9.

Political systems
Politics refers to how countries are managed.
A country might be run by a dictator (political system: a dictatorship) and individual freedom
might be heavily regulated
In contrast, a country might be run by an elected body (political system:
democracy) and individuals may be more free to regulate their own lives, still
being subject to an overall body of law made by the elected government.
The nature of the political system:
affects the way that laws are made
affects the way that economies are run.

10.

Legal systems
Legal systems: Law is the body of rules that exists in a society,
under which its members operate.
Law is therefore:
usually understood in ‘local’ rather than ‘global’ terms
historically in writing as societies changed from tribal/family
government to nation states
often outlined in basic terms in a country’s constitution
made by the people governing the country.

11.

Legal systems
There are three broad ‘types’ of legal system which operate in the
world:
Common law (e.g. in the UK and the US)
Civil law (e.g. in France and Germany)
Sharia law (for example, in Pakistan and Iran).

12.

Separation of powers
Separation of powers is the ancient constitutional principle that different ‘powers’ involved in
the government of a state should be separate from one another. The fear was that if two or more
‘powers’ in the same state get into the same hands, then they are likely to rule as tyrants. Many
modern dictators bear out this observation. The concept is understood in various ways.
Modern thinking analyses the ‘powers’ of government as being three:
- a legislature to make the law,
- executive to implement it,
- a judiciary to interpret it in cases of dispute.
What varies is how (if at all) the principle is applied – are the organisations involved to be separate,
the personnel different in each ‘power’, no organisation to be able to control another – or some
combination of those.

13.

Different legal systems
Types of law
Each country has its own set of national laws which regulate how entities relate to
each other and to the state. International law on the other hand reflects the
interrelationship of states and will seek to resolve problems where there is a
conflict of national laws.
Each country will also distinguish between civil and criminal law.

14.

The Difference between Civil and Criminal Law
Criminal law involves regulations enacted and enforced by government
action, while civil law provides a remedy for individuals who need to
enforce private rights against other individuals. Some examples of civil law
are family law, wills and trusts, and contract law.

15.

16.

Conflicts of laws

17.

Common law
Common law derives from the body of law built up in England between 1066AD
and 1400AD. It has been exported to various countries, notably the USA.
Key principles of common law:
Principles of law do not become inoperative through lapse of time (therefore a
principle applied in a court case of 1066AD may be relevant to a case today).
New laws developed by the legislature are presumed not to alter the existing
law (unless they state that they do so).
Judges apply the law and must apply decisions reached in previous cases
subject to certain conditions, e.g. that there is no material difference
between the cases in question. This is the doctrine of judicial precedent,
which is an important concept in common law.