Legal Law and Society
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Created by:
milidragz123 on February 15, 2012
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19 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Civil law | laws regulating the behaviour of private individuals |
| criminal law | laws concerned not only with the rights of the individuals directly involved but also with the welfare of society as a whole |
| legal rules | laws created by institutions within the legal system and enforced by the legal system include civil and criminal laws eg ownership of property by establishing our rights the law ensures that all individuals are free to act by establishing our responsibilities the law imposes limits on the actions of individuals that may infringe upon rights of others |
| non-legal rules | rules established within a group but not laws generally enforceable in the community. Members agrees to be bound by the rules, which do not have to force law eg household rules, school rules |
| norms | social expectations within social groups the normal, expected way to behave |
| social cohesion | where members of a community live together with peace, order and harmony by recognising that all people have rights and responsibilities and providing a means to resolve conflicts |
| Laws | laws set out our basic rights and responsibilities |
| Who must obey | Legal rules-deal with the conduct of individuals in society non-legal-apply to select groups in the community eg. sporting team |
| Who makes the rules | legal-parliaments, subordinate authorities, local councils and courts non-legal-individuals or groups (parents, teachers,team captains) make non-legal rules. Sometimes these groups can be formal eg. sporting bodies such as AFL |
| Who enforces the rules | Legal-consequences of breaking legal rules may be imposition of a sanction, such as imprisonment or a community based order, also may be required to pay damages enforced by the court system or by tribunals.Law enforcement agencies and courts enforce criminal laws conflicts occur between individuals concerning their rights under civil law, a court or a tribunal may be asked to resolve the dispute Non-legal- unpleasant consequence but the most hurtful consequence would be to be socially embarrassed. Courts don't enforce non-legal rules. sporting clubs set up their own decision making bodies to resolve disputes. these bodies do not have the same powers as legal courts and tribunals. |
| Who interprets the rules | legal-meaning of a legal rule can only be interpreted by a judge or magistrate in a court or by a member of a tribunal non-legal- by variety of people. |
| Why do we need laws | to maintain social cohesion. law enables us to live together by recognising the rights of ourselves and others. the law places responsibilities on individuals to ensure that their actions don't hurt others. Also provides ways to resolve disputes when they do happen |
| Functions of the law | Law reflects community values-recognises political values, social and moral values, economic values of a community. Laws control the conduct of businesses which ensure the freedom of the market place. Law attempt to ensure that trading is generally carried out cooperatively Law establishes codes of conduct-law needs to set down boundaries of acceptable conduct. Include both criminal and civil law. EG. criminal law prohibits specific acts such as murder, theft Law resolves disputes-must establish ways to resolve disputes when they arise. bodies operate with the aid of the other organisations such as police. Law provides for change-need to be able to meet the changing needs of society. provide for peaceful change |
| Characteristics of an effective law | -the law must be known, knowledge of the law means that people are less likely to break it -the law must be easy to understand, must clearly set out the rights and responsibilities, needs to be written in a way that most people in the community can see what the law means and how it affects the citizens. -the law must be acceptable to the community.law will be seen as acceptable if it reflects the morals and values of the community -the law must be stable-law can't be consistently changing although it doesn't mean the law should never change -the law needs to be applied consistently, law is considered unfair if it is not applied consistently from one case to the next -the law must be enforced, if the law is to regulate behaviour then it must be capable of being enforced -the law needs to be accessible, people have the opportunity to exercise their rights and responsibilities |
| Differences between civil and criminal law | criminal law-concerned with the protection of the community as a whole and punishment of offenders, they will be prosecuted by state if law is broken, the court establish guilty or innocent beyond reasonable doubt, court also determines an appropriate sanction such as imprisonment civil law- concerned with the protection by the law of the private rights of the individuals, people who feel their rights have been infringed by others may sue to obtain a remedy, court will determine if the individuals right's have been infringed, when an individual suffers damage due to the actons of another civil law aims to restore the injured party to their former position by providing a remedy |
| example of legal rule | --- running a red light is a breach of traffic law ---driving under the influence --- |
| example of non-legal rule | ---could be a rule broken in a soccor match ---students must all wear school uniform --- |
| example of norm | ---manners --- |
| Legal and non-legal rules | -----------rules may demand that we behave in a certain way--eg students must wear school uniform, we must drive on the left hand side -----------rules may place restrictions on our behaviour--eg rules may state that you have to be home before a certain time, speed limits -----------rules may prohibit certain types of behaviour--eg prohibit behaviour that may be considered dangerous to others, religions may prohibit work on holidays like christmas |
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