RSS FeedDivisions among Private Law
Private Law can be divided into property and obligations. The latter is further divided into contracts, torts, and unjust enrichment (restitution).
The bulk of first-year courses (property, contracts and torts), are therefore comprised primarily of private law, or regulations governing the relationships between individuals.
Divisions among Contracts
The major areas of study in Contracts are enforceability, excuses for non-performance, remedies, and effects on third parties.
Components of enforceability typically include a bargain, agreed upon exchange, and constituent parts of a bargain.
Excuses for non-performance are usually characterized by mistakes, unfairness, public policy, or non-performance by the other party.
Two types of remedies exist: specific and monetary, the former consisting of an order of performance, the latter seeking compensation through money. Contracts can be distinguished from Torts in that it seeks to restore the plaintiff’s position to that of if the contract was performed, whereas Torts simply seeks out-of-pocket losses.
Areas of study within the effects on third parties include agency, or the power of one person to act on behalf of another, and assignment, the transfer of contractual rights.
3 Types of Divisions among Torts
Torts can be divided according to the defendant’s state of mind into intentional wrongs, negligence, and strict liability. Intentional Torts include assault and battery, trespass to land and goods, and conversion and detinue.
Torts can also be divided by the interests of the plaintiff: injury to the person, injury to the property, injury to the reputation, and interference with the use of land.
Yet another way of dividing Torts is by the defendant’s actions, such as liability of animals, liability for products, liability of occupiers and owners of property, and employer’s liability.
Forget About Restitution (for now)
Unjust enrichment, or restitution, is typically not covered in first-year courses, typically because it requires a thorough knowledge of the basics of Private Law.
Although not studied in depth at this time, the main categories of unjust enrichment are mistake, benefit through wrongful act or breach, benefit under compulsion, and emergent situations.
Types of Crimes in Canada
Crimes in Canada
Serious offences in Canada under Criminal Law are called indictable, some of which are triable by judge and jury.
Less serious crimes are called summary offences, and are triable only by magistrate or judge.
Other Jurisdictions
In the U.S., and in earlier common law cases, crimes are divided slightly differently into treasons, felonies, and misdemeanors.
Different Punishment for Theft
There is also a distinction between different types of theft under the Criminal Code (s. 334). Theft over $5,000 is punishable by imprisonment for ten years, and theft under $5,000 is punishable by imprisonment for two years.
Does International Law Even Exist?
International Law, probably one of the most highly politicized and disputed areas within legal studies, is significantly different from domestic national laws in one important way.
Whereas all states have courts, jails, etc. as methods of enforcing legal statutes, there is no such comparable structure between nations at the international level.
Some precursors do exist, such as the ICC and the ICJ, but such courts do not have universal jurisdiction and cannot enforce judgements on any unwilling party. Other bodies, such as the UN, are notorious for having resolutions consistently ignored by influential states exerting their own national interests above and beyond that of the international community.
Even more contentious are challenges of pre-emptive strikes or regime changes, as advocated by the current American regime following previous recommendations found in the report by the Project for the New American Century.
Jurists therefore struggle with the notion of an illegal war that cannot be legally prevented.
Critics easily assert that if all nations were to behave in this manner it would result in mass chaos. While technically correct, the reality is that there are few players that can unilaterally behave in this manner in the current political landscape.
For all of these reasons, there are some who suggest that international law does not operate in the same manner as that of other areas of law. Quincy Wright has stated that international law,
…as understood by traditionalists it appears to be obsolete, and as understood by the modernists it appears to be premature.
However, advocates demonstrate that there are countless examples of domestic laws that are not followed or enforced, and that this criterion should not be used to exclude international law from the field of legal studies. Furthermore, the development of globalization has resulted in enormous growth of international trade law, which is typically adhered to more strictly.
Canada struggles with its own cases of international trade, as with the softwood lumber dispute. Law students examining these conflicts will no doubt be similarly frustrated by the lack of enforcement, but there is little argument that the solution to these problems continues to be a legal one.
