• Introduction

• Understanding about Subject Legal Method

• Division of Modules
• Teaching Methodology
 Legal Method (Module -1)
1. Meaning, Nature, Scope and Development of Law.
2. Functions of Law- Regulation of Conduct, Remedies,
Policies and Social Engineering.
3. Law and Society- Social, Political and Economic aspects
and law
4. Classification of Law: Public- Private, Criminal- Civil,
Substantive- Procedural, Municipal- International.
• What is Law?

• Law plays different roles in the lives of everyone. A

single word cannot define law.
• There cannot be a word which can equate law. One
can draw analogy to understand law.
• Law is like a temple which is designed so that men
and women can live in his or her palace of peace.
• There is no definition of law. We cannot
define law in one or two sentences.
(Thurman Arnold)
• Law is Dynamic so definition cannot be static.
• Two Major Theories:

1. Positivism (Positive Theory of Law)

2. Divine Law (God made Law)
 Positivism
• Man Made Law
• John Austin
• Law is a command of sovereign backed by
sanction.

• According to Salmond “Law is a body of

principles recognized and applied by the state
in the administration of justice.”
 Natural Law Theory
• Natural Law means human morality comes
from nature.
• Definition:
• Natural Law means principle of right and
wrong which are inherent in human nature
created by the society or judge.
• Morality is your sense of right and wrong.
• According to John Chipman Gray, “the Law of the
State or of any organised body of men is composed
of the rules which the courts, that is judicial organ
of the body lays down for the determination of legal
rights and duties.” His definition also received
criticism that his definition focused neither on
nature of law nor on statute laws.
 Are Laws Necessary?

• Now, thinking upon the point: why do we need law? Is it even required?
• “We talk while we are mobile, some of us drink like fish from the wine lake and
smoke like bush fire and literally are buried under butter mountain while our
compatriots are hungry, we are always in haste and have no time for others.”
These lines do summarise the ideas of need of law.
• Law acts as a medicine to cure the sufferer. We all must be aware that a condition
of lawlessness is neither desirable for the nation, nor for the individual.
• Civilisation has developed the humans, not only in emotions but also in
technology. So, at every new turn, we require a law to help us move forward in
society. When politicians prove to be a dark horse, then the law is required.
• Lord Dylan said,” to live outside the law, you must be honest.” The words within
the quotes are absolutely right because if everyone is honest then there will be
no need for law. There would have been peace all around but we all know that
this is not the reality. We require more and more laws because we are
progressing at a very fast pace though inside we are regressing.
What is the main aim of Law?
We now know that laws are necessary but what is the aim of law. How
will they benefit the society?
Law acts as an instrument to provide justice. Various theorists harped
upon the main aspect of justice. They equated law with justice.
But why is law required to ensure justice? In order to answer the
question Thomas Hobbes in his book Leviathan says, “To this war of
every man, against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can
be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have
there no place. When there is no common power, there is no law:
where no law, no injustice.” So, it can be concluded that in order to
have justice, law is needed.
This now poses another question that What if law proves to be
inefficient and no justice is provided? What will be the situation if law
turns out to be biased?
• Nature and Scope of Laws
• What is the nature of law or what is the essence of
law is a long disputed question. Various Greek
thinkers have already raised several questions on
the topic and the answer is still not clear. That
does not mean that there is no clear answer but
there is not a complete answer which can be
claimed to be absolute.
• Nature of law is different according to different
school of laws.
• Still some points are common in each school of
law.
• Set of Rules or Principles
• To regulate human conduct
• It is an instrument or tool
 Kinds Of Law
• Imperative Law
• Eternal/Physical Law
• Natural law
• Conventional Law
• Customary law
• Practical or technical law
• International law
• Civil law/State Law
• General and Special Law
• Substantive and Procedural Law
 Meaning
• Imperative law – the command of the sovereign must be general and the
observance of law must be enforced by some authority.
• Physical or scientific law – these are laws of science which are the
expression of the uniformities of nature.
• Natural or moral law – Natural law is based on the principles of right and
wrong whereas Moral laws are laws based on the principles of morality.
• Conventional law – system of rules agreed upon by persons for the
regulation of their conduct towards each other.
• Customary law – any system of rules which are observed by men as a
custom and has been in practice since time immemorial.
• Practical or technical law – rules meant for a particular sphere by human
activity.
• International law – rules which regulate the relations between various
nations of the world.
• Civil law – the law enforced by the State.
 Classification of Law
International Law Municipal Law

Public INL Private INL

Public Law Private Law Procedural Law

Public Law Private Law Procedural Law

Constitutional Law
Administrative Law
Labour Law
Taxation Law
Civil and Criminal Law Contract law
Property Law
CPC,CRPC
Family Law
Tort Law
 Functions Of Law
• To define governmnet and its different organs
• To protect the interets of individualsand also
protect them from government
• To protect minority from majority
• Setting standards of conduct
• To create orderly and systematic change
• Rather than revolution or anarchy
• To resolve dispute peacefully
• To Punish wrong doers
• To compensate victims
 Contd…
• To impose reasonable taxing system for the
government
• To manage ,regulate and reallocate respources for the
overall development of country
• To foster stability, reliability ,peace, security ,harmony
law and order ,predictability etc in the society.
• To promote health and safety of every individual.
• Control political system
• Regulation of economic activity
• International relations
VARIOUS
SCHOOLS
OF LAW
Jurisprudential Schools of Law
Jurisprudence refers to the study of law. It can also be
called as a science which deals with creation, exploration
and enforcement of laws. The word is derived from juris
prudential which means knowledge of the law. If one
understands the theories and philosophies then one can
get a better understanding of law. Legal thoughts can be
viewed from the angle of different schools of
jurisprudence which are given below.
Positivist School
According to Positivist school, law is the command of the
sovereign. It says that decisions can be made logically from
predetermined cases and ignoring the moral aspects. It is also
called Analytical school.
This school says there isn’t a connection between law and morality.
For example, Judges may not want the landlord to evict the elderly
old lady from the land on which the rent is overdue. Though the
laws may say that if the rent is not paid, the defaulter has to vacate
the land. Positivist law school says that judges should decide cases
in accordance to law and keeping aside their morals.
It believes that integrity of law is maintained through neutral
judiciary. Law is what is laid down. What ought to be the law factor
should be ignored.
Also, basis of law should be maximum happiness of maximum
people.
Historical School
“Law is the product of social consciousness.” This social
consciousness started even before sovereignty. It started from
the very beginning of the society. Sir Henry Maine, Edmund
Burke are the renowned jurists.
The Historical school is based on Volksgeist theory. It says law
is based on the general will of the people. It grows as the
nation grows. Also, a law which is suitable for one set of
people may be useless for the other which gives us the point
that there is no universal application of law. The laws are
based upon the local customs, local behaviour and the current
thought processes of the society. All these affect law and
makes it a peaceful society.
The theory focuses a lot on the past. However, it mentions that
laws must change with time. Laws must be what the society
demands.
Natural School
Natural law is a philosophy that focuses on the laws of the nature. It
says that there are some laws which all humans deserve as they are
inherent in society. It opposes the positivist theory. A lot of emphasis
is placed on morals and ethics of the society.
It is based on the reasons they make for deciding between good and
evil.
Immanuel Kant, Hegel and Grotius are eminent jurists. They regarded
law neither as command of the sovereign nor a product of
consciousness rather based on rationality and reasonableness.
The main aim of Philosophical school or Natural school is to elevate
humans from evil and raise them to do good.
Even in Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights of US
Constitution, Thomas Jefferson has cited Natural Law theory calling it
“the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”
Sociological School
This school emerged as a synthesis of many jurist’s thoughts. This
school of thought lay emphasis on functional part of law rather
than the abstract part of law.
They regarded law as a social institution. They believed that laws
are not created by state. Laws come from society. The laws are
not sanctioned by the state but by the awareness on the part of
people.
These laws establish an interconnection between society and
laws. Both Historical and Philosophical schools caused a hindrance
to social and legal reforms, as a result Sociological school was
formed.
This school is the only school of jurisprudence which has a
definite program which the other schools do not have. They
placed a lot of emphasis on the concept of justice.
Realism School
This school of law emphasises a lot on what courts may do
rather than the abstract ideas. Law exists as a matter of
reality.
Allen observed that “fermentation is necessary in legal
chemistry for without it the liquor of” the law becomes sour
and stale. This takes into account the customary practices
and circumstances for providing with a new law. The theory
can be understood with descriptive way or prescriptive way
or both.
In this it is believed that law is a body of government for the
administration of justice. Like Positivist theory, this also sees
law as will of the state but it is done through administration
of justice.
Comparative School
Professor Kecton considers, “the development of Comparative
Jurisprudence is the development of two or more systems of
law.” However, the term has one meaning.
As historical school is concerned with time, this school is
concerned about space. It collects and examines rules that are
prevalent and the man who agree and disagree with the system
and tries to find a system which is natural. Natural system will be
the system what all men wanted to have but due to different
laws couldn’t.
Comparative Jurisprudence does a comparative analysis and aids
Historical as well as an Analytical School of Law.
Evolution of Law
Christianity and Law
Many centuries ago, it was believed that according to
Christianity, God and Old Testaments created the law. Law was
a set of rules written by God. People believed in Divine power.
Also, it was believed that only if the laws are considered to be
sacred then it will be followed.
Christians placed a lot of emphasis on morals. They believed
that if the foundations of law are weak, then society will easily
revise them according to their needs. The laws will become
crooked according to man’s selfish needs.
As Christians, it was believed that the omniscient, omnipotent,
omnipresent loving God is the world’s Lawgiver (Psalm 127:1).
He provides Himself as an absolute basis for law. The Christian
system of law did not change according to the whims and
remained static.
Christianity did not neglect human rights. It ensured certain
human rights that are written in the Bible. The Bible has
certain instructions specified and He commands us to follow
them. The Bible tells us what God believes to be good and
what He wants from us: “to do justify, and to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).
It was believed that one can hoodwink man’s laws but no one
can escape from God’s punishment.
This theory led to diverse views. The people who believed in
God were questioned by others. People questioned them
because there was no evidence of God coming to earth and
formulating the laws.
As a result, the definition changed over time. Later people
started believing more in themselves than in the supreme
commander. The meaning of law became closer to humans.
The definition shifted its emphasis from God to lawmakers.
Sovereignty and Law
There was a time when people believed in command of the sovereign. Various
Political philosophers have their own controversial statements related to
sovereignty. It was regarded as absolute. No power is above superior.
Another feature is, that it was considered to be permanent. It did not end with the
death of the king, rather the eldest son of the king became the next ruler, the
principle of primogeniture.
Now, this poses a question what if the new king is inefficient? No one had the right
to remove the king.
Starting with Austin’s theory which meant that sovereignty is the command given
by superior to inferior. So, whatever the King proclaimed can be considered as law
and should not face any revolt. Divisibility of power was not allowed. The ultimate
power rested with the king and he was the one who imposed all the laws on the
society.
If there was only one person who made all the laws, is he competent enough to
frame laws for all the sectors of the society? The laws made by King could not be
questioned. Whatever the king said, prevailed.
So, what if a particular sector of society is unhappy with the existing law? They had
no right to question the king. Thus, Austin’s theory focused on supremacy. A few
lines from a poem which can elaborate on his theory-
However, Hans Kelsen believed in the idea to end sovereignty. He
gave his new definition.
He believed that there was no need for the word sovereignty to
understand the meaning of law and to locate the applications of
legal norms. He believed that legal norms are not valid because
they are given by sovereign or compatible with moral laws. He
discarded the theory that sovereignty is the ultimate source of
law.
It is believed that where there is sovereignty there is no law and
where there is law, there is no sovereignty.
Therefore, times changed and people realised that whatever King
ordered should not be proclaimed as law. Rather, they should
have the freedom to choose their ruler or decide whom they
want to be ruled by. So, sovereignty part was disregarded by
time.
Modern time and Law
Law in modern time is dynamic. Law is what the judges say. Law
evolved from religious books to Kings proclamation to what it is
today.
Law in the modern times is influenced by time and places. A crime
in one place may be an ordinary act of another. Thus, nothing is
wrong or right, it is now the law of the state which governs the
act. It is customs, practices and habits that become law.
Different culture punishes different things, which means that
different rules guide different laws of the land. The punishment
for a crime varies from one country to the other.
For instance, punishment for negligent driving, witch branding,
adultery is different at different places. Though main aim of the
present laws is to provide justice to the one in need. Also, no one
is condemned unheard which leads to the idea that justice is
given after hearing both the sides.
Law is defined as, “a set of special legal rules, enforceable by the courts,
regulating the government of the state, relationship between the organs of
the state and relationship or conducts subjects towards each other.” It is a
body of rules made by the legislature.
In fact, laws are the rules that bind human together. Without laws, man can
become worse than an animal. Law is a necessity for the nation to prosper.
The rules are made by man, enforced by man, on the man.
Law can only be enforced by the majority. When there is general support, law
enforces itself. A body is elected which frames the law for everyone. People
have to be governed by law to avoid illegal and immoral acts.
Even in ancient times there were certain customs which acted as laws. In
other words, it can be said that law can be called as the supreme force which
acts as a catalyst between society and illegal practices.
Also, every single person has his own definition for the three-letter word.
Even the judges that make law, give judgements according to time.
For instance, Section 377 which was a crime before was ruled out in
September 2018 and was legalised in the nation. Although there are still
many nations where gay marriages are criminalised. In other words, we can
say that, what is a law today can be criminalised tomorrow. This is what
makes the nature of law dynamic.
The current generation requires law the most. Though laws are filled with flaws i.e. Every
law has some deficiency but law is what limits and coerces the majority. If it is necessary,
it is required for survival and sustenance.
So, just imagine a day without law. A hell lot of problems will arise if there is not any law.
We humans are filled with self-interest and our selfishness will override every single thing
on this planet. There will be misery all around. There will be war of all against all. Thus,
law acts as a guard of all the negative human emotions of life. Law are guidelines which
are required to be followed.
Also, law and ethics go together. In some ways, ethics governs law. Most of the
judgements are given keeping in mind the ethical values of the society. Law and ethics,
both help in providing the solutions, like what they should do and what they should not in
a certain situation.
Even thinkers were aware of the importance of law. Greek thinkers believed that the end
of the state is the good life, both for individuals and society so for that law is needed,
which is backed by the common interest of all the people.
 The answer to the above question is: For every judgement passed by the
court there are amendments which ensures that law moves with time. It
changes with the changing demands of the society. Also, take the infamous
Nirbhaya case which shook the nation. There were no such case laws related
to juvenile offenders. After the happening, a panel was formed which
recommended tougher punishments for sexual violence. In other words, if a
law proves to be of not so use, amendments are made in it. Same is the case
of section 377, when it was proved that the law needs to be changed, the
Supreme Court gave a green signal and decriminalised the 150+ year old
practice.

This is not allowed as man is considered to be selfish. He will think of his

self-interests and not of the society. He will think only of himself, which will
aggravate the situation. This will later lead to agitation and violence which
will eventually result in mob lynching as not all the sector’s needs will be
taken up.
Thus, there is a need for a body to make laws for everyone keeping aside the
biases. Also, Supreme court of India, in July 2018, passed a judgement ensuring
that justice is the law’s business and not mob’s. Furthermore, the Indian
constitution guarantees justice for all.
 Conclusion
Law is an instrument of positive social change and also as a means
of changing existing social arrangements. It acts as a catalyst
change agent.
Law has influenced literature. Shakespeare has mentioned law
more than any other profession in his plays. That is to say, Law is so
important that it has its impact even in literature.
Lawyers can look into literature as a rich source of certain forms of
knowledge. Law is what everyone of us look forward to.
Law may prove to be deterrent at times, but its main purpose is to
provide justice. Law means a strong order in the society. All this
can be provided by government. All things considered, law is the
most crucial part of the state. It is the supreme power of the state
commanding what is right and what is wrong.
Although law has one syllable and has only three letters yet the
word can be understood in various ways.
 Functions of Law
Ever since the down of Human civilization, mankind has had
some sort of rule or that they used to Govern itself in society
laws set the standard in which we should live in if we want to be
part of society. Law set up rules and regulations for society so
that we can freedom, gives Justice to those who were wronged,
and it set up that it protects us from our own Government.
Most importantly the law also provides a mechanism to resolve
disputes arising from those duties and rights and allows parties
to enforce promises in a court of law (Corley and Reed 1986
P.A) According to Corley and Reed (1986) law is a body of rules
of action or conduct Prescribed by controlling authority, and
having legal binding forces. Laws are created because it helps
prevent chaos from happening within the business environment
and as well as society. In business law sets guide lines regarding
employment regulatory, compliance, even inter office
regulations.
 Social engineering

Man is a social animal and society is needed to live life, work and
enjoy life. A group of individuals forms a society. Society has become an
indispensable condition for human life to develop its personality. Therefore, society
and human life always go hand in hand. Every human being is also born with certain
desires and expectations which are inherent in nature. From childhood to old age,
every human being expects his wish to be fulfilled, for which a conflict of his desires
or claims arises, which falls under the term of interest. It is impossible to fulfill all the
desires of man. Hence the concept of social engineering has come up to fulfill the
desire of maximum human beings for the welfare of society and which was
formulated by Roscoe Pound.
The Concept of Social Engineering:-
Roscoe Pound was one of the greatest leaders
of the sociological school of jurisprudence. He introduced the doctrine of “social
engineering” which aims to build an efficient structure of society resulting in the
satisfaction of maximum wants with the minimum of friction and waste. This involved
a rebalancing of competing interests.
According to Pound, sociological jurisprudence should ensure that lawmaking,
interpreting and applying law take account of social facts. Pound linked the lawyer’s
work to engineering. The purpose of social engineering is to build as much of a
scientific structure of society as possible, which requires the satisfaction of the
maximum of wants and with the minimum of friction and waste. It is the job of a
jurist to assist the country by identifying and classifying interests that are protected
by law.
Roscoe Pound’s social engineering theory is an American correlation to the interests
of German jurisprudence. Roscoe Pound described the work of modern law as social
engineering. Social engineering refers to the balance of competing interests in
society. He observed: “Law is the body of knowledge and experience with the aid of
which a large part of social engineering is carried on. It is more than the body of
rules. It has conceptions and standards for conduct and for the decision, but it has
also doctrines and modes of professional thought and professional rules of art by
which the precepts for conduct and decision are applied and given effect. Like an
engineer’s formulae, they represent experience, scientific formulations of experience
and logical development of the formulations, but also inventive skill in conceiving
new devices and formulating their requirements by means of a developed
technique.”
Jurisprudence thus becomes a science of social engineering which means a
balance between competing interests in society. Pound assigns the jurist with a
commission. He follows a method that a jurist would follow for social engineering. He
must study the real social implications of legal institutions and legal principles, study
the means of making legal rules effective, a sociological study in preparation for
lawmaking, a study of judicial method, a sociological legal history.
Pound’s theory that interest is the main subject of law and the act of law is the
satisfaction of human wants and desires. It is the function of law to make a ‘valuation
of interests’, in other words, to make a selection of socially more valuable interests
and to secure them. All this is nothing more than an experiment. That is why
[Link] describes Pound’s approach as ‘Experimental Jurisprudence’.
Interest Theory:-
To understand their real theory, one need not deviate from the
wealth of information, which is worth more than half a century of academic work.
Pound’s real contribution to the school of sociopolitical jurisprudence is indeed in his
discussion of “legal interests” and “jural postulates”.
Legal Interest:-
According to Pound, there are three categories of legal interests,
namely private (individual), public and social interests.
Individual interests are “claims or demands or desires immediately involved in
personal life and are vocal in the title of that life.” Individual interests are emphasized
for personal life titles. This logically leads to the fact that as these interests by and
large only involve the individual, interests fall within the purview of private law,
although in actual equilibrium this is a generalization that may not always be true.
The public interest is “assertiveness in a politically organized society and the
claims or demands or desires embodied in life in the title of that
organization. They are generally regarded as the claims of a politically
organized society thought of as a legal entity.” These types of interests are
articulated in the title or for a politically organized society. Political interests
can be generalized within the purview of public law including criminal laws,
although there is clearly an overlap with personal interests.
Social interests were originally included by Pound as a separate and
important set of interests under which they were described as the claims or
demands or desires involved in social life in a civilized society. It is not
uncommon to regard them as claims of such a social group. These interests
have been regularly associated with the concept of security. Thus, an
important part of protection is for society to enjoy an organized legal system
within a political organization, which may also fall in the public interest
because a political organization requires the existence of some legal control
that can be only provided by the legal system. This issue obscures the
difference between public and social interests and the Pound himself points
to the issue.
The three types of interests are differentiated so that they are
balanced against each other, which is the aim of sociological jurisprudence.
However, Pound did not really insist on having these interests completely
separate from each other. As described above, there is a level of distinction
while the overlap between interests is also evident as they are ultimately
three perspectives of a set of interests that exist in terms of unity and
Criticism of the theory:-
Despite Pound’s great contribution to sociological
jurisprudence and his emphasis on studying the actual work of law in society, his
theory suffers from some shortcomings. The Pound’s theory of social engineering
has been criticised on various grounds.
It has been argued that the classification of interests by the Pound is in the
nature of a catalog, in which additions and changes must be made continuously that
are neutral in relation to the value and priority relative to the neutral value. Pound’s
theory of social engineering has been criticized for its use of the term engineering,
which equates society to a factory like a mechanism. Law is a social process rather
than the result of applied engineering. It is also not right to equate society with a
factory because the former is changing and dynamic in nature while the latter is
more or less stable. Again, Pound’s emphasis on engineering ignores the fact that
law evolves and develops in society according to social needs and wants that for
which law can develop in society according to social needs and for which either in
law approval or rejection may occur.
A general criticism against Pound’s theory is about his use of the word
‘engineering’ because it suggests a mechanistic application of the theory to social
needs, the term “engineering” is used by Pound for the metaphor to indicate the
problems that law has to face, the objectives to be met and the method one must
adopt for this purpose.
Municipal Law
• Municipal law is the law of that nation; it is
domestic law that governs the subject of the
state. This is contrary to International law.
This includes state, provincial, regional,
regional or local law of a state. State force is
the approval behind the law. It is generally
regional in nature as it is applied within the
territory of the country itself.
• Municipal law can be divided into: –
• Public law and
• Private law
• International Law
• International law has been incorporated into national law by
various countries such that the United States has declared that all
international law will be part of the nation’s law. Even the UK has
incorporated in its municipal laws and whenever there is a conflict
between international law and municipal law courts, decisions
have to be taken keeping in mind the harmonious construction
between them.

• International law can be classified into four: –

• Customary International law: – These are rules that have been in
force since ancient times between countries such as the law of the
sea.
• Treaty law: – These are rules made by treaties between two or
more countries.
• Public International law: – These are the rules that govern the
conduct and relations of the state with others.
• Private International law: – It contains rules and principles
according to which cases with foreign elements are decided.
• Public Laws
• The activities of the state are regulated by public law. It determines and
controls the organization and functioning of the state and also determines
the relationship of the state with its subjects. The term ‘public’ means a
state or a sovereign part of it or a body, or a person holding a delegated
authority under the state.

• Public law can be further divided into: –

• Constitutional Law: – Law that determines the nature of the state and the
structure of government. It is above and supreme from the general law of
the land. It describes the structure and function of the three organs of the
state. Ordinary law derives its value from constitutional law.
• Administrative Law: – It is the body of law that gives permission for the
creation of public regulatory agencies and includes all the laws, judicial
decisions, and rules. This law is created by administrative agencies and the
purpose is to implement their powers and duties in the form of rules,
regulations, orders and decisions.
• Criminal Law: – It is the body of law that defines criminal offenses,
regulates the cognizance, crate charges and trial of suspects, and also fixes
the methods of punishment and treatment applicable to convicted
[Link] purpose is to stop crime and punish the wrongdoer.
Private Law
• The branch of law that deals with the rights and duties
of private individuals and the relationship between
them. Private law deals with the rights and obligations
of individuals, families, businesses and small groups
and exists to assist citizens in disputes involving
private matters.
• Further classification of private law is as follows: –
• Law of the person
• Property law
• Law of liability conflict of laws
• The law of liability is divided into 3 classes: –
• The contracts
• Quasi-contract
• Torts
Public law Private Law
Public law deals with issues that affect the Private law deals with the rights and
general public or the state – society as a obligations of individuals, families, businesses
whole. and small groups and exists to assist citizens in
disputes involving private matters.

Public law includes interrelationships between Private law includes participation among
the state and the general population. private citizens.

Public law consists of three subdivisions: Private law consists of the law of obligations
Constitutional, administrative and criminal law. and the law of torts.

Public law deals with a larger scope. Private law operates with a more specific
scope.

Public law focuses more on the issues that Private deals more with the issues affecting
affect the general public or the state itself. private individuals, or corporations.
Civil Law and Criminal Law

• Civil Law
• Civil law deals with behavior that causes injury to an
individual or other private party, such as a
corporation. Example of civil law is defamation, breach
of contract, negligence which is resulting in injury or
death, and property damage.
• Criminal Law
• Criminal law deals with behavior that can be
recognized as a crime against the public, society, or
the state – even if the immediate victim is a person.
Examples of the same are murder, assault, theft and
drunk driving.
Civil Law Criminal Law

Civil law is a general law that resolves Criminal law deals with crimes that are
disputes between 2 organizations or committed against society.
individuals.

According to civil law, the wrongdoer has It serves different degrees of punishment
to pay compensation to the affected punished with the crime committed.
organization or person.

Civil law deals with property, money, Criminal law will deal with serious crimes
housing, divorce, custody of a child in the like murder, rape, arson, robbery, assault
event of a divorce, etc. etc.

Civil law is initiated by a person or The government files a petition in a

organization or also known as the criminal law case.
plaintiff. ‘

In the case of civil law, there is no As a matter of criminal law, the

punishment like criminal law, but the punishment is done according to the
aggrieved party receives compensation severity of the offense or a fine can be
and the dispute is resolved. imposed.
• Substantive and Procedural Law
• Substantive law
• This law refers to the body of rules that
determine the rights and obligations of
individuals and collective bodies.
• Procedural Law
• Procedural law establishes the legal rules by
which substantive law is created, enforced
and applied, especially in a court of law.
Substantive Law Procedural Law

It establishes the rights, obligations and It follows the means and methods
duties of other persons or persons with through which adequate legislation is
the state. enforced.

It has independent powers to decide the It has no independent authority to decide

fate of each case the fate of each case.

This law cannot be applied in non-legal This law can be applied in both legal and
contexts. non-legal contexts.

It does not specifically deal with It deals with what is happening inside the
proceedings inside a court court.

These laws are regulated by Acts of These laws are regulated by statutory
Parliament or government laws.
implementation.