1.
Legislature
–
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
Legislature
–
The
Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's national legislature, meets in the
Legislative Palace in 2010.
2.
Absolute monarchy
–
Absolute monarchy, or despotic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which one ruler has supreme authority that is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs. These are often, but not always, hereditary monarchies, in contrast, in constitutional monarchies, the head of states authority derives from and is legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. Some monarchies have weak or symbolic legislatures and other bodies that the monarch can alter or dissolve at will. Countries where a monarch still maintains absolute power are Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the individual emirates composing the United Arab Emirates, Swaziland, in Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh wielded absolute power over the country and was considered a living god by his people. In ancient Mesopotamia, many rulers of Assyria, Babylonia and Sumer were absolute monarchs as well, in ancient and medieval India, rulers of the Maurya, Satahavana, Gupta and Chalukya Empires, as well as other major and minor empires, were considered absolute monarchs. In the Khmer Empire, the kings were called Devaraja and Chakravartin, in Kingdom of Siam, the kings were esestablished Somburanaya-sittiraj. Throughout Chinese history, many emperors and one empress wielded absolute power through the Mandate of Heaven, in pre-Columbian America, the Inca Empire was ruled by a Sapa Inca, who was considered the son of Inti, the sun god and absolute ruler over the people and nation. Throughout much of European history, the right of kings was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Many European monarchs, such as those of Russia, claimed supreme autocratic power by right. James VI of Scotland and his son Charles I of Scotland and England tried to import this principle, there is a considerable variety of opinion by historians on the extent of absolutism among European monarchs. Some, such as Perry Anderson, argue that quite a few monarchs achieved levels of absolutist control over their states, a widely held story about Louis XIV of France is that he proclaimed Létat, cest moi. What Louis did say was, The interests of the state come first, when one gives these priority, one labors for ones own good. These advantages to the state redounds to ones glory, although often criticized for his extravagances, such as the Palace of Versailles, he reigned over France for a long period, and some historians consider him a successful absolute monarch. More recently, revisionist historians have questioned whether Louis reign should be considered absolute, the King of France concentrated in his person legislative, executive, and judicial powers. He was the judicial authority. He could condemn men to death without the right of appeal and it was both his duty to punish offenses and stop them from being committed. From his judicial authority followed his power both to make laws and to annul them and this law consequently authorized the king to abolish all other centers of power. Most important was the abolition of the Council of the Realm and his actions largely originated the militaristic streak of the Hohenzollern
Absolute monarchy
–
Louis XIV of France
Absolute monarchy
–
Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29th and current
Sultan of Brunei
Absolute monarchy
–
Salman,
King of Saudi Arabia and
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
3.
Common law
–
Common law is the body of law developed from the thirteenth century to the present day, as case law or precedent, by judges, courts, and tribunals. In cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, if a similar dispute has been resolved in the past, the court is usually bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision. Resolution of the issue in one case becomes precedent that binds future courts, stare decisis, the principle that cases should be decided according to consistent principled rules so that similar facts will yield similar results, lies at the heart of all common law systems. A common law system is a system that gives great precedential weight to common law. Common law systems originated during the Middle Ages in England, today, one third of the worlds population live in common law jurisdictions or in systems mixed with civil law. The term common law has many connotations, the first three set out here are the most-common usages within the legal community. Other connotations from past centuries are seen, and are sometimes heard in everyday speech. Blacks Law Dictionary, 10th Ed. gives as definition 1,1, the body of law derived from judicial decisions, rather than from statutes or constitutions, CASELAW, STATUTORY LAW. In this connotation, common law distinguishes the authority that promulgated a law. e, examples include most criminal law and procedural law before the 20th century, and even today, most contract law and the law of torts. Interstitial common law decisions that analyze, interpret and determine the fine boundaries. Publication of decisions, and indexing, is essential to the development of common law, while all decisions in common law jurisdictions are precedent, some become leading cases or landmark decisions that are cited especially often. Blacks 10th Ed. definition 2, differentiates common law jurisdictions, by contrast, in civil law jurisdictions, courts lack authority to act if there is no statute. Judicial precedent is given less weight, which means that a judge deciding a given case has more freedom to interpret the text of a statute independently. For example, the Napoleonic code expressly forbade French judges to pronounce general principles of law. As a rule of thumb, common law systems trace their history to England, blacks 10th Ed. definition 4, differentiates common law from equity. This split propagated to many of the colonies, including the United States, for most purposes, most jurisdictions, including the U. S. federal system and most states, have merged the two courts. Additionally, even before the courts were merged, most courts were permitted to apply both law and equity, though under potentially different procedural law. In the United States, determining whether the Seventh Amendments right to a jury trial applies or whether the issue will be decided by a judge, the standard of review and degree of deference given by an appellate tribunal to the decision of the lower tribunal under review
Common law
–
The
Constitution of India is the longest written constitution for a country, containing 395 articles, 12 schedules, numerous amendments and 117,369 words.
Common law
–
Legal systems of the world. Common law is red.
Common law
–
Sir William Blackstone as illustrated in his
Commentaries on the Laws of England.
4.
Judiciary
–
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes, in some nations, under doctrines of separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make law or enforce law, but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. In other nations, the judiciary can make law, known as Common Law, by setting precedent for other judges to follow, the Judiciary is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law. In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review, Judges constitute a critical force for interpretation and implementation of a constitution, thus de facto in common law countries creating the body of constitutional law. Budget of the judiciary in many transitional and developing countries is almost completely controlled by the executive, the latter undermines the separation of powers, as it creates a critical financial dependence of the judiciary. The proper national wealth distribution including the government spending on the judiciary is subject of the constitutional economics and it is important to distinguish between the two methods of corruption of the judiciary, the state, and the private. For instance, in France, the jurisprudence constante of the Court of Cassation or the Council of State is equivalent in practice with case law, in common law jurisdictions, courts interpret law, this includes constitutions, statutes, and regulations. They also make law based upon prior case law in areas where the legislature has not made law, for instance, the tort of negligence is not derived from statute law in most common law jurisdictions. The term common law refers to this kind of law, in civil law jurisdictions, courts interpret the law, but are prohibited from creating law, and thus do not issue rulings more general than the actual case to be judged. Jurisprudence plays a role to case law. State courts, which try 98% of litigation, may have different names and organization, trial courts may be called courts of common plea, appellate courts superior courts or commonwealth courts. The judicial system, whether state or federal, begins with a court of first instance, is appealed to an appellate court, and then ends at the court of last resort. In France, the authority on the interpretation of the law is the Council of State for administrative cases. In the Peoples Republic of China, the authority on the interpretation of the law is the National Peoples Congress. Other countries such as Argentina have mixed systems that include lower courts, appeals courts, a cassation court, in this system the Supreme Court is always the final authority, but criminal cases have four stages, one more than civil law does. On the court sits a total of nine justices and this number has been changed several times. Japans process for selecting judges is longer and more stringent than the process in the United States, assistant judges are appointed from those who have completed their training at the Legal Training and Research Institute located in Wako. Once appointed, assistant judges still may not qualify to sit alone until they have served for five years, Judges require ten years of experience in practical affairs, as a public prosecutor or practicing attorney
Judiciary
–
Justitia, symbol of the judiciary (statue at Shelby County Courthouse, Memphis, TN, United States)
5.
Statute
–
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city or country. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy, statutes are rules made by legislative bodies, they are distinguished from case law or precedent, which is decided by courts, and regulations issued by government agencies. Statute law is written by a legislative body and signed into law by its executive. Before a statute becomes law in countries, it must be agreed upon by the highest executive in the government. A universal problem encountered by lawmakers throughout human history is how to organize published statutes, such publications have a habit of starting small but growing rapidly over time, as new statutes are enacted in response to the exigencies of the moment. Eventually, persons trying to find the law are forced to sort through a number of statutes enacted at various points in time to determine which portions are still in effect. In turn, in theory, the code will thenceforth reflect the current cumulative state of the law in that jurisdiction. In many nations statutory law is distinguished from and subordinate to constitutional law, statute is also another word for law. The term was adapted from England in about the 18th century, in the Autonomous Communities of Spain, the autonomy statute is a legal document similar to a state constitution in a federated state. The autonomies statutes in Spain have the rank of Ley Organica, leyes Organicas rank between the Constitution and ordinary laws. The name was chosen, among others, to avoid confusion with the term Constitution, in biblical terminology, statute refers to a law given without any reason or justification. The classic example is the statute regarding the Red Heifer. The opposite of a chok is a mishpat, a law given for a reason, e. g. the Sabbath laws, which were given because God created the world in six days. That which upholds, supports or maintains the order of the universe meaning the Law or Natural Law. This is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion, Constitution Legislation Legislature Organic statute Statutory law
Statute
–
Statute of
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, written in
Polish
6.
Municipality
–
It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets. The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are also a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
Municipality
–
The
Ponce City Hall, in the city of
Ponce, is the seat of the government for both the city and the surrounding
barrios making up the municipality.
7.
United States Code
–
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is the official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes of the United States. It contains 52 titles, and a further three titles have been proposed, the main edition is published every six years by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives, and cumulative supplements are published annually. The official version of those laws not codified in the United States Code can be found in United States Statutes at Large, the official text of an Act of Congress is that of the enrolled bill presented to the President for his signature or disapproval. Upon enactment of a law, the bill is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register within the National Archives. After authorization from the OFR, copies are distributed as slip laws by the Government Printing Office, the Archivist assembles annual volumes of the enacted laws and publishes them as the United States Statutes at Large. By law, the text of the Statutes at Large is legal evidence of the laws enacted by Congress, slip laws are also competent evidence. The Statutes at Large, however, is not a convenient tool for legal research and it is arranged strictly in chronological order so that statutes addressing related topics may be scattered across many volumes. Statutes often repeal or amend laws, and extensive cross-referencing is required to determine what laws are in force at any given time. The United States Code is the result of an effort to make finding relevant and effective statutes simpler by reorganizing them by subject matter, the Code is maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U. S. House of Representatives. The LRC updates the Code accordingly, because of this codification approach, a single named statute may or may not appear in a single place in the Code. Often, complex legislation bundles a series of provisions together as a means of addressing a social or governmental problem, for example, an Act providing relief for family farms might affect items in Title 7, Title 26, and Title 43. When the Act is codified, its various provisions might well be placed in different parts of those various Titles, usually, the individual sections of a statute are incorporated into the Code exactly as enacted, however, sometimes editorial changes are made by the LRC. Though authorized by statute, these changes do not constitute positive law, the authority for the material in the United States Code comes from its enactment through the legislative process and not from its presentation in the Code. For example, the United States Code omitted 12 U. S. C. §92 for decades, apparently because it was thought to have been repealed. In its 1993 ruling in U. S. National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, by law, those titles of the United States Code that have not been enacted into positive law are prima facie evidence of the law in effect. The United States Statutes at Large remains the ultimate authority, if a dispute arises as to the accuracy or completeness of the codification of an unenacted title, the courts will turn to the language in the United States Statutes at Large. This process makes that title of the United States Code legal evidence of the law in force, where a title has been enacted into positive law, a court may neither permit nor require proof of the underlying original Acts of Congress. The distinction between enacted and unenacted titles is largely academic because the Code is nearly always accurate, the United States Code is routinely cited by the Supreme Court and other federal courts without mentioning this theoretical caveat
United States Code
–
A few volumes of an annotated version of the United States Code
8.
United States Statutes at Large
–
Each act and resolution of Congress is called a slip law, which is classified as either public law or private law, and designated and numbered accordingly. At the end of a Congress session, slip laws are compiled into Statutes at Large and they are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and codification. Today, large portions of slip laws denominated as public laws are now drafted as amendments to the United States Code. Once enacted into law, an Act will be published in the Statutes at Large and will add to, modify, provisions of a public law that contains only enacting clauses, effective dates, and similar matters are not generally codified. Private laws also are not generally codified, some portions of the United States Code have been enacted as positive law and other portions have not been so enacted. Publication of the United States Statutes at Large began in 1845 by the firm of Little, Brown. During Little, Brown and Companys time as publisher, Richard Peters, George Minot, in 1874, Congress transferred the authority to publish the Statutes at Large to the Government Printing Office under the direction of the Secretary of State. 633, was enacted July 30,1947 and directed the Secretary of State to compile, edit, index,980, was enacted September 23,1950 and directed the Administrator of General Services to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large. Since 1985 the Statutes at Large have been prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register of the National Archives, sometimes very large or long Acts of Congress are published as their own volume of the Statutes at Large. For example, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was published as volume 68A of the Statutes at Large. Volumes 1 to 18 of the Statutes at Large made available by the Library of Congress Volumes 1 to 64 of the Statutes at Large made available by the Congressional Data Coalition via LEGISWORKS
United States Statutes at Large
–
Title page of volume 125
United States Statutes at Large
–
A few volumes of the Statutes at Large
9.
Private bill
–
A private bill is a proposal for a law that would apply to a particular individual or group of individuals, or corporate entity. This is unlike public bills which apply to everyone within their jurisdiction, private law can afford relief from another law, grant a unique benefit or powers not available under the general law, or relieve someone from legal responsibility for some allegedly wrongful act. There are many examples of private law in democratic countries. A private bill is not to be confused with a members bill. In Canada, private bills today are used to deal with older organizations, private bills can also be used to give official government tribute to some person or group. Unlike with most other legislation, it is common for bills to originate in the Senate rather than the House. For the first hundred years after Confederation, private bills were more common, for example, prior to the passage of the Divorce Act in 1968, there was no uniform federal divorce law. In some provinces, the way to obtain a divorce was by a legislative divorce. This required an application to the Canadian Senate which reviewed and investigated petitions for divorce, the final report of the committee handling the case would then be voted upon by the Senate and subsequently enacted as an Act of Parliament. There are two types of private Act in the United Kingdom, the second type are Acts for the benefit of organisations, or authorising major projects such as railways or canals, or granting extra powers to local authorities. In the United States, private bills were common between 1817 and 1971, by making the terms of the law apply to only one organization it has the effect of a private law without actually naming the party to be granted relief. In 2012, a Nigerian student, Sopuruchi Victor Chukwueke, became the first person in two years to be the beneficiary of a private bill, private laws are published individually as slip laws and included chronologically in United States Statutes at Large. Statutes at Large are available in most academic libraries and Federal Depository Library Program institutions, in the United States Constitution, the concept of a private law, when applied punitively, is covered by the term bill of attainder. Such punitive private laws are therefore unconstitutional, private Bills, Procedure in the House. Archived from the original on 2008-05-21
Private bill
–
Private Law 86-407
10.
Divorce Act, 1968 (Canada)
–
The Divorce Act is the federal Act that governs divorce in Canada. The Constitution of Canada gives the federal Parliament exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the law of marriage, there was no uniform federal divorce law in Canada until 1968. The only way for an individual to get divorced in these provinces was to apply to the federal Parliament for a bill of divorce. These bills were primarily handled by the Canadian Senate where a committee would undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce. If the committee found that the request had merit, the marriage would be dissolved by an Act of Parliament, in Ontario, prior to 1930 there was no divorce law and individuals seeking a divorce similarly had to apply to Parliament for a private bill of divorce. In 1930, Parliament passed the Divorce Act which authorised divorces in the courts of Ontario for Ontario residents, in 1968, Parliament passed the first Divorce Act which established a uniform divorce law across Canada. The 1968 Act widened the reasons for divorce from adultery to include mental or physical cruelty, in 1986, Parliament passed a new Divorce Act to modernise the law of divorce further. One change made was to reduce the period to one year. Shortly thereafter, the question of same-sex divorce arose, section 2 of the Divorce Act originally read, spouse means either of a man or woman who are married to each other. This definition of spouse meant that the Divorce Act did not provide a means for a married couple to obtain a divorce. However, a judge in Ontario and a judge in British Columbia both agreed that this section of the act was discriminatory and granted divorces to same-sex married couples, in 2005, Parliament passed the Civil Marriage Act, which made same-sex marriage available throughout Canada. That Act also amended the Divorce Act to change the meaning of spouse, section 2 of the Divorce Act now defines spouse to mean either of two persons who are married to each other. The section gives a spouse the power to file an affidavit with the if they are experiencing barriers to religious remarriage. If the barrier has not since been removed after the affidavit is sent, kristen Douglas, Divorce Law in Canada, Library of Parliament,2001
Divorce Act, 1968 (Canada)
–
Divorce Act
11.
Canadian Senate
–
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons and the Monarch. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords and consists of 105 members appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister, Senators may serve until they reach the age of 75. The Senate is the house of Parliament and the House of Commons is the lower house. As a matter of practice and custom, the Commons is the dominant chamber, the approval of both chambers is necessary for legislation and, thus, the Senate can reject bills passed by the Commons. Between 1867 and 1987, the Senate rejected fewer than two bills per year, but this has increased in recent years. Moreover, members of the Cabinet are responsible solely to the House of Commons, while the prime minister and the rest of Cabinet remain in office only while they retain the confidence of the Commons, Senators are not beholden to such control. The Senate of Canada and the House of Commons of Canada sit in separate chambers in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, located in Ottawa, Ontario. The chamber in which the Senate sits is called the red chamber, due to the red cloth that adorns the chamber. The red Senate chamber is decorated, in contrast with the more modest. There are chairs and desks on both sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle, the Speakers chair is at one end of the chamber, in front of it is the Clerks table. Various clerks sit at the table, ready to advise the Speaker, Members of the governing party sit on the benches to the Speakers right, while members of the Opposition occupy the benches on the Speakers left. The seat has the coat of arms of the Princess Louise The first two seats are vacant but present during the sitting of the Senate. The Speaker of the Senate uses the third seat with the Arms of Canada and this seat is removed during the throne speech. At either end of the chamber, on the floor, are the visitors galleries. The north gallerys lower seating area, or tribune, is reserved for journalists, the Governor General holds the power to make normal senatorial appointments, although, in modern practice, they make appointments only on the advice of the prime minister. A prime minister normally chooses members of his or her own party to be Senators, in practice, a large number of the members of the Senate are ex-Cabinet ministers, ex-provincial premiers, and other eminent people. The first Aboriginal senator was James Gladstone, who sat as an Independent Conservative, under the constitution, each province or territory is entitled to a specific number of Senate seats. The constitution divides Canada into four areas, each with an number of senators,24 for Ontario,24 for Quebec,24 for the Maritime provinces
Canadian Senate
–
Senate of Canada Sénat du Canada
Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
–
The Senate Chamber of
Parliament Hill in
Ottawa.
Canadian Senate
–
The throne and chair in the background are used by the Queen and her consort, or the Governor General and his or her spouse, respectively, during the opening of Parliament. The Speaker of the Senate employs the chair in front.
12.
United Kingdom Parliament
–
It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
United Kingdom Parliament
United Kingdom Parliament
–
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Parliament
–
Parliament at night, with the
London Eye visible at right
United Kingdom Parliament
–
Leading 17th century Parliamentarian
John Hampden is one of the
Five Members annually commemorated
13.
Corporation
–
A corporation is a company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law. Early incorporated entities were established by charter, most jurisdictions now allow the creation of new corporations through registration. Corporations chartered in regions where they are distinguished by whether they are allowed to be for profit or not are referred to as for profit and not-for-profit corporations, there is some overlap between stock/non-stock and for profit/not-for-profit in that not-for-profit corporations are always non-stock as well. A for profit corporation is almost always a stock corporation, registered corporations have legal personality and are owned by shareholders whose liability is limited to their investment. Shareholders do not typically actively manage a corporation, shareholders instead elect or appoint a board of directors to control the corporation in a fiduciary capacity, in American English, the word corporation is most often used to describe large business corporations. In British English and in the Commonwealth countries, the company is more widely used to describe the same sort of entity while the word corporation encompasses all incorporated entities. In American English, the company can include entities such as partnerships that would not be referred to as companies in British English as they are not a separate legal entity. Despite not being human beings, corporations, as far as the law is concerned, are legal persons. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, Corporations can be dissolved either by statutory operation, order of court, or voluntary action on the part of shareholders. Corporations can even be convicted of offenses, such as fraud. However, corporations are not considered living entities in the way humans are. While not a corporation, this new type of entity became very attractive as an alternative for corporations not needing to issue stock, in Germany, the organization was referred to as Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or GmbH. In the last quarter of the 20th Century this new form of organization became available in the United States and other countries. Since the GmbH and LLC forms of organization are technically not corporations they will not be discussed in this article, the word corporation derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a body of people. By the time of Justinian, Roman law recognized a range of corporate entities under the names universitas and these included the state itself, municipalities, and such private associations as sponsors of a religious cult, burial clubs, political groups, and guilds of craftsmen or traders. Such bodies commonly had the right to own property and make contracts, to receive gifts and legacies, to sue and be sued, private associations were granted designated privileges and liberties by the emperor. Entities which carried on business and were the subjects of rights were found in ancient Rome. In medieval Europe, churches became incorporated, as did local governments, such as the Pope, the point was that the incorporation would survive longer than the lives of any particular member, existing in perpetuity
Corporation
–
McDonald's Corporation is one of the most recognizable corporations in the world.
Corporation
Corporation
–
1/8 share of the
Stora Kopparberg mine, dated June 16, 1288.
Corporation
–
A
bond issued by the
Dutch East India Company, dating from 1623, for the amount of 2,400 florins
14.
Monopoly
–
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity. The verb monopolise or monopolize refers to the process by which a company gains the ability to raise prices or exclude competitors, in economics, a monopoly is a single seller. In law, a monopoly is an entity that has significant market power, that is. Although monopolies may be big businesses, size is not a characteristic of a monopoly, a small business may still have the power to raise prices in a small industry. A monopoly is distinguished from a monopsony, in there is only one buyer of a product or service. Likewise, a monopoly should be distinguished from a cartel, in which several providers act together to coordinate services, prices or sale of goods. Monopolies, monopsonies and oligopolies are all situations in one or a few entities have market power and therefore interact with their customers. Monopolies can be established by a government, form naturally, or form by integration, in many jurisdictions, competition laws restrict monopolies. A government-granted monopoly or legal monopoly, by contrast, is sanctioned by the state, patents, copyrights, and trademarks are sometimes used as examples of government-granted monopolies. The government may also reserve the venture for itself, thus forming a government monopoly, There are four basic types of market structures in traditional economic analysis, perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. A monopoly is a structure in which a single supplier produces, if there is a single seller in a certain market and there are no close substitutes for the product, then the market structure is that of a pure monopoly. Sometimes, there are many sellers in an industry and/or there exist many close substitutes for the goods being produced and this is termed monopolistic competition, whereas in oligopoly the companies interact strategically. Most economic textbooks follow the practice of explaining the perfect competition model. The boundaries of what constitutes a market and what does not are relevant distinctions to make in economic analysis, in a general equilibrium context, a good is a specific concept including geographical and time-related characteristics. Most studies of market structure relax a little their definition of a good, price Maker, Decides the price of the good or product to be sold, but does so by determining the quantity in order to demand the price desired by the firm. High Barriers, Other sellers are unable to enter the market of the monopoly, single seller, In a monopoly, there is one seller of the good, who produces all the output. Therefore, the market is being served by a single company, and for practical purposes. Price Discrimination, A monopolist can change the price or quantity of the product and he or she sells higher quantities at a lower price in a very elastic market, and sells lower quantities at a higher price in a less elastic market
Monopoly
–
"I Like a Little Competition"—J. P. Morgan by
Art Young. Cartoon relating to the answer
J. P. Morgan gave when asked whether he disliked competition at the
Pujo Committee.
15.
Fundamental Law of Vatican City State
–
The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 26 November 2000, is the main governing document of the Vaticans civil entities. It obtained the force of law of 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, the law consists of 20 Articles. 1 §1 declares that “The Supreme Pontiff, Sovereign of Vatican City State, has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers. ”3 §2 provides for the case of absence or impedance of the President, and decrees that the Commission would be presided over by the first of the Cardinal Members. 3 §3 describes who convokes and presides over the meetings of the Commission and says that “the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General participate in them with a consultative vote. ”4 §1 demands that the Commission exercise its power within the limits of the law concerning the sources of law, according to the indications to be given in future Articles and its proper Regulations. §3 says “The draft laws are submitted in advance, through the Secretariat of State, for the consideration of the Supreme Pontiff. ”5 §1 gives executive power to the President of the Commission, in conformity with the Fundamental Law and with the other normative dispositions in force at Vatican City State. §2 gives the President the assistance of the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General in the exercise of Executive power. §3 says that “Questions of greater importance are submitted by the President to the Commission for its study. ”6 declares that “Matters of greater importance are dealt with together with the Secretariat of State. ”7 §1 gives the President of the Commission the power to issue Ordinances, putting into effect legislative and regulatory norms. §3 reserves the power to issue general Regulations to the Commission,8 §1 declares that, without prejudice to the primacy of the Supreme Pontiff, and what is established in Art. 2 regarding the Secretariat of State, the President of the Commission represents the State, §2 provides for the President to delegate legal representation to the General Secretary for ordinary administrative activity. 9 §1 states the responsibilities of the Secretary General,1 and he assists the President of the Commission in his functions. §2 gives the Secretary General the right to take the place of the President of the Commission when the President is absent or impeded, §2 gives the Vice Secretary General the right to take the place of the Secretary General when the Secretary General is absent or impeded. §2 grants the Secretary General and the Vice Secretary General the right to part in the Council. 12 prescribes that the budgets and reports of the Vatican. §2 provides for the consultation of the Councillors both individually and collegially,14 gives the President of the Commission the right, in addition to using the Corps of Vigilance, to request the assistance of the Pontifical Swiss Guard for the purpose of security and policing. 15 §1 asserts that, in the name of the Pope, §2 gives the power of regulation of the competence of the individual organs to the Civil Laws of Vatican City State. §3 demands that acts of jurisdiction must be carried out within the territory of the Vatican. §2 states that “Hierarchical recourse precludes a judicial action in the matter, unless the Supreme Pontiff authorizes it in the individual case. ”§2 gives the Court of Appeal the faculty to hear cases of recourse against disciplinary provisions taken in regard to the employees of the State. 19 reserves the faculty to grant amnesties, indults, remissions,20 §1 enumerates the design of the flag of Vatican City State
Fundamental Law of Vatican City State
–
Contitutional portico
Fundamental Law of Vatican City State
–
Seal
16.
Administrative law
–
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law, civil law countries often have specialized courts, administrative courts, that review these decisions. In Brazil, unlike most Civil-law jurisdictions, there is no specialized court or section to deal with administrative cases, in 1998, a constitutional reform, led by the government of the President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, introduced regulatory agencies as a part of the executive branch. The President of the Republic exercises the function, in collaboration with several Ministries or other authorities with ministerial rank. Each Ministry has one or more under-secretary that performs through public services the actual satisfaction of public needs, there is not a single specialized court to deal with actions against the Administrative entities, but instead there are several specialized courts and procedures of review. Administrative law in the Peoples Republic of China was virtually non-existent before the reform era initiated by Deng Xiaoping. In 1990, the Administrative Supervision Regulations and the Administrative Reconsideration Regulations were passed, the three regulations have been amended and upgraded into laws. In 1994, the State Compensation Law was passed, followed by the Administrative Penalties Law in 1996, Administrative Compulsory Law was enforced in 2012. Adiministrative Litigation Law was amended in 2014. The General Administrative Procedure Law is under way, the main administrative courts are the tribunaux administratifs and appeal courts are the cours administratives dappel. Special administrative courts include the National Court of Asylum Right as well as military, the French body of administrative law is called droit administratif. It is a part of the law, which deals with the organization, the tasks. Administrative law in Germany follows three basic principles, principle of the legality of the authority, which means that there is no acting against the law and no acting without a law. The general administration law is ruled in the Administrative Procedures Law. Other legal sources are the Rules of the Administrative Courts, the security code. The Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz, which was enacted in 1977, regulates the main administrative procedures of the federal government and it serves the purpose to ensure a treatment in accordance with the rule of law by the public authority. Furthermore, it contains the regulations for mass processes and expands the legal protection against the authorities, the VwVfG basically applies for the entire public administrative activities of federal agencies as well as federal state authorities, in case of making federal law. One of the clause is §35 VwVfG
Administrative law
–
Administrative law in the United States often involves the regulatory activities of so-called "independent agencies", such as the
Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), whose
Washington D.C. headquarters are shown above.
Administrative law
–
The Stenbockska Palace is the seat of the
Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden.
17.
Constitutional law
–
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Not all nation states have codified constitutions, though all such states have a jus commune, or law of the land and these may include customary law, conventions, statutory law, judge-made law, or international rules and norms. Constitutional law deals with the principles by which the government exercises its authority. In some instances, these principles grant specific powers to the government, such as the power to tax, other times, constitutional principles act to place limits on what the government can do, such as prohibiting the arrest of an individual without sufficient cause. In most nations, including the United States, constitutional law is based on the text of a document ratified at the time the nation came into being, Constitutional laws may often be considered second order rule making or rules about making rules to exercise power. It governs the relationships between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive with the bodies under its authority, one of the key tasks of constitutions within this context is to indicate hierarchies and relationships of power. Human rights or civil liberties form a part of a countrys constitution. Most jurisdictions, like the United States and France, have a codified constitution, a recent example is the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which was intended to be included in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, that failed to be ratified. Perhaps the most important example is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under the UN Charter and these are intended to ensure basic political, social and economic standards that a nation state, or intergovernmental body is obliged to provide to its citizens but many do include its governments. Some countries like the United Kingdom have no entrenched document setting out fundamental rights, in those jurisdictions the constitution is composed of statute, case law, a case named Entick v. Carrington is a constitutional principle deriving from the common law. John Enticks house was searched and ransacked by Sherriff Carrington, Carrington argued that a warrant from a Government minister, the Earl of Halifax was valid authority, even though there was no statutory provision or court order for it. The court, led by Lord Camden stated that, The great end and that right is preserved sacred and incommunicable in all instances, where it has not been taken away or abridged by some public law for the good of the whole. By the laws of England, every invasion of private property, if no excuse can be found or produced, the silence of the books is an authority against the defendant, and the plaintiff must have judgment. The commonwealth and the civil law jurisdictions do not share the same constitutional law underpinnings, another main function of constitutions may be to describe the procedure by which parliaments may legislate. For instance, special majorities may be required to alter the constitution, in bicameral legislatures, there may be a process laid out for second or third readings of bills before a new law can enter into force. Alternatively, there may further be requirements for maximum terms that a government can keep power before holding an election, Constitutional law is a major focus of legal studies and research. The doctrine of the rule of law dictates that government must be conducted according to law and this was first established by British legal theorist A. V. Dicey. Dicey’s rule of law formula consists of three classic tenets, the first is that the regular law is supreme over arbitrary and discretionary powers
Constitutional law
–
The principles from the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen still have constitutional value
18.
Contract
–
A contract is a voluntary arrangement between two or more parties that is enforceable by law as a binding legal agreement. Contract is a branch of the law of obligations in jurisdictions of the civil law tradition, Contract law concerns the rights and duties that arise from agreements. A contract arises when the parties agree that there is an agreement, formation of a contract generally requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, and a mutual intent to be bound. Each party to a contract must have capacity to enter the agreement, minors, intoxicated persons, and those under a mental affliction may have insufficient capacity to enter a contract. Some types of contracts may require formalities, such as a memorialization in writing, at common law, the elements of a contract are offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations, and consideration. Not all agreements are necessarily contractual, as the parties generally must be deemed to have an intention to be legally bound, a so-called gentlemens agreement is one which is not intended to be legally enforceable, and which is binding in honour only. In order for a contract to be formed, the parties must reach mutual assent and this is typically reached through offer and an acceptance which does not vary the offers terms, which is known as the mirror image rule. An offer is a statement of the offerors willingness to be bound should certain conditions be met. If a purported acceptance does vary the terms of an offer, it is not an acceptance but a counteroffer and, therefore, the Uniform Commercial Code disposes of the mirror image rule in §2-207, although the UCC only governs transactions in goods in the USA. As a court cannot read minds, the intent of the parties is interpreted objectively from the perspective of a reasonable person and it is important to note that where an offer specifies a particular mode of acceptance, only an acceptance communicated via that method will be valid. Contracts may be bilateral or unilateral, a bilateral contract is an agreement in which each of the parties to the contract makes a promise or set of promises to each other. For example, in a contract for the sale of a home, less common are unilateral contracts in which one party makes a promise, but the other side does not promise anything. In these cases, those accepting the offer are not required to communicate their acceptance to the offeror, in a reward contract, for example, a person who has lost a dog could promise a reward if the dog is found, through publication or orally. The payment could be conditioned on the dog being returned alive. Those who learn of the reward are not required to search for the dog, but if someone finds the dog and delivers it, the High Court of Australia stated that the term unilateral contract is unscientific and misleading. In certain circumstances, a contract may be created. A contract is implied in fact if the circumstances imply that parties have reached an agreement even though they have not done so expressly, quantum meruit claims are an example. Carbolic, a firm, advertised a smoke ball marketed as a wonder drug that would, according to the instructions
Contract
–
Bill of sale of a male slave and a building in Shuruppak,
Sumerian tablet, circa 2600 BC
Contract
–
The Carbolic Smoke Ball offer
Contract
–
A contract from the
Tang dynasty that records the purchase of a 15-year-old slave for six bolts of plain silk and five Chinese coins
Contract
–
German marriage contract, 1521 between
Gottfried Werner von Zimmern (de) and Apollonia von Henneberg-Römhild
19.
Criminal law
–
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It regulates social conduct and proscribes whatever is threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety and it includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, the first civilizations generally did not distinguish between civil law and criminal law. The first written codes of law were designed by the Sumerians, another important early code was the Code Hammurabi, which formed the core of Babylonian law. Only fragments of the criminal laws of Ancient Greece have survived, e. g. those of Solon. In Roman law, Gaiuss Commentaries on the Twelve Tables also conflated the civil and criminal aspects, assault and violent robbery were analogized to trespass as to property. Breach of such laws created an obligation of law or vinculum juris discharged by payment of compensation or damages. The criminal law of imperial Rome is collected in Books 47–48 of the Digest, the first signs of the modern distinction between crimes and civil matters emerged during the Norman Invasion of England. The development of the state dispensing justice in a court clearly emerged in the century when European countries began maintaining police services. From this point, criminal law had formalized the mechanisms for enforcement, Criminal law is distinctive for the uniquely serious potential consequences or sanctions for failure to abide by its rules. Every crime is composed of criminal elements, capital punishment may be imposed in some jurisdictions for the most serious crimes. Physical or corporal punishment may be imposed such as whipping or caning, individuals may be incarcerated in prison or jail in a variety of conditions depending on the jurisdiction. Length of incarceration may vary from a day to life, government supervision may be imposed, including house arrest, and convicts may be required to conform to particularized guidelines as part of a parole or probation regimen. Fines also may be imposed, seizing money or property from a convicted of a crime. Five objectives are widely accepted for enforcement of the law by punishments, retribution, deterrence. Jurisdictions differ on the value to be placed on each, retribution – Criminals ought to Be Punished in some way. This is the most widely seen goal, Criminals have taken improper advantage, or inflicted unfair detriment, upon others and consequently, the criminal law will put criminals at some unpleasant disadvantage to balance the scales. People submit to the law to receive the right not to be murdered and if people contravene these laws, thus, one who murders may be executed himself
Criminal law
–
The
Old Bailey in
London (in 1808) was the venue for more than 100,000 criminal trials between 1674 and 1834, including all death penalty cases.
Criminal law
–
An English court room in 1886, with
Lord Chief Justice Coleridge presiding
Criminal law
–
International Criminal Court in
The Hague
20.
Deed
–
For the British cargo ship, see SS Deed. For the reality series, see The Deed. A deed is any instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered. It is commonly associated with transferring title to property, the deed has a greater presumption of validity and is less rebuttable than an instrument signed by the party to the deed. A deed can be unilateral or bilateral, deeds include conveyances, commissions, licenses, patents, diplomas, and conditionally powers of attorney if executed as deeds. The deed is the descendant of the medieval charter. The traditional phrase signed, sealed and delivered refers to the practice of seals, however, agreements under seal are also called contracts by deed or specialty, in the United States, a specialty is enforceable without consideration. Specialties, as a form of contract, are bilateral and can therefore be distinguished from covenants, which, being also under seal, are unilateral promises. At common law, to be valid and enforceable, a deed must fulfill several requirements, It must state on its face that it is a deed and it must indicate that the instrument itself conveys some privilege or thing to someone. The grantor must have the ability to grant the thing or privilege. It must be executed by the grantor in presence of the number of witnesses. In some jurisdictions, a seal must be affixed to it, originally, affixing seals made persons parties to the deed and signatures optional, but seals are now outdated in most jurisdictions, so the signatures of the grantor and witnesses are primary. It must be delivered to and accepted by the grantee, conditions attached to the acceptance of a deed are known as covenants. A deed indented or indenture is one executed in two or more according to the number of parties, which were formerly separated by cutting in a curved or indented line known as the chirograph. A deed poll is one executed in one part, by one party, having the edge polled or cut even, in the transfer of real estate, a deed conveys ownership from the old owner to the new owner, and can include various warranties. The precise name and nature of these differ by jurisdiction. Often, however, the differences between them is the degree to which the grantor warrants the title. The grantor may give a general warranty of title against any claims, the latter type of deed is usually known as a special warranty deed
Deed
–
The original 1636
Indian deed creating the State of
Rhode Island signed by Native American Chief
Canonicus to
Roger Williams
Deed
–
A sanad issued by the governor of the
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during the British Raj
21.
Equity (law)
–
For much of its history, the English common law was principally developed and administered in the central royal courts, the Court of Kings Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Exchequer. Equity was the given to the law which was administered in the Court of Chancery. The Judicature Reforms in the 1870s effected a procedural fusion of the two bodies of law, ending their institutional separation, the reforms did not effect any substantive fusion, however. Judicial or academic reasoning which assumes the contrary has been described as a fusion fallacy, jurisdictions which have inherited the common law system differ in their current treatment of equity. Over the course of the 20th century some common law began to place less emphasis on the historical or institutional origin of substantive legal rules. In England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Equity remains a distinct body of law, the latter part of the 20th century saw increased debate over the utility of treating Equity as a separate body of law. These debates were labelled the fusion wars, after the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, royal justice came to be administered in three central courts, the Court of Kings Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Exchequer. The common law developed in royal courts. To commence litigation in these courts, it was necessary to fit ones claim within a form of action. The plaintiff would purchase a writ in the Chancery, the head of which was the Lord Chancellor, where the law provided no remedy, litigants could sometimes appeal directly to the King. Eventually, the King would delegate resolution of these petitions to the Kings Council and these petitions were eventually delegated to the Lord Chancellor himself. Christianity did play a role in creating Common Law, however it does not have any control or power in the court of law, in the early history of the United States, common law was viewed as a birthright. Both the individual states and the government supported common law after the American Revolution. U. S. courts draw on decisions of English courts, individual state courts, Chancellors often had theological and clerical training and were well versed in Roman law and canon law. By the 15th century the power of Chancery was clearly recognised. Equity, as a body of rules, varied from Chancellor to Chancellor, after the end of the 17th century, only lawyers were appointed to the office of Chancellor. Over time, Equity developed a system of precedent much like its common-law cousin, one area in which the Court of Chancery assumed a vital role was the enforcement of uses, a role that the rigid framework of land law could not accommodate. This role gave rise to the distinction between legal and equitable interests
Equity (law)
–
The
Court of Chancery,
London, in the early 19th century
22.
Evidence (law)
–
The law of evidence also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision, the trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum, quality, the rules vary depending upon whether the venue is a criminal court, civil court, or family court, and they vary by jurisdiction. The quantum of evidence is the amount of evidence needed, the quality of proof is how reliable such evidence should be considered, important rules that govern admissibility concern hearsay, authentication, relevance, privilege, witnesses, opinions, expert testimony, identification and rules of physical evidence. There are several types of evidence, depending on the form or source, Evidence governs the use of testimony, exhibits, documentary material, or demonstrative evidence, which are admissible in a judicial or administrative proceeding. The law must ensure certain guidelines are set out in order to ensure that evidence presented to the court can be regarded as trustworthy. The rules of evidence were developed several centuries and are based upon the rules from Anglo-American common law brought to the New World by early settlers. Their purpose is to be fair to both parties, disallowing the raising of allegations without a basis in provable fact and they are sometimes criticized as a legal technicality, but are an important part of the system for achieving a just result. Perhaps the most important of the rules of evidence is that, in general, there are several examples where presiding authorities are not bound by the rules of evidence. These include the military tribunals in the United States and tribunals used in Australia to try health professionals, in every jurisdiction based on the English common law tradition, evidence must conform to a number of rules and restrictions to be admissible. Evidence must be relevant – that is, it must be directed at proving or disproving a legal element, however, the relevance of evidence is ordinarily a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for the admissibility of evidence. For example, relevant evidence may be excluded if it is unfairly prejudicial, confusing, there is also general agreement that assessment of relevance or irrelevance involves or requires judgements about probabilities or uncertainties. Beyond that, there is little agreement, many legal scholars and judges agree that ordinary reasoning, or common sense reasoning, plays an important role. There is less agreement about whether or not judgements of relevance or irrelevance are defensible only if the reasoning that supports such judgements is made fully explicit. However, most trial judges would reject any such requirement and would say that some judgements can and must rest partly on unarticulated and unarticulable hunches, california Evidence Code section 352 also allows for exclusion to avoid substantial danger of undue prejudice. The United States has a complicated system of evidentiary rules, for example. In Professor Friedmans words, A trained judge would not need all these rules, and indeed, the law of evidence in systems that lack a jury is short, sweet, however, Friedmans views are characteristic of an earlier generation of legal scholars. Under English law, evidence that would otherwise be admissible at trial may be excluded at the discretion of the judge if it would be unfair to the defendant to admit it
Evidence (law)
–
Classes of crimes
23.
International law
–
International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations. It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations, International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens. National law may become law when treaties delegate national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court. Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts, much of international law is consent-based governance. This means that a member is not obliged to abide by this type of international law. This is an issue of state sovereignty, however, other aspects of international law are not consent-based but still are obligatory upon state and non-state actors such as customary international law and peremptory norms. The term international law can refer to three distinct legal disciplines, Public international law, which governs the relationship between states and international entities. It includes these legal fields, treaty law, law of sea, international law, the laws of war or international humanitarian law, international human rights law. Private international law, or conflict of laws, which addresses the questions of jurisdiction may hear a case. The two traditional branches of law are, jus gentium – law of nations jus inter gentes – agreements between nations. Several legal systems developed in Europe, including the systems of continental European states and English common law, based on decisions by judges. Some doubt the effectiveness of law, as they see the implementation of international law as a policy option among others to tackle global dilemmas. They say that international law must be evaluated with other, possibly more effective, International law is sourced from decision makers and researchers looking to verify the substantive legal rule governing a legal dispute or academic discourse. The sources of law applied by the community of nations to find the content of international law are listed under Article 38. Many scholars agree that the fact that the sources are arranged sequentially in the Article 38 of the ICJ Statute suggests a hierarchy of sources. The sources have influenced by a range of political and legal theories. During the 20th century, it was recognized by legal positivists that a state could limit its authority to act by consenting to an agreement according to the principle pacta sunt servanda. Public international law concerns the treaty relationships between the nations and persons which are considered the subjects of international law, evidence of consensus or state practice can sometimes be derived from intergovernmental resolutions or academic and expert legal opinions
International law
–
Created in 1945, the
United Nations is responsible for much of the current framework of international law.
International law
–
The
First Geneva Convention (1864) is one of the earliest formulations of international law.
International law
–
The
Italian thinker
Sir Alberico Gentili is acknowledged to be the founder of the science of international law.
24.
Property law
–
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership and tenancy in real property and in personal property, within the common law legal system. In the civil law system, there is a division between movable and immovable property, movable property roughly corresponds to personal property, while immovable property corresponds to real estate or real property, and the associated rights, and obligations thereon. The concept, idea or philosophy of property underlies all property law, in some jurisdictions, historically all property was owned by the monarch and it devolved through feudal land tenure or other feudal systems of loyalty and fealty. The word property, in usage, refers to an object owned by a person — a car, a book, or a cellphone —. In law, the concept acquires a more nuanced rendering, most broadly and concisely, property in the legal sense refers to the rights of people in or over certain objects or things. James Wilson, U. S. Supreme Court Justice and professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1790 and 1791, undertook a survey of the philosophical grounds of American property law. He proceeds from two premises, “Every crime includes an injury, every injury includes a violation of a right. ”The government’s role in protecting property depends upon an idea of right, Wilson traces the history of property in his essay On the History of Property. In his lecture, Of the natural rights of individuals, he articulates related contemporary theory. While he doubts this is so, he states, “In his unrelated state, man has a natural right to his property, to his character, to liberty. Or was it, by an establishment, to acquire a new security for the possession or the recovery of those rights…. ”He indicates a preference for the latter. In the opening sentence of On the History of Property, he quite clearly, “Property is the right or lawful power, which a person has to a thing. ”He then divides the right into three degrees, possession, the lowest, possession and use, and, possession, use. Further, he states, “Man is intended for action, useful and skilful industry is the soul of an active life. But industry should have her just reward and that reward is property, for of useful and active industry, property is the natural result. ”From this simple reasoning he is able to present the conclusion that exclusive, as opposed to communal property, is to be preferred. Wilson does, however, give a survey of communal property arrangements in history, not only in colonial Virginia, non-legally recognized or documented property rights are known as informal property rights. These informal property rights are non-codified or documented, but recognized among local residents to varying degrees, different parties may claim a competing interest in the same property by mistake or by fraud. For example, the party creating or transferring an interest may have a valid title, a court resolves the dispute by adjudicating the priorities of the interests. To transfer property is to such an act. Property rights are rights over things enforceable against all other persons, by contrast, contractual rights are rights enforceable against particular persons
Property law
–
Air
Property law
–
Classes of crimes
25.
Bankruptcy
–
Bankruptcy is a legal status of a person or other entity that cannot repay the debts it owes to creditors. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, Bankruptcy is not the only legal status that an insolvent person may have, and the term bankruptcy is therefore not a synonym for insolvency. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, bankruptcy is limited to individuals, in the United States, bankruptcy is applied more broadly to formal insolvency proceedings. In France, the cognate French word banqueroute is used solely for cases of fraudulent bankruptcy, in Ancient Greece, bankruptcy did not exist. If a man owed and he could not pay, he and his wife, children or servants were forced into debt slavery, until the creditor recouped losses through their physical labour. Many city-states in ancient Greece limited debt slavery to a period of five years, debt slaves had protection of life and limb, which regular slaves did not enjoy. However, servants of the debtor could be retained beyond that deadline by the creditor and were forced to serve their new lord for a lifetime. An exception to rule was Athens, which by the laws of Solon forbade enslavement for debt, as a consequence. The Statute of Bankrupts of 1542 was the first statute under English law dealing with bankruptcy or insolvency, Bankruptcy is also documented in East Asia. According to al-Maqrizi, the Yassa of Genghis Khan contained a provision that mandated the death penalty for anyone who became bankrupt three times, a failure of a nation to meet bond repayments has been seen on many occasions. Philip II of Spain had to declare four state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1575 and 1596, at the edge of Europe, Egypt, Russia, and Turkey have histories of chronic default as well. For private households, it is argued to be insufficient to merely dismiss debts after a certain period and it is important to assess the underlying problems and to minimize the risk of financial distress to re-occur. In most EU Member States, debt discharge is conditioned by a partial payment obligation, in the United States, discharge is conditioned to a lesser extent. The spectrum is broad in the EU, with the UK coming closest to the US system, the Other Member States do not provide the option of a debt discharge. It is almost impossible to discharge student loan debt by filing bankruptcy, unlike most other debtors, the individual with student debt must give a series of reasons and tests to prove that the debtor could not pay the debt. If the person were to file bankruptcy, he or she is encouraged to do so under Chapter 13. In order to avoid bankruptcy, one could negotiate with the lender to lower monthly payments, student loan bankruptcy is considered a last resort. However, some find themselves being forced to file bankruptcy, as the lender refused to lower payments
Bankruptcy
–
Notice of closure attached to the door of a Computer Shop outlet the day after its parent company declared "bankruptcy" (strictly, put into administration) in the
United Kingdom
Bankruptcy
–
Insolvency
Bankruptcy
–
Bankruptcy according to
Salvation Army,
Switzerland.
Bankruptcy
–
In 2013, Detroit filed the
largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history.
26.
Commercial law
–
It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law. It can also be understood to regulate corporate contracts, hiring practices, many countries have adopted civil codes that contain comprehensive statements of their commercial law. In the United States, commercial law is the province of both the United States Congress, under its power to regulate commerce, and the states. Various regulatory schemes control how commerce is conducted, particularly vis-a-vis employees, privacy laws, safety laws, and food and drug laws are some examples. Outline of commercial law Consulate of the Sea Hundreds of Answers to Basic Business Law Questions Topical listing of US commercial law from Cornells Legal Information Institute
Commercial law
27.
Competition law
–
Competition law is a law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement, Competition law is known as anti-trust law in the United States, and as anti-monopoly law in China and Russia. In previous years it has known as trade practices law in the United Kingdom. In the European Union, it is referred to as both antitrust and competition law, the history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, since the 20th century, competition law has become global. The two largest and most influential systems of regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support, modern competition law has historically evolved on a country level to promote and maintain fair competition in markets principally within the territorial boundaries of nation-states. National competition law usually does not cover activity beyond territorial borders unless it has significant effects at nation-state level, countries may allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction in competition cases based on so-called effects doctrine. The protection of competition is governed by international competition agreements. These obligations were not included in GATT, but in 1994, with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of GATT Multilateral Negotiations, the Agreement Establishing the WTO included a range of limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues on a sector specific basis. Competition law, or antitrust law, has three elements, prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between business. This includes in particular the repression of trade caused by cartels. Banning abusive behavior by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position, Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal, and many others. Supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including joint ventures. Substance and practice of competition law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring that entrepreneurs have an opportunity to compete in the market economy are often treated as important objectives. In recent decades, competition law has been viewed as a way to better public services. An early example of competition law can be found in Roman law, the Lex Julia de Annona was enacted during the Roman Republic around 50 B. C. To protect the trade, heavy fines were imposed on anyone directly, deliberately
Competition law
–
Judge
Coke in the 17th century thought that general restraints on trade were unreasonable
Competition law
–
Elizabeth I assured monopolies would not be abused in the early era of
globalization
Competition law
–
Senatorial Round House by
Thomas Nast, 1886
Competition law
–
John Stuart Mill believed the
restraint of trade doctrine was justified to preserve
liberty and
competition
28.
Consumer protection
–
The laws are designed to prevent the businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors. They may also provide protection for those most vulnerable in society. Consumer protection laws are a form of government regulation that aim to protect the rights of consumers, for example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. A consumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production. Consumer protection can also be asserted via non-government organizations and individuals as consumer activism, Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered an area of law that regulates private law relationships between individual consumers and the businesses that sell those goods and services. Its a way of preventing fraud and scams from service and sales contracts, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, the following lists consumer legislation at the nation-state level. In the EU member states Germany and the United Kingdom there is also the applicability of law at the EU level to be considered, in Australia, the corresponding agency is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or the individual State Consumer Affairs agencies. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has responsibility for consumer protection regulation of financial services, however, in practice it does so through privately run EDR schemes such as the Financial Ombudsman Service. Germany as a state of the European Union is bound by the consumer protection directives of the European Union. A minister of the cabinet is responsible for consumer rights. In the current cabinet of Angela Merkel, this is Heiko Maas.84,71 BVerwGE 183), in India The Consumer protection act,1986 is governing consumer protection. Appeal could be filed to the State Consumer Disputes Redress Commissions, in recent years, many effective judgment have been passed by some state and National Consumer Forums. The Sale of Goods Act of 1930 act provides some safeguards to buyers of goods if goods purchased do not fulfill the express or implied conditions, the Civil Code in Taiwan contains five books, General Principles, Obligations, Rights over Things, Family, and Succession. The second book of the Code, the Book of Obligations, the Consumer Protection Commission of Executive Yuan serves as an ombudsman supervising, coordinating, reporting any unsafe products/services and periodically reviewing the legislation. Specifics of the division of labour between the EU and the UK are detailed here, domestic laws originated within the ambit of contract and tort but, with the influence of EU law, it is emerging as an independent area of law. In many circumstances, where law is in question, the matter judicially treated as tort, contract. Consumer Protection issues are dealt with when complaints are made to the Director-General of Fair Trade, the Office of Fair Trading will then investigate, impose an injunction or take the matter to litigation. However, consumers cannot directly complain to the OFT, complaints need to be made to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service who will provide legal advice to complainants, or re-direct the individual complaint to Trading Standards for investigation
Consumer protection
–
Consumer protection laws often mandate the posting of notices, such as this one which appears in all
automotive repair shops in California
29.
Corporate law
–
Corporate law is the practice or study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community, and the environment interact with one another. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law, other types of business associations can include partnerships, or trusts, or companies limited by guarantee. Under corporate law, corporations of all sizes have separate legal personality, shareholders control the company through a board of directors which, in turn, typically delegates control of the corporations day-to-day operations to a full-time executive. Corporate law deals with firms that are incorporated or registered under the corporate or company law of a state or their subnational states. Corporate law is divided into corporate governance and corporate finance. The word corporation is generally synonymous with large publicly owned companies in the United States, in United Kingdom, company is more frequently used as the legal term for any business incorporated under the Companies Act 2006. Large scale companies will be PLCs in the United Kingdom and will usually have shares listed on a Stock Market. In British legal usage any registered company, created under the Companies Act 2006 and previous equivalent legislation, is, strictly, such a company is created by the administrative process of registration under the Companies Act as a general piece of legislation. A corporation, in this British sense, can be a corporation sole which consists of an office occupied by one person e. g. the monarch or certain bishops in England. Here, the office is recognized as separate from the individual who holds it, in the United States, a company may or may not be a separate legal entity, and is often used synonymously with firm or business. A corporation may accurately be called a company, however, a company should not necessarily be called a corporation, which has distinct characteristics. According to Blacks Law Dictionary, in America a company means a corporation — or, less commonly, the defining feature of a corporation is its legal independence from the people who create it. If a corporation fails, its shareholders will lose their money, shareholders are not liable for any remaining debts owed to the corporations creditors. This rule is called limited liability, and it is why corporations end with Ltd, in the words of British judge, Walton J, a company is. only a juristic figment of the imagination, lacking both a body to be kicked and a soul to be damned. But despite this, under just about every system in existence and as per international norms, corporations have the same legal rights. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state, just as they are born into existence through its members obtaining a certificate of incorporation, they can die when they lose money into insolvency. Corporations can even be convicted of offences, such as fraud. Although some forms of companies are thought to have existed during Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, with increasing international trade, Royal charters were granted in Europe to merchant adventurers
Corporate law
–
Hogarthian image of the
South Sea Bubble, by
Edward Matthew Ward,
Tate Gallery
Corporate law
Corporate law
–
"Jack and the Giant Joint-Stock", a cartoon in Town Talk (1858) satirizing the 'monster' joint-stock economy that came into being after the
Joint Stock Companies Act 1844.
Corporate law
–
A
bond issued by the
Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400
florins
30.
Energy law
–
Energy laws govern the use and taxation of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. These laws are the primary authorities related to energy, in contrast, energy policy refers to the policy and politics of energy. Energy law includes the provision for oil, gasoline. There is an academic interest in international energy law, including continuing legal education seminars, treatises, law reviews. In the same line, there has growing interest on energy-specific issues and their particular relation with international trade. Nigerias government owns the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Energy is big business in Australia. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association represents 98% of the oil, Canada has an extensive energy law, both through the federation and the provinces, especially Alberta. The Supreme Court of Canada has had issued some Canadian energy case law, Canada and the Quebec province also own extensive hydroelectric dam facilities, which have generated not only power but controversy. European energy law has focused on the legal mechanisms for managing short-term disruptions to the continents energy supply. The aim of project was enhancing of the safety of hydrogen vehicles and harmonizing their licensing. Five nations have created the EurObservER energy consortium, the EU has also created an Energy Community to extend their policies into Southeastern Europe. Germanys renewable energy law mandates the use of energy through its taxes. It promotes the development of energy sources via a system of feed-in tariffs. It regulates the amount of energy generated by the producer and the type of energy source. It also creates an incentive to encourage technological advancements and costs, the results have been startling, on 6 June 2014, more than half of the nations energy used on that date came from solar power. Despite regulatory processes adding more renewable energy to its mix, Germanys electric grid has become more reliable. The German Green Party has opposed nuclear energy, as well as the power of German utilities. There is significant academic interest in German energy law, a chart summarizing German energy legislation is available
Energy law
–
Gasoline is subject to
regulation and
taxation around the world.
Energy law
–
The Energy Australia Building in Sydney
Energy law
–
Wind turbines in
Campania
31.
Environmental law
–
The core environmental law regimes address environmental pollution. Other areas, such as environmental impact assessment, may not fit neatly into either category, early examples of legal enactments designed to consciously preserve the environment, for its own sake or human enjoyment, are found throughout history. In the common law, the protection was found in the law of nuisance. Thus smells emanating from pig stys, strict liability against dumping rubbish, private enforcement, however, was limited and found to be woefully inadequate to deal with major environmental threats, particularly threats to common resources. During the Great Stink of 1858, the dumping of sewerage into the River Thames began to smell so ghastly in the heat that Parliament had to be evacuated. In 19 days, Parliament passed a further Act to build the London sewerage system, London also suffered from terrible air pollution, and this culminated in the Great Smog of 1952, which in turn triggered its on legislative response, the Clean Air Act 1956. The basic regulatory structure was to set limits on emissions for households, notwithstanding early analogues, the concept of environmental law as a separate and distinct body of law is a twentieth-century development. Air quality laws govern the emission of air pollutants into the atmosphere, a specialized subset of air quality laws regulate the quality of air inside buildings. Air quality laws are designed specifically to protect human health by limiting or eliminating airborne pollutant concentrations. Regulatory efforts include identifying and categorizing air pollutants, setting limits on acceptable emissions levels, Water quality laws govern the release of pollutants into water resources, including surface water, ground water, and stored drinking water. Some water quality laws, such as drinking water regulations, may be designed solely with reference to human health, regulatory areas include sewage treatment and disposal, industrial and agricultural waste water management, and control of surface runoff from construction sites and urban environments. Waste management laws govern the transport, treatment, storage, and disposal of all manner of waste, including solid waste, hazardous waste. Regulatory efforts include identifying and categorizing waste types and mandating transport, treatment, storage, Environmental cleanup laws govern the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, sediment, surface water, or ground water. Chemical safety laws govern the use of chemicals in human activities, as contrasted with media-oriented environmental laws, chemical control laws seek to manage the pollutants themselves. Regulatory efforts include banning specific chemical constituents in consumer products, Environmental impact assessment is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or concrete projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, Water resources laws govern the ownership and use of water resources, including surface water and ground water. Regulatory areas may include water conservation, use restrictions, and ownership regimes, mineral resource laws cover several basic topics, including the ownership of the mineral resource and who can work them. Mining is also affected by regulations regarding the health and safety of miners
Environmental law
–
Industrial air pollution now regulated by
air quality law.
Environmental law
–
A typical stormwater outfall, subject to
water quality law.
Environmental law
–
A municipal landfill, operated pursuant to
waste management law.
32.
Financial regulation
–
This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization. Financial regulation has also influenced the structure of banking sectors, by decreasing borrowing costs, reduction of financial crime – reducing the extent to which it is possible for a regulated business to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime. Regulating foreign participation in the financial markets, ati mathunzi // sup // Acts empower organizations, government or non-government, to monitor activities and enforce actions. There are various setups and combinations in place for the regulatory structure around the global. Leaf parts are in any case, Exchange acts ensure that trading on the exchanges is conducted in a proper manner, most prominent the pricing process, execution and settlement of trades, direct and efficient trade monitoring. Financial regulators ensure that companies and market participants comply with various regulations under the trading acts. The trading acts demands that listed companies publish regular financial reports, whereas market participants are required to Publish major shareholder notifications. Asset management supervision or investment acts ensures the frictionless operation of those vehicles, Banking acts lay down rules for banks which they have to observe when they are being established and when they are carrying on their business. These rules are designed to prevent unwelcome developments that might disrupt the functioning of the banking system. Thus ensuring a strong and efficient banking system, the following is a short listing of regulatory authorities in various jurisdictions, for a more complete listing, please see list of financial regulatory authorities by country. Sometimes more than one institution regulates and supervises the banking market, normally because, apart from regulatory authorities, the Eurozone countries are forming a Single Supervisory Mechanism under the European Central Bank as a prelude to Banking union. There are also associations of financial regulatory authorities, in essence, they forced European banks, and, more importantly, the European Central Bank itself e. g. Pr. ISBN 978-0-691-15264-6 Simpson, D. Meeks, G. Klumpes, P. & Andrews, some cost-benefit issues in financial regulation
Financial regulation
33.
Immigration law
–
Immigration law refers to national government policies controlling the immigration and deportation of people, and other matters such as citizenship. Immigration laws vary from country to country, as well as according to the climate of the times. Immigration law regarding the citizens of a country is regulated by international law, the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights mandates that all countries allow entry to its own citizens. Certain countries may maintain rather strict laws which regulate both the right of entry and internal rights, such as the duration of stay and the right to participate in government, most countries have laws which designate a process for naturalization, by which foreigners may become citizens. During the colonial period, independent colonies created their own immigration laws, the first law governing the naturalization of foreigners was the Naturalization Act of 1790. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to stop the immigration of Chinese people, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 led to the creation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Department of Homeland Security, which replaced the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the United States allows more than 1 million undocumented immigrants to become Legal Permanent Residents every year. The United States also issues more Visas than any country in the world. Visas in the United States can be separated into two categories, immigrant visas, and non-immigrant visas. The former are subject to per country-caps, whereas the latter is not, most non-immigrant visas are for work purposes, and usually require an offer of employment from a US employer. Such immigration may involve restrictions such as a certification to ensure that no American workers are able to fill the role of the job. Other categories include student, family and tourist visas, each visa category is further divided into numerous subcategories, the large number of specific categories has been recommended as a main area for comprehensive immigration reform. To control immigration, many set up customs at entry points. Some common location for entry points are airports and roads near the border, at the customs department, travel documents are inspected. Some required documents are a passport, a certificate of vaccination. Sometimes travelers are required to declare or register the amount of money they are carrying. This section is an attempt to classify and bring information about immigration legislation on a number of countries with high immigration
Immigration law
–
Legal status of
persons
34.
Intellectual property
–
Intellectual property refers to creations of the intellect for which a monopoly is assigned to designated owners by law. Intellectual property rights are the protections granted to the creators of IP, and include trademarks, copyright, patents, industrial design rights, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets. Artistic works including music and literature, as well as discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, the Statute of Monopolies and the British Statute of Anne are seen as the origins of patent law and copyright respectively, firmly establishing the concept of intellectual property. The first known use of the intellectual property dates to 1769. The first clear example of modern usage goes back as early as 1808, the German equivalent was used with the founding of the North German Confederation whose constitution granted legislative power over the protection of intellectual property to the confederation. According to Lemley, it was only at point that the term really began to be used in the United States. The history of patents does not begin with inventions, but rather with royal grants by Queen Elizabeth I for monopoly privileges, the evolution of patents from royal prerogative to common-law doctrine. The term can be used in an October 1845 Massachusetts Circuit Court ruling in the patent case Davoll et al. v. Brown. The statement that discoveries are. property goes back earlier, in Europe, French author A. Nion mentioned propriété intellectuelle in his Droits civils des auteurs, artistes et inventeurs, published in 1846. Until recently, the purpose of property law was to give as little protection as possible in order to encourage innovation. Historically, therefore, they were granted only when they were necessary to encourage invention, limited in time, the concepts origins can potentially be traced back further. In 500 BCE, the government of the Greek state of Sybaris offered one years patent to all who should discover any new refinement in luxury. Intellectual property rights include patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, trade dress, geographical indications, a copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Copyright may apply to a range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms. Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed, an industrial design right protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern, an industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft. Plant breeders rights or plant variety rights are the rights to use a new variety of a plant. The variety must amongst others be novel and distinct and for registration the evaluation of propagating material of the variety is examined, a trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders
Intellectual property
–
The
Statute of Anne came into force in 1710
Intellectual property
–
Demonstration in
Sweden in support of
file sharing, 2006.
Intellectual property
–
"Copying is not theft!" badge with a character resembling
Mickey Mouse in reference to the in popular culture rationale behind the
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998
Intellectual property
–
RIAA representative
Hilary Rosen testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the future of digital music (July 11, 2000)
35.
International criminal law
–
The core crimes under international law are genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. This article also discusses crimes against international law, which may not be part of the body of international criminal law, classical international law governs the relationships, rights, and responsibilities of states. Criminal law generally deals with prohibitions addressed to individuals, and penal sanctions for violation of those imposed by individual states. International criminal law comprises elements of both in that although its sources are those of law, its consequences are penal sanctions imposed on individuals. Some precedents in international law can be found in the time before World War I. However, it was only after the war that an international crime tribunal was envisaged to try perpetrators of crimes committed in this period. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles stated that a tribunal was to be set up to try Wilhelm II of Germany. In the event, however, the Kaiser was granted asylum in the Netherlands, after World War II, the Allied powers set up an international tribunal to try not only war crimes, but crimes against humanity committed under the Nazi regime. The Nuremberg Tribunal held its first session in 1945 and pronounced judgments on 30 September /1 October 1946, a similar tribunal was established for Japanese war crimes. It operated from 1946 to 1948, the ICC issued its first arrest warrants in 2005. International criminal law is a subset of international law, as such, its sources are the same as those that comprise international law. The classical enumeration of those sources is in Article 38 of the 1946 Statute of the International Court of Justice and comprise, treaties, customary international law, general principles of law. The Rome Statute governing the International Criminal Court contains an analogous, though not identical, the prosecution of severe international crimes—including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes—is necessary to enforce international criminal law and deliver justice to victims. This is an important component of transitional justice, or the process of transforming societies into rights-respecting democracies, investigations and trials of leaders who have committed crimes and caused mass political or military atrocities is a key demand of victims of human rights abuses. Prosecution of such criminals can play a key role in restoring dignity to victims, the International Criminal Court, as described below, can play an important role in prosecuting international crimes in cases where domestic courts are unwilling or unable to do so. The courts creation perhaps constitutes the most significant reform of international law since 1945 and it gives authority to the two bodies of international law that deal with treatment of individuals, human rights and humanitarian law. The courts official seat is in The Hague, Netherlands, as of March 2016,124 states are parties to the Statute of the Court, including all the countries of South America, nearly all of Europe, most of Oceania and roughly half of Africa. A further 31 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute, the law of treaties obliges these states to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty until they declare they do not intend to become a party to the treaty
International criminal law
–
The International Criminal Court in The Hague
International criminal law
–
The Lebanon Tribunal in Leidschendam, Netherlands
36.
Slavery in international law
–
Slavery in International Law is governed by a number of treaties, conventions and declarations. Foremost among these is the Universal Declaration on Human Rights that states in Article 4, “no one should be held in slavery or servitude and this is affected by the Optional Protocol to the Abolition of Slavery and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The ICCPR, governed by the Human Rights Committee, is responsible for internationally monitoring present conditions of slavery, the concept has its roots in the 1807 Abolition of Slavery Act of Great Britain. Many academics in the field perceive this as the beginning of the end of the form of slavery. In the 19th century, Britain controlled the majority of the world through its colonies, consequently, in passing this law to abolish slavery, the British Parliament abolished slavery in the vast majority of its colonies. Customarily, freedoms from slavery can also be found prior to the 19th century under the freedom from oppression. Through customary practice and the abolition of slavery, the community has adopted the right of each person to be free from slavery. The first large-scale move to abolish slavery by the community came in 1926 with the Slavery Convention. Although this document provides the definition of slavery, its definition is limited in the types of slavery it includes. It is for this reason that the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery was signed, the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery came into force on April 30,1957 and of 2002 there were 97 states partied to the convention. The Slavery Convention and its supplementary document are beneficial in providing a definition of slavery, however. Article 8 of this Covenant states, “No one shall be held in slavery, slavery, no one shall be held in servitude. No one shall be required to force or compulsory labour. ”The ICCPR outlines, in part IV. All states are required to submit reports to the Committee on how the rights of the Covenant are being implemented. A state’s initial report must be one year of acceding the Covenant and after this. In Mali, the noted that the State party has not taken clear action in response the reports of slavery like practices. In acknowledging this, the committee recommended that the state should conduct research to determine if these conditions of slavery still exist, the committee also noted concerns of child trafficking into Côte dIvoire, where children were then being subjected to forced labour and slavery. The committee observed situations of trafficking of human beings, namely women and children, in Serbia, the Human Rights Committee monitored trafficking in Norway
Slavery in international law
–
Slavery
37.
Labour law
–
Labour law mediates the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions and the government. Collective labour law relates to the relationship between employee, employer and union. Individual labour law concerns employees rights at work and through the contract for work, Employment standards are social norms for the minimum socially acceptable conditions under which employees or contractors are allowed to work. Labour law arose in parallel with the Industrial Revolution as the relationship between worker and employer changed from small-scale production studios to large-scale factories, Workers sought better conditions and the right to join a labour union, while employers sought a more predictable, flexible and less costly workforce. The state of law at any one time is therefore both the product of, and a component of struggles between various social forces. As England was the first country to industrialize, it was also the first to face the often appalling consequences of industrial revolution in a less regulated economic framework. This was largely achieved through the pressure from social reformers, notably Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. A serious outbreak of fever in 1784 in cotton mills near Manchester drew widespread public opinion against the use of children in dangerous conditions. A local inquiry presided over by Dr Thomas Percival, was instituted by the justices of the peace for Lancashire, in 1802, the first major piece of labour legislation was passed − the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. This was the first, albeit modest, step towards the protection of labour, the act limited working hours to twelve a day and abolished night work. It required the provision of a level of education for all apprentices, as well as adequate sleeping accommodation. The Factory Act of 1819 was the outcome of the efforts of the industrialist Robert Owen and prohibited child labour under nine years of age, pivotal in the campaigning for and the securing of this legislation were Michael Sadler and the Earl of Shaftesbury. This act was an important step forward, in that it mandated skilled inspection of workplaces, a lengthy campaign to limit the working day to ten hours was led by Shaftesbury, and included support from the Anglican Church. Many committees were formed in support of the cause and some established groups lent their support as well. The campaign finally led to the passage of the Factory Act of 1847 and these early efforts were principally aimed at limiting child labour. From the mid-19th century, attention was first paid to the plight of working conditions for the workforce in general, in 1850, systematic reporting of fatal accidents was made compulsory, and basic safeguards for health, life and limb in the mines were put in place from 1855. Further regulations, relating to ventilation, fencing of disused shafts, signalling standards, a series of further Acts, in 1860 and 1872 extended the legal provisions and strengthened safety provisions. The same Act included the first comprehensive code of regulation to govern legal safeguards for health, life, the presence of a more certified and competent management and increased levels of inspection were also provided for
Labour law
–
Men leaving the
pit, before the start of
World War I. The average
life expectancy of a
Liverpool mineworker was 30 years in 1900.
Labour law
–
Two girls wearing banners in Yiddish and English with the slogan "Abolish child slavery!!" at the 1909
International Workers' Day parade in New York City
Labour law
–
Strikers gathering in
Tyldesley, Greater Manchester in the 1926
General Strike in the U.K.
Labour law
–
An American builder
38.
Law of war
–
The law of war is a legal term of art that refers to the aspect of public international law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct. Attempts to define and regulate the conduct of individuals, nations, the earliest known instances are found in the Mahabharata and the Torah. One should not assail someone in distress, neither to him nor to defeat him. War should be waged for the sake of conquest, one should not be enraged toward an enemy who is not trying to kill him and you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the human, that they should be besieged by you. 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, also, Deuteronomy 20, 10–12, requires the Israelites to make an offer of peace to the opposing party before laying siege to their city. When you draw near to a city to fight against it,11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, similarly, Deuteronomy 21, 10–14 requires that female captives who were forced to marry the victors of a war could not be sold as slaves. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path and you must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man, bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services, in the history of the early Christian church, many Christian writers considered that Christians could not be soldiers or fight wars. Augustine of Hippo contradicted this and wrote about just war doctrine, in medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church also began promulgating teachings on just war, reflected to some extent in movements such as the Peace and Truce of God. The impulse to restrict the extent of warfare, and especially protect the lives and property of non-combatants continued with Hugo Grotius, the modern law of war is made up from three principal sources, Lawmaking treaties — see § International treaties on the laws of war below. Not all the law of war derives from or has been incorporated in such treaties, such customary international law is established by the general practice of nations together with their acceptance that such practice is required by law. Certain fundamental principles provide basic guidance, for instance, the principles of distinction, proportionality, and necessity, all of which are part of customary international law, always apply to the use of armed force. Positive international humanitarian law consists of treaties which directly affect the laws of war by binding consenting nations, the opposite of positive laws of war is customary laws of war, many of which were explored at the Nuremberg War Trials. These laws define both the rights of states as well as prohibitions on their conduct when dealing with irregular forces and non-signatories
Law of war
–
The
First Geneva Convention governing the sick and wounded members of armed forces was signed in 1864.
Law of war
–
The signing of the
First Geneva Convention by some of the major European powers in 1864.
39.
Maritime law
–
Admiralty law or maritime law is a distinct body of law that governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities that operate vessels on the oceans. It deals with matters including marine commerce, marine navigation, marine salvaging, shipping, sailors, Admiralty law also covers many commercial activities, although land based or occurring wholly on land, that are maritime in character. Seaborne transport was one of the earliest channels of commerce, in southern Italy the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris at Trani and the Amalfian Laws were in effect from an early date. Islamic law also made contributions to international admiralty law, departing from the previous Roman. Islamic law departed from Justinians Digest and the Nomos Rhodion Nautikos in condemning slave jettison, the Islamic influence on the development of an international law of the sea can thus be discerned alongside that of the Roman influence. Admiralty law was introduced into England by the French Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine while she was acting as regent for her son, in England, special admiralty courts handle all admiralty cases. These courts do not use the law of England, but are civil law courts largely based upon the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian. Admiralty courts were a prominent feature in the prelude to the American Revolution, because the Stamp Act was unpopular, a colonial jury was unlikely to convict a colonist of its violation. However, because admiralty courts did not grant trial by jury, Admiralty law became part of the law of the United States as it was gradually introduced through admiralty cases arising after the adoption of the U. S. Many American lawyers who were prominent in the American Revolution were admiralty and those included are Alexander Hamilton in New York and John Adams in Massachusetts. The result was the Seventh Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, in the more modern era, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was an admiralty lawyer before ascending to the bench. The doctrine of maintenance and cure is rooted in Article VI of the Rolls of Oleron promulgated in about 1160 A. D. The obligation to cure requires a shipowner to provide care, free of charge, to a seaman injured in the service of the ship. The concept of maximum medical cure is more extensive than the concept maximum medical improvement, the obligation to cure a seaman includes the obligation to provide him with medications and medical devices which improve his ability to function, even if they dont improve his actual condition. They may include long term treatments that permit him to continue to function well, common examples include prostheses, wheelchairs, and pain medications. The obligation of maintenance requires the shipowner to provide a seaman with his living expenses while he is convalescing. Once a seaman is able to work, he is expected to maintain himself, consequently, a seaman can lose his right to maintenance, while the obligation to provide cure is ongoing
Maritime law
–
Admiralty law
40.
Probate
–
Probate is the legal process whereby a will is proved in a court and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased. The granting of probate is the first step in the process of administering the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims. A probate court decides the legal validity of a testators will and grants its approval, also known as granting probate, the probated will then becomes a legal instrument that may be enforced by the executor in the law courts if necessary. A probate also officially appoints the executor, generally named in the will, however, through the probate process, a will may be contested. Probate is a process of improvement that proves a will of a person is valid. As with any legal proceeding, there are aspects to probate administration, Creditors must be notified. Executors of the will must be guided in how and when to distribute assets, a Petition to appoint a personal representative may need to be filed and letters of administration issued. A Grant of Letters of Administration can be used as proof that the ‘Administrator is entitled to handle the assets, homestead property, which follows its own set of unique rules in states like Florida, must be dealt with separately from other assets. There are time factors involved in filing and objecting to claims against the estate, there may be a lawsuit pending over the decedents death or there may have been pending suits that are now continuing. There may be separate procedures required in contentious probate cases, real estate or other property may need to be sold to effect correct distribution of assets pursuant to the will or merely to pay debts. Estate taxes, gift taxes or inheritance taxes must be considered if the estate exceeds certain thresholds, costs of the administration including ordinary taxation such as income tax on interest and property taxation is deducted from assets in the estate before distribution by the executors of the will. Other assets may simply need to be transferred from the deceased to his or her beneficiaries, other assets may have pay on death or transfer on death designations, which avoids probate. Local laws governing the process often depend on the value. If the value of the estate is small, the probate process may be avoided. In some jurisdictions and/or at a threshold, probate must be applied for by the Executor/Administrator or a Probate lawyer filing on their behalf. The Probate lawyer is a specialist in law, who makes application representing the Executor/Administrator. In common law jurisdictions, probate is obtained by executors of a will while letters of administration are granted where there are no executors, the main UK source of law is the Wills Act 1837. Probate was originally handled by the Court of Chancery, but after that court was abolished in 1873, an executor is the person appointed by a will to act on the behalf of the estate of the will maker upon his or her death
Probate
–
Wills,
trusts and
estates
41.
Will and testament
–
For the devolution of property not disposed of by will, see inheritance and intestacy. Thus, the word will validly applies to personal and real property. A will may also create a testamentary trust that is only after the death of the testator. Throughout most of the world, disposal of an estate has been a matter of social custom, according to Plutarch, the written will was invented by Solon. Originally it was a device intended solely for men who died without an heir, the English phrase will and testament is derived from a period in English law when Old English and Law French were used side by side for maximum clarity. Other such legal doublets include breaking and entering and peace and quiet, the conception of the freedom of disposition by will, familiar as it is in modern England and the United States, both generally considered common law systems, is by no means universal. In fact, complete freedom is the rather than the rule. Civil law systems often put some restrictions on the possibilities of disposal, advocates for gays and lesbians have pointed to the inheritance rights of spouses as desirable for same-sex couples as well, through same-sex marriage or civil unions. Opponents of such advocacy rebut this claim by pointing to the ability of same-sex couples to disperse their assets by will, types of wills generally include, nuncupative - oral or dictated, often limited to sailors or military personnel. Holographic will - written in the hand of the testator, in many jurisdictions, the signature, self-proved - in solemn form with affidavits of subscribing witnesses to avoid probate. Notarial - will in public form and prepared by a civil-law notary, servicemans will - will of person in active-duty military service and usually lacking certain formalities, particularly under English law. Reciprocal/mirror/mutual/husband and wife wills - wills made by two or more parties that make similar or identical provisions in favor of each other, unsolemn will - will in which the executor is unnamed. Will in solemn form - signed by testator and witnesses, some jurisdictions recognize a holographic will, made out entirely in the testators own hand, or in some modern formulations, with material provisions in the testators hand. The distinctive feature of a holographic will is less that it is handwritten by the testator, in Louisiana this type of testament is called an Olographic or Mystic will. It must be written, dated, and signed in the handwriting of the testator. Although the date may appear anywhere in the testament, the testator must sign the testament at the end of the testament, any additions or corrections must also be entirely hand written to have effect. In England, the formalities of wills are relaxed for soldiers who express their wishes on active service, a minority of jurisdictions even recognize the validity of nuncupative wills, particularly for military personnel or merchant sailors. However, there are constraints on the disposition of property if such an oral will is used
Will and testament
–
Wills,
trusts and
estates
Will and testament
–
Muhammad Ali Jinnah 's will, excerpt
Will and testament
–
Alfred Nobel's will, in which he endows the
Nobel prize.
Will and testament
–
Last will and testament of
Tennessee Williams
42.
Public international law
–
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states, analogous entities, such as the Holy See, and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, the field of study combines two main branches, the law of nations and international agreements and conventions. The Italian jurist Sir Alberico Gentili was the first to write on public international law and it is usually distinguished from private international law, which concerns the resolution of conflict of laws. The concept of nationalism became increasingly important as people began to see themselves as citizens of a nation with a distinct national identity. Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another and it does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy, and, in general, because international law is a relatively new area of law its development and propriety in applicable areas are often subject to dispute. Under article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in addition, judicial decisions and teachings may be applied as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. International treaty law comprises obligations states expressly and voluntarily accept between themselves in treaties, customary international law is derived from the consistent practice of States accompanied by opinio juris, i. e. the conviction of States that the consistent practice is required by a legal obligation. Judgments of international tribunals as well as scholarly works have traditionally looked to as persuasive sources for custom in addition to direct evidence of state behavior. Attempts to codify customary international law picked up momentum after the Second World War with the formation of the International Law Commission, codified customary law is made the binding interpretation of the underlying custom by agreement through treaty. For states not party to treaties, the work of the ILC may still be accepted as custom applying to those states. General principles of law are commonly recognized by the major legal systems of the world. Certain norms of international law achieve the binding force of peremptory norms as to all states with no permissible derogations. Colombia v Perú ICJ6, recognising custom as a source of international law, belgium v Spain ICJ1, only the state where a corporation is incorporated has standing to bring an action for damages for economic loss. Where there are disputes about the meaning and application of national laws. The subjective approach, which takes into consideration i. the idea behind the treaty, ii. treaties in their context, what the writers intended when they wrote the text. A third approach, which bases itself on interpretation in the light of its object and purpose, i. e. the interpretation that best suits the goal of the treaty and these are general rules of interpretation, specific rules might exist in specific areas of international law. Greece v United Kingdom ICJ1, ICJ had no jurisdiction to hear a dispute between the UK government and a private Greek businessman under the terms of a treaty
Public international law
–
Sir Alberico Gentili is regarded as the Father of international law.
43.
Space law
–
Space law encompasses national and international law governing activities in outer space. The inception of the field of law began with the launch of the worlds first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union in October 1957. Named Sputnik 1, the satellite was launched as part of the International Geophysical Year, since that time, space law has evolved and assumed more importance as mankind has increasingly come to use and rely on space-based resources. At Caltech in 1942 Theodore von Kármán and other rocket scientists banded together to form Aerojet rocket company with the help of lawyer Andrew G. Haley. To toast the new corporation, Kármán said, Now, Andy, we make the rockets – you must make the corporation. Indeed, twenty years later Haley published the textbook, Space Law. Beginning in 1957 with the Space Race, nations began discussing systems to ensure the use of outer space. Bilateral discussions between the United States and USSR in 1958 resulted in the presentation of issues to the UN for debate, in 1959, the UN created the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. COPUOS in turn created two subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee, the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee has been a primary forum for discussion and negotiation of international agreements relating to outer space. In 1960 the International Astronautical Congress met in Stockholm and heard several submissions including a survey of opinion on extraterrestrial jurisdiction by Andrew G. Haley. In 1963 Yale University Press published Law and Public Order in Space by Myres McDougal, Harold Lasswell, the 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space. The 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, the 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space. The 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon, the outer space treaty is the most widely adopted treaty, with 104 parties. The rescue agreement, the liability convention and the convention all elaborate on provisions of the outer space treaty. The moon treaty has only 17 parties however, and many consider it to be a failed treaty due to its limited acceptance, India is the only nation that has both signed the moon treaty and declared itself interested in going to the moon. India has not ratified the treaty, an analysis of Indias treaty law is required to understand how this affects India legally. In addition, the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, the United Nations General Assembly adopted five declarations and legal principles which encourage exercising the international laws, as well as unified communication between countries. No one nation may claim ownership of space or any celestial body
Space law
–
NASA STS-121 Launch
Space law
–
American Society of International Law Space Interest Group 2014 Board meeting
44.
Tax law
–
Tax law is an area of legal study dealing with the constitutional, common-law, statutory, tax treaty, and regulatory rules that constitute the law applicable to taxation. Primary taxation issues facing the world over include, Taxes on income. Taxation of capital gains versus labor income, ecotax refers to taxes intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. Tax evasion and avoidance leading to reduced government revenue, due to an Inefficient tax system in many underdeveloped countries, the majority of small businesses are not taxed. In law schools, tax law is a sub-discipline and area of specialist study, U. S. law schools require 30 semester credit hours of required courses,60 hours or more of electives and a combined total of at least 90 credit hours completed. Law students must choose available courses on which to focus before graduation with the J. D. degree in the United States. S, Master of Laws programs are offered in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands and an increasing number of countries. Many of these focus on domestic and international taxation. In the United States, most LL. M, programs require that the candidate be a graduate of an American Bar Association-accredited law school. In other countries a graduate law degree is sufficient for admission to LL. M. in Taxation law programs, the Master of Laws program is an advanced legal study. General Requirements J. D. or First degree in law, an English proficiency test score for students with a native language besides English. The Juris Doctor program is offered by only a number of countries and these include, United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The courses vary in duration of years, curriculum and whether or not further training is required, law School Admission Test - Required for law school admission in United States, Canada and a growing number of countries. A list of tax faculty ranked by publication downloads is maintained by Paul Caron at TaxProf Blog
Tax law
–
The
Internal Revenue Code is the primary statutory basis of federal tax law in the United States. The Code of Federal Regulations is the Treasury Department's regulatory interpretation of the federal tax laws passed by Congress, which carry the weight of law if the interpretation is reasonable. Tax treaties and case law in U.S. Tax Court and other federal courts constitute the remainder of tax law in the United States.
45.
Trust law
–
A trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another. A trust is created by a settlor, who transfers property to a trustee, the trustee holds that property for the trusts beneficiaries. Trusts exist mainly in common law jurisdictions and similar systems existed since Roman times and this may be done for tax avoidance reasons or to control the property and its benefits if the settlor is absent, incapacitated, or deceased. Trusts are frequently created in wills, defining how money and property will be handled for children or other beneficiaries, the trustee is given legal title to the trust property, but is obligated to act for the good of the beneficiaries. The trustee may be compensated and have expenses reimbursed, but otherwise must turn over all profits from the trust properties, Trustees who violate this fiduciary duty are self-dealing. Courts can reverse self-dealing actions, order profits returned, and impose other sanctions, the trustee may be either an individual, a company, or a public body. There may be a trustee or multiple co-trustees. The trust is governed by the terms under which it was created, in most jurisdictions, this requires a contractual trust agreement or deed. A trust is created by a settlor, who transfers title to some or all of his or her property to a trustee, the trust is governed by the terms under which it was created. In most jurisdictions, this requires a contractual trust agreement or deed and it is possible for a single individual to assume the role of more than one of these parties, and for multiple individuals to share a single role. For example, in a living trust it is common for the grantor to be both a trustee and a beneficiary, while naming other contingent beneficiaries. Trusts have existed since Roman times and have one of the most important innovations in property law. Trust law has evolved through court rulings differently in different states, so statements in this article are generalizations, States are adapting the Uniform Trust Code to codify and harmonize their trust laws, but state-specific variations still remain. An owner placing property into trust turns over part of his or her bundle of rights to the trustee, separating the propertys legal ownership and control from its equitable ownership and benefits. This may be done for tax reasons or to control the property and its benefits if the settlor is absent, incapacitated, testamentary trusts may be created in wills, defining how money and property will be handled for children or other beneficiaries. While the trustee is given legal title to the trust property, in accepting the property title, the primary duties owed include the duty of loyalty, the duty of prudence, the duty of impartiality. A trustee may be held to a high standard of care in their dealings. In addition, a trustee has a duty to know, understand, the trustee may be compensated and have expenses reimbursed, but otherwise must turn over all profits from the trust properties
Trust law
–
Wills, trusts and
estates
Trust law
–
Chart of a trust
46.
Charter
–
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. The word entered the English language from the Old French charte and it has come to be synonymous with the document that lays out the granting of rights or privileges. The term is used for a case to an institutional charter. A charter school, for example, is one that has different rules, regulations, charter is sometimes used as a synonym for tool or lease, as in the charter of a bus or boat or plane by an organization, intended for a similar group destination. A charter member of an organization is a member, that is. Anglo-Saxon Charters are documents from the medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, the British Empire used three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts of the earth. These three types were royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate colonies, a charter colony by definition is a colony…chartered to an individual, trading company, etc. by the British crown. Although charter colonies were not the most prevalent of the three types of colonies in the British Empire, they were by no means insignificant, a congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code, a municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. Charters for chivalric orders and other orders, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in project management, a project charter or project definition is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the objectives, identifies the main stakeholders. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project, in medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities. The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was founded, at one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means are generally now used instead
Charter
–
An example of a charter (
Magna Carta).
47.
Constitution
–
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i. e. constitute, some constitutions are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from states to companies. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a states rulers cannot cross, the term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments. Later, the term was used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope. The Latin term ultra vires describes activities of officials within an organization or polity that fall outside the constitutional or statutory authority of those officials. Ultra vires gives a justification for the forced cessation of such action. A violation of rights by an official would be ultra vires because a right is a restriction on the powers of government, and therefore that official would be exercising powers they do not have. It was never law, even though, if it had been a statute or statutory provision, in such a case, only the application may be ruled unconstitutional. Historically, the remedy for such violations have been petitions for common law writs, excavations in modern-day Iraq by Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the Sumerian king Urukagina of Lagash ca 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered, for example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the usury of the rich. After that, many governments ruled by codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the Code of Ur-Nammu of Ur, some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin, the code of Hammurabi of Babylonia, the Hittite code, the Assyrian code and Mosaic law. In 621 BC a scribe named Draco codified the cruel oral laws of the city-state of Athens, in 594 BC Solon, the ruler of Athens, created the new Solonian Constitution. It eased the burden of the workers, and determined that membership of the class was to be based on wealth. Cleisthenes again reformed the Athenian constitution and set it on a footing in 508 BC. The most basic definition he used to describe a constitution in general terms was the arrangement of the offices in a state
Constitution
–
A painting depicting George Washington at the
Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution
Constitution
–
Detail from
Hammurabi 's
stele shows him receiving the laws of
Babylon from the seated
sun deity.
Constitution
–
The Bendery Constitution by Hetman
Pylyp Orlyk.
Constitution
–
May 3rd Constitution (painting by
Jan Matejko, 1891).
Polish King Stanisław August (left, in regal
ermine -trimmed cloak), enters
St. John's Cathedral, where
Sejm deputies will swear to uphold
the new Constitution; in background,
Warsaw's Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted.
48.
Divine right of kings
–
The divine right of kings, divine right, or Gods mandate is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, the king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm. It implies that only God can judge an unjust king and that any attempt to depose, dethrone or restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and it is only an implication and the Bible states Iron sharpens iron, referring to accountability to each other. It also implies the higher accountability of Monarchs to implement policies in line with Christs commandment to Love one another and it is often expressed in the phrase by the Grace of God, attached to the titles of a reigning monarch. In the pagan world, kings were often seen as ruling with the backing of heavenly powers or perhaps even being divine beings themselves. However, the Christian notion of a right of kings could be traced to the biblical story found in 1 Samuel. And the anointing is to such an effect that the monarch became inviolable, adomnan of Iona is one of the earliest Christian proponents of this concept of kings ruling with divine right. He wrote of the Irish King Diarmait mac Cerbaills assassination and claimed that divine punishment fell on his assassin for the act of violating the monarch, the same angel then visited Columba on three successive nights, and then finally Columba agreed and Aedan came to receive ordination. Adomnans writings most likely influenced other Irish writers, who in turn influenced continental ideas as well, pepin the Shorts coronation may have also come from the same influence. The Carolingian dynasty and the Holy Roman Emperors also influenced all subsequent western ideas of kingship, the immediate author of the theory was Jean Bodin, who based it on the interpretation of Roman law. With the rise of nation-states and the Protestant Reformation, the theory of divine right justified the kings authority in both political and spiritual matters. The theory came to the fore in England under the reign of James I of England, louis XIV of France strongly promoted the theory as well. The Scots textbooks of the right of kings were written in 1597–98 by James VI of Scotland before his accession to the English throne. James I based his theories in part on his understanding of the Bible, the state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth, for kings are not only Gods lieutenants upon earth and sit upon Gods throne, but even by God himself they are called gods. There be three principal that illustrate the state of monarchy, one out of the word of God. In the Scriptures kings are called gods, and so their power after a certain relation compared to the Divine power, Kings are also compared to fathers of families, for a king is truly parens patriae, the politic father of his people. And lastly, kings are compared to the head of this microcosm of the body of man, jamess reference to Gods lieutenants is apparently a reference to the controversial text in Romans 13, where Paul refers to Gods ministers. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God
Divine right of kings
–
Louis XIV of France depicted as the Sun King.
Divine right of kings
–
Antichristus, a woodcut by
Lucas Cranach the Elder, of the pope using the temporal power to grant authority to a ruler contributing generously to the Catholic Church
Divine right of kings
–
Charles I, being crowned by a hand from a cloud, possibly by God
Divine right of kings
–
The
Emperor of Japan rules as a divine descendant of the sun goddess
Amaterasu
49.
Human rights
–
Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of human behaviour, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law. They are applicable everywhere and at time in the sense of being universal. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the rights of others. They should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on circumstances, for example, human rights may include freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture. The doctrine of human rights has been influential within international law. Actions by states and non-governmental organizations form a basis of public policy worldwide, the idea of human rights suggests that if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights. The strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature, ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights. Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the family is the foundation of freedom. All human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. According to Jack Donnelly, in the ancient world, traditional societies typically have had elaborate systems of duties, conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights. These institutions and practices are alternative to, rather than different formulations of, one theory is that human rights were developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-Christian ethics. The most commonly held view is that the concept of human rights evolved in the West, for example, McIntyre argues there is no word for right in any language before 1400. One of the oldest records of rights is the statute of Kalisz, giving privileges to the Jewish minority in the Kingdom of Poland such as protection from discrimination. Samuel Moyn suggests that the concept of rights is intertwined with the modern sense of citizenship. The earliest conceptualization of human rights is credited to ideas about natural rights emanating from natural law, in particular, the issue of universal rights was introduced by the examination of extending rights to indigenous peoples by Spanish clerics, such as Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de Las Casas. In Britain in 1689, the English Bill of Rights and the Scottish Claim of Right each made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions, additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms. These were followed by developments in philosophy of human rights by philosophers such as Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill, hegel during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the term had been used by at least one author as early as 1742, in the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over the issue of slavery
Human rights
–
The
Cyrus Cylinder, created by king
Cyrus the Great, is sometimes argued to be the world's first charter of human rights.
Human rights
–
The Bill of Rights (1688 or 1689)
Human rights
–
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by the
National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789.
Human rights
–
The
UN General Assembly
