LAW IN GENERAL
1. Rights. Men are endowed with certain individual rights. These rights are principally of two classes, personal and property. Men have the right to live in peace and quietude. In so far as it does not interfere with the same privilege on the part of others they have the right to be unmolested in the pursuit of happiness. They have the right to defend themselves against the attacks of others, to satisfy bodily hunger and thirst, and to preserve their bodies in health and strength.
Besides these personal rights, men have the right to acquire and keep property. This right is also subject to the limitation of not interfering with the same privilege on the part of others. Men have the right to acquire property, both chattel and real. For the purpose of rendering their existence and enjoyment secure, they have the right to keep the title and possession of this property in themselves.
In primitive times, property rights were few. Personal rights were recognized and enforced by might. As the requirements of civilized life became more complex, property rights were needed and recognized. Rules of conduct and rules for the holding and transfer of property were recognized and enforced. Might ceased to be the principal method of enforcing rights. Rules began to be recognized and enforced with regard to persons and property. These rules are known as laws.
2. Law. Law may be defined to be a rule of human conduct. It may be said to embrace all rules of human conduct recognized by courts of law. Laws are necessary to enable men to enforce and enjoy their rights, both personal and property. Customs of men become rules by which human affairs are regulated. Men may disagree as to what their rights are, or as to their exact scope or limitations. In this event, rules of conduct or laws must determine their scope and limitations. Disputes among men arise about their personal or property rights. The rules recognized by the courts in settling these disputes are laws. These rules or laws relate both to persons and property. A law which prohibits murder is a rule by which the state protects the lives of its citizens; a law which prohibits theft is a rule for the protection of property.
3. Sources of Law. Law is derived from the customs of the people and from the written declarations or agreements of the people or their representatives. The customs of the people, constituting a large part of our law, are found principally in the decisions of courts. Each state of this country prints and keeps a permanent record of at least the most important decisions of its court of last resort. Many decisions of lower courts are printed and preserved. Every law library of importance has the printed reports of the supreme court of each state of this country; as well as the reports of the higher courts of most of the countries where the English language is spoken or officially recognized. The reports of the higher courts of England, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and of many of the island possessions of this country and of England, are found in most law libraries. The second source of law is the written declaration of the people or their representatives. These declarations consist of legislative acts, treaties and constitutions. In this country, legislative acts may be either national or state. Many statutes are nothing more than recognized customs enacted into written laws. Other statutes are variations or restrictions of recognized customs. National legislative acts are numbered consecutively, printed and bound into volumes known as the Federal Statutes. Each state numbers its statutes consecutively and prints and binds them into volumes known as the State Statutes.
4. Divisions of the Law. There are two great divisions of the law, written and unwritten. The greater portion of the law consists of the customs of the people, as evidenced and preserved by the written decisions of the courts. These customs, to be recognized as law, need not be found in written decisions, but the most important ones have become embodied therein. New customs are necessary and are recognized to meet new and changing conditions. These new customs are continually adding to our unwritten law. While this great portion of the law is called unwritten law, the greater portion of it actually is in writing, and is preserved in permanent form by our court reports, both national and state.
The second division of law is known as written law. It consists of treaties, constitutions, and legislative acts. Treaties are international compacts. Legislative acts are the laws passed by the people or their representatives. In this country they consist of the laws passed by the United States Congress, and by the representative bodies of each state. Constitutions, in this country, consist of the State Constitutions and the United States Constitution. In England the constitution is not written, but is a part of the unwritten law of the land.
5. Classification of Law. A number of useful classifications of the law are recognized. Any classification is more or less arbitrary, and no classification has been recognized universally.
Law may be classified as public, administrative, and private. Public law embraces the law of nations, called international law; the laws regulating the enforcement and recognition of constitutional provisions, called constitutional law; and the laws protecting citizens against the actions of dangerous characters, called criminal laws.
The public as a unit is said to be interested in public law. Public laws are recognized and enforced in theory, at least, for the benefit of the public and not for any particular individual. For example, if a murder is committed, the state through its officers prosecutes and punishes the criminal on the theory that a wrong has been done the state. The heirs or representatives of the person murdered can sue and recover money compensation, called damages, from the murderer, but the state punishes the criminal. This work does not treat of public law.
Administrative law, sometimes called Law of Procedure, embraces the rules and regulations relating to the enforcement of personal and property rights. The laws relating to courts, the method and manner of starting legal actions, the trial of cases, and the rendering and enforcement of judgments are common examples of Administrative Law. Private law embraces the law of contracts and of torts.
Contracts consist of agreements of every nature. The great majority of dealings of men are carried out by means of contracts. This is the most important, as well as the most extensive subject known to the law.
Torts embrace all private wrongs not arising out of contracts. Any injury inflicted by one person upon the person or property of another, which is not a breach of contract, is a tort. Tort is the French word for private wrong. If A carelessly drives his automobile into B's wagon, he commits a tort. If A carelessly drives his horse over B's field, he commits a tort. If A wrongfully strikes B, he commits a tort. Torts and crimes frequently over-lap. The same act may constitute a tort and a crime. If A drives his automobile faster than the laws of the state or city permit, and while so doing runs over and injures B, he commits both a tort and a crime. He is liable to the state for imprisonment or fine for the crime, and he is liable to B in money for damages for the tort.
The same act may constitute a crime, a breach of contract, and a tort. If A, engaged as a chauffeur to operate an automobile carefully and skillfully, violates the speed law, and in so doing runs over and injures B, he commits a crime and is liable to the state for punishment or fine. He is also liable in damages to B for the tort committed, and is liable in damages to his employer for breach of contract. This work has largely to do with the law of contracts and torts.
The term Commercial Law, applied to this work, is a term used arbitrarily to embrace the laws relating to commercial affairs. It has no distinct place in the general classification of law.