Private law

Private law is a branch of the law that deals with relationships between individuals or organizations, rather than relations between these and the state. This can be further divided into civil law, which includes contract law, tort law, property law, and family law; and commercial law, which includes company law and competition law.

Overview

Private law governs relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, and the law of obligations. It is to be distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the state, including regulatory statutes, penal law and other law that affects the public order. In general terms, private law involves interactions between private individuals, whereas public law involves interrelations between the state and the general population.

Civil law

Civil law is a branch of private law. It comprises a body of rules that outline the standards that individuals or legal entities must follow when interacting with one another. Civil law courts provide a forum for deciding disputes involving torts (such as accidents, negligence, and libel), contract disputes, the probate of wills, trusts, property disputes, administrative law, commercial law, and any other private matters that involve private parties or organizations including government departments.

Commercial law

Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods.

See also

• Public law
• Civil law
• Common law
• Legal dualism
• Jurisprudence

External links

• Cornell Law School - Private Law

Private law Resources
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