Intro To Law Flashcards
Definition of Law
Law consists of rules that require people to meet certain standards of conduct and are enforceable in courts.
Principles of Hospitality Law (Balancing rights and duties)
The legal rights and duties require the hotel or restaurant to provide patrons with a safe place to lodge or eat, and the customer must act within acceptable bounds and pay for the services received.
Often the interests of service providers and patrons conflict.
The law provides an organized set of rules to resolve these conflicts.
Sources of Law (cite them)
- Constitutional Law
- Statutory Law
- Common Law
- Administrative Law
Explain Constitutional Law
The law embodied in the United States Constitution is called Constitutional Law.
It prescribes the organization of the federal government, including the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and defines the federal government’s powers. The Constitution establishes important rights, such as equal protection under the law, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, authorizes the federal government to enter treaties with other countries, and declares broad principles of law& provides very little detail.
Explain Statutory Law
The law promulgated (made known) by the legislature and generally agreed to by the executive. Legislators are lawmakers elected to office by the citizenry. We elect legislators at the federal level (members of the House of Representatives and the Senate), the state level (state legislators), and the local level (county legislators and city or town council members).
When federal or state legislators adopt a law it is called a statute.
When local legislators adopt a law it is often called an ordinance.
Explain Common Law
Consists of legal rules that have evolved not from the statutes but rather from the decisions of judges and from customs and practices that obtained their authority from the test of time.
What are Precedents?
A feature of a common-law system that distinguishes it from other legal systems is its
reliance on case decisions. A case decision is an interpretation of the law applied by a
judge to a set of facts in a given case. The case decision becomes a precedent- a basis
for deciding future cases.
What is Stare decisis?
Unless there is a good reason not to follow precedent, the judge will decide the later case
consistently with the earlier case. This process of following earlier cases is called stare
decisis, which is Latin for “the matter stands decided”.
Why has common law survived?
The common law has survived because, when coupled with stare decisis, it provides
consistency to the law. Additionally, its foundations are sufficiently flexible to develop
and adapt to changes over time, including social movements and technological advances.
Relationship between Statutes and the Constitution
Occasionally, a statute may be found to conflict with the United States Constitution. In
theses circumstances the statute is declared void because the Constitution is the
supreme law of the United states
Relationship between Statutes and Common Law
To some extent, statutes and common law are intertwined.
Sometimes statutes are ambiguously worded. If such a statute is relevant in a lawsuit,
the judge in the case must interpret the law; that is, the judge will determine its
meaning. The judge’s decision in that case will become a precedent for future cases.
Sometimes statutes are adopted to modify the common law.
Explain Administrative Law
Refers to laws that define the powers, limitations, and procedures of administrative agencies.
Laws adopted (passed) by administrative agencies are called regulations, to distinguish
them from laws passed by legislators.
Attributes of Law
Law is dynamic, always changing to adjust to societal transformations, yet also striving
to remain constant enough not to disrupt the legal order that has developed. Law can
be both an exciting and difficult field to study.
Confusion may result from the fact that different judges have decided seemingly similar
cases differently or do not agree on the interpretation of a statute. Sometimes the law
on a particular topic may be unclear because it is in a developmental stage.
Role Of The Judge (US system)
Very significant. The judge both
“makes” the law in cases where no precedent or statute exists and interprets the law in cases where a statute applies.
Classifications of Law
Civil and Criminal
