Legal Heritage

Question 1

Why do we have laws?

Answer 1

To keep order in society

Question 2

Code of Hammurabi

Answer 2

• Earliest written laws
• Severe
• “If a man strikes his father, his hand shall be removed”

Question 3

Mosaic Law

Answer 3

• The 10 commandments

- “Thou shall not commit murder”

Question 4

Athens

Answer 4

• Socrates and plato
• laws should be based on morality
• Immoral laws should be disobeyed

Question 5

Roman Law

Answer 5

• Codification
• Spread across Europe by the conquering of Roman armies
• Basis of modern civil law

Question 6

Law vs Justice

Answer 6

Law:

• Provides order in society
• Rule of law
• Resolving disputes
• defends a persons property and rights

Justice:

• Provides fairness
• Civil disobedience is valid if the laws are unjust
• to be just, the law must be consistent with moral law and the law inspired by god.

Question 7

Magna Carta

Answer 7

• Still used today

- British common law

Question 8

Rule of Law

Answer 8

-Nobody is above the law, not even the king.

Question 9

Ordeal

Answer 9

Putting a hot rod in hand to prove guilt or innocence

Throwing in water

Question 10

Stare Decisis

Answer 10

“Stand by what has been decided”

Question 11

Adjudication

Answer 11

Arriving at a decision based on the presentation of evidence

Question 12

Domestic vs International Law

Answer 12

Domestic:
-Laws made and enforced within one state

International:
-Agreements between 2 or more states

Question 13

Public vs Private law

Answer 13

Public:
-Laws relating between individual and state

Private:
-Disputes between citizens or corporations

Question 14

Substantive vs Procedural

Answer 14

Substantive:
-Written laws such as the Highway traffic act or Canadian Criminal Code

Procedural:
-Steps and procedures/methods used to administer the law

Question 15

Divine vs Natural vs Positive law

Answer 15

Divine:

• Derived from God(s)
• It can’t be changed or overruled

Natural:

• Derived from human nature which is to be good
• all people strive to be good
• goodness is essential for our wellbeing
• It is universal
• Seek out the meaning of truth by questioning the law

Positive:

• Law and justice aren’t the same thing
• Law is an opinion of the who holds power
• The law is forceful to keep order

Question 16

Aristotle

Answer 16

“If Person’s are not equal, they will not have equal share”

Question 17

Hobbes

Answer 17

“No action can be unjust. But when a covenant is made, then to break it is unjust”

Question 18

Austin

Answer 18

“No positive law is legally unjust”

Question 19

Cicero

Answer 19

“Law is a natural force; it is in the mind and reason of intelligent man, the standard by which justice and injustice are measured”

Question 20

Bentham

Answer 20

“The purpose of law is to ensure the greatest good for the greatest number”

Question 21

Plato

Answer 21

“I declare that justice is nothing else than that which is advantageous to the stronger. It follows that the just man disregards them (laws)”

Question 22

Augustine

Answer 22

“Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?”

Question 23

Aquinas

Answer 23

“The first precept of law is that good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided”

Question 24

Primary Sources

Answer 24

• customs and conventions
• religion
• Social and Political Philosophy

Question 25

Secondary Sources

Answer 25

• the constitution
• statutes and regulations
• Court decisions

Question 26

Adversarial vs Inquisitorial

Answer 26

Adversarial:
two opposing parties, represented by lawyers, argue a case in front of an impartial judge who weighs the evidence presented

Inquisitorial:
seeks the truth through the questioning of witnesses, in which judges play a much greater role in the selection and questioning of witnesses than in the adversarial system

Question 27

Combat

Answer 27

the accused must face against another man in combat, if they live, they are innocent

Question 28

Ratio Decidendi

Answer 28

“reason for the decision”

Question 29

Independent Judiciary

Answer 29

to base decision on facts rather than fearing punishment

Question 30

Jury system

Answer 30

Local landlords dealing with land disputes

Then, they started dealing with criminal cases as witnesses