The different branches of law

De Baripedia
The different branches of law
Professeur(s) Victor Monnier[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Cours Introduction au droit

Lectures


Languages


Español Français



Domestic law

The distinction between public and private law

  • The ius publicum (public law) consists of all the rules of law relating to the organisation and functioning of the State and to relations between public authorities and individuals.
  • The ius privatum (private law) is constituted by all the rules of law that govern the relationships between individuals. Deals with relations between individuals placed on an equal footing free from any interference from public authority.

Subdivisions of public law

Droit constitutionnel

Constitutional law is the set of legal rules relating to institutions through which authority is established, transmitted or exercised in the State. The epithet "constitutional" comes from the fact that the fundamental rules of this right are contained in a special document: the Constitution.

The classic theory of the state recognizes three powers:

  • legislative function: Federal Assembly (Council of States + National Council)
  • executive function: Federal Council
  • judicial function: Federal Court

The notion of separation of powers means that each power works in relative independence. It is the framework of the State, the right superior to all.

Administrative law

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the day-to-day management of public affairs by administrative bodies.

Several branches can be distinguished:

  • tax law: it is the financial legislation of the federal or cantonal state that refers to the financial management of the state (mandatory law)
  • social legislation: its purpose is to protect the individual against the difficulties of life. It includes labour law, which ensures the protection of the worker and his working conditions; social insurance law, which organizes a security system against accidents at work and sickness, to counter the consequences of age (old age insurance). This right helps individuals when they have lost the support of their family.
  • environmental legislation: aims to protect the environment that protects the living environment, to enact legal rules that affect environmental protection, land use planning and building regulations.
  • Public servants' rights: applies to all those who work in the public service.

Criminal Law

Criminal law is the body of law that organizes, by means of penalties, the repression of violations of social order.

  • an offence of active or passive behaviour, prohibited by law and punishable according to its seriousness by a penalty.
  • The penalty may consist of a fine and/or imprisonment.

It defines the offences and the conditions under which the penalties must be applied

Criminal law is essential to the life of the group and its future, which is why it already appears in so-called "primitive" societies. It will develop in two aspects:

  • in the family/clan: will be sanctioned by the chief;
  • the repression of crime will, in the absence of a recognized higher authority, be the result of private revenge similar to "vendetta".

For this reason, for a long time criminal law was subject to the archaic concept of revenge, which brought it closer to private law

"Faide "/ "Faida" is a primitive system of criminal law in which the victim of the damage has the right to cause the author or the family of the damage another damage unless there is the intervention of a financial composition and the offender waives his right of revenge.

The pecuniary composition is a compensation with the objective of compensation that replaces private revenge. This composition comes from the Christian influence which takes the form of transactions whose purpose is to compensate.

It is only belatedly that the State acquires the monopoly of legitimate violence and becomes strong enough to impose its own sanctions, and therefore criminal repression.

The popular imagination is immediately linked to criminal law, also known as "criminal law". This comes from the decorum of criminal justice such as the staging of death (guillotine called "the great widow"), the rites and ways of judgment. However, criminal law cases remain a minority.

The implementation of repression against offences is a matter for the State monopoly. The prohibition of private revenge will only be accepted by society if and to the extent that repression by the State is ensured.

Its task is to ensure peace and security by suppressing the breach. The rules that determine the conditions of repression are found in the Criminal Code: they are a set of legal rules relating to criminal repression.

Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse du 18 avril 1999 - article 1

It is the state itself as the protector of the individual and society that prosecutes the punishment of criminals. It has links with private law because it protects the individual.

There are two types of criminal law:

  • Common criminal law: criminal law applied by ordinary courts, applicable to all offenders;
  • Special criminal law: entrusted to special courts (ex-military which applies to offences committed by army personnel).
Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse du 18 avril 1999 - article 123

Procedural law

Procedural law refers to "all the rules governing the organisation and activity of the courts [1] which apply the law".

  • in a broad sense, it means all the forms to be respected for the realization of a right or set of rules.
  • in a narrow sense, procedural law refers more particularly to judicial proceedings, also known as judicial law or procedural law.

This law determines the organisation of the courts, determines the form and rules according to which the competent court must judge disputes [2]. Private judicial proceedings are the necessary complement to private law. It is the law that prescribes the way to act.

There are three types of procedures that are primarily intended to define the different organs of justice:

  • criminal: the rules of form are strict in order to be a guarantee for the accused. The court is not free to do what it wants.
  • administrative: defines all the formalities for the correct application of the administrative law that organises the organisation and competence of administrative courts
  • civil law: also called "private judicial law", it is the part of the procedure that denounces the rules governing the organisation and activity of courts called upon to settle disputes arising in the application of private law Example of civil procedure :
    • right of forced execution: right of pursuit (for debts) and bankruptcy (the debtor can no longer pay his debts)
    • how to file a lawsuit
    • how to pronounce and execute a judgment

This procedure is related to private law, but if it belongs to public law it is because of the relationships it establishes between the State and the individual, because the State protects the individual.

They determine both the organisation and the jurisdiction of these various courts; they establish the conduct of the trial, i.e. in what forms and under what rules the competent court must judge the disputes submitted to it.

Criminal and civil proceedings are governed by federal law and therefore fall within the jurisdiction of the Confederation.

Subdivisions of private law

Civil law has long been confused with private law. Civil law comes from Roman ius civil law, i. e. the law that applies to relationships between individuals. In French, the term "civil" has long been used as a synonym of private law. Since then, many distinctions have been made between the rules:

  • the rules that may be applied to all individuals
  • rules that apply to only one category of person.

Le droit civil : code civil et code des obligations

Le droit civil est la partie fondamentale du droit privé comprenant les règles relatives aux personnes, à la famille, aux biens et aux obligations.

Il s’applique sans distinction à tout individu et dépend de la compétence de la confédération. Il détermine les conséquences essentielles des principaux faits et actes de l’individu ainsi que leur situation juridique :

  • droit de la famille ;
  • droit de la filiation ;
  • régimes matrimoniaux ;
  • droit des biens.
Code des obligations - article 41

Le droit commercial : code des obligations

Le droit commercial ou droit des affaires est la partie fondamentale du droit privé qui contient l'ensemble des règles de droit qui s’appliquent aux relations de commerce.

On distingue trois catégories :

  1. règles de droit qui ont trait aux entreprises commerciales : le droit commercial définit le statut du commerçant et des sociétés commerciales ;
  2. règles de droit qui ont trait aux biens et à l’activité commerciale : joue un rôle particulier entre les commerçants. Relation droit/idée qui organise les bureaux officiels ;
    1. droit de la propriété intellectuelle : droit de monopole sur une idée manifestée en une forme extérieure qui l’individualise (droit d’auteur). Un "papier de valeur est un titre incorporant un droit de créance qu’on ne peut faire valoir que par un titre ou représentation d’un document.
    2. propriété industrielle : renvoie aux créations de l’esprit dans le cadre de l’industrie.
  3. domaines spéciaux : droit bancaire, droit maritime, droit des assurances.

Caractéristiques du droit privé

  1. Droit individualiste
  2. Droit libéral - Il est déterminé par l'autonomie de la volonté des individus - Il lui permet d'arranger sa vie comme il l'entend - Il est de nature dispositive
  3. Droit homogène
  4. Droit stable - Issue de la tradition romaine, extrêmement élaboré - Par rapport au droit public, il est ancien

Le droit international

Article détaillé : Droit International Public.

Le droit international est issu des traités internationaux provenant d’institutions supranationales

Le droit international désigne :

  • droit international privé : ensemble des règles de droit interne qui résolvent les conflits posés par les problèmes juridiques comprenant des éléments d'extranéité. Ces règles désignent l’autorité compétente pour juger.
  • droit international public : ensemble des règles de droit qui régissent les relations entre sujets de droit international.

Le droit international provient des sujets de droit international par l’intermédiaire des traités ainsi que des institutions internationales.

Le droit international public

Le droit international public est aussi appelé « droit des gens » provenant du latin « ius gentium ».

Il peut être défini :

  • par ses sources : ensemble des règles de droit dont la source est internationale
  • par son objet : il est appelé à régler les relations entre États, leur rapport aux organisations internationales, et régule le fonctionnement des organisations internationales

Cette branche existe depuis l’antiquité,car il existe entre les États une communauté d’intérêts qui permet de résoudre les conflits autrement que par la force.

Dans un État, il existe un pouvoir établi qui apporte sa sanction aux règles de droit. Cependant, il n’existe aucune obligation fondamentale qui contraint un État à adopter des règles de droit.

Il n’y a des règles de droit international que dans la mesure où les États souverains les reconnaissent.

Caractéristiques du droit international public

  1. Droit lacunaire - Il est fait de manques: il y a des domaines et des cas qui ne sont pas du tout traités, ceci le différencie du droit interne par exemple. Celui règle chaque cas possible, lorsque le droit international public est concentré dans les sphères de compréhension mutuelle des États
  2. Droit hétérogène - Vient de coutumes, de règles nationales, il est construit « de briques et de morceaux »
  3. Droit stratigraphique - Il évoque l'idée que le droit international public est créé par un entassement de couches successives, qui restent très indépendantes - pas de liaison claire entre les parties du droit.

Annexes

Références

  1. ↑ Publication de Victor Monnier repertoriées sur le site de l'Université de Genève
  2. ↑ Hommage à Victor Monnier sur le site de l'Université de Genève
  3. ↑ Publications de Victor Monnier sur Cairn.info
  4. ↑ Publications de Victor Monnier sur Openedition.org
  5. ↑ Page personnelle de Victor Monnier sur le site de l'Université de Aix-Marseille
  6. ↑ En Hommage À Victor Monnier.” Hommages.ch, 11 Mar. 2019, www.hommages.ch/Defunt/119766/Victor_MONNIER.
Récupérée de « https://baripedia.org/index.php?title=The_different_branches_of_law&oldid=40782 »