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PUBLIC LAW SUMMARY
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PUBLIC LAW SUMMARY BBA KU LEUVEN
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Introduction to LawPart 1 – General Introduction to the Western legal system
Introduction to the legal system
o Not the law or a legal system (e.g. Belgian, French, English, US law…)
o System instead of rules
o Relativity of the law
Abstract introduction, but irrespective of background?
o Secular law in the Western tradition
o Not religious systems of law
Islamic Law
Hindu Law
Jewish Law
Canon Law (Christian)
o Christianity has deeply influenced Western Law
Law is not about religious beliefs and duties
It is about how society should be organised & how people should treat one
another, regardless of their beliefs
Chapter 1 – Law in objective & subjective sense
What is law?
Has an etymological origin
o Has a link to the authorities and establishments
Ambiguous notion
o Law (Objective)
o Right (Subjective)
Distinction between law (objective) & right (subjective)
Objective: Law as a societal phenomenon
o Set of general (un)written rules for outward behaviour (not thoughts) of people living
in a social context (not animals)
o Observance of these rules is enforced by government (Tenant and the broken window
– Objective Rule)
Subjective: Law from an individual point of view
o Claim that a person derives formal legal rule
Obligation to do / to give / to abstain from
Link between law in objective & subjective sense
Two sides of the same medal
o I have a subjective right because my claim is protected by the law (grounded in the
law in objective sense)
I can claim my property the law protects the right of personal property
Rules in property (acquisition, loss…) = law in objective sense
But on that legal basis, I can claim personal property
Behavioural rules (law) do NOT exist to the detriment of the recipient but for the benefit of
others
o Ownership
o Ban on tortious act (art. 1382 to 1286 of the Civil Code)
What lawyers do: An example of analytic approach
Article 1382 Civil Code
“Any act whatever of man, which causes damage to another, obliges the one by whose fault it
occurred, to compensate it.”
1
, What is Fault? (Tortious act)
Loss (detriment)
Causality
Claimant has to prove ALL 3 components in order to be entitled to compensation:
1. Fault/ tortious act
Objective component = the act
o Breach of a specific rule
o Breach of the general duty of care
Criterion = Bonus pater familias-rule
Subjective component = tortious nature of the act
o Mental capacity (mentally disturbed persons legally accountable - Art. 1386bis C.C)
o Age (power of discernment)
2. Loss/detriment
Both material and moral detriment
Loss has to be appraisable in money
Breach of a right is not necessary, nor sufficient
o Court of Cassation: rejection of the right-based theory in 1939
Prejudice to someone’s interests that causes a loss that is appraisable in money
3. Causality
Would there be a loss, without a tortious act?
What about predestination?
What about tortious acts of other people?
(Theory of the equivalent causes vs. Theory of the adequate cause)
Essence of art. 1382 C.C
Provision contains TWO objective rules:
1. Ban on causing loss to others through tortious acts
2. Duty to compensate for the loss
Subjective right to compensation/damages
Link between Objective & Subjective sense
Two sides of the same medal
Two types of litigation
o Subjective vs. objective litigation
o Legal dispute concerning a subjective right (claim rounded in law) versus challenge
the law (i.e. an objective rule)
The law (objective sense) – definition and decisive features
Working definition
“Objectively law is the set of mandatory rules for the outward behaviour of the persons that
are enforced by the authorities”
Decisive features
1. Law is about mandatory rules (obligations & prohibitions)
o Law is about behaviour that CAN deviate, but shouldn’t deviate
o What does the law oblige to?
Rules oblige to achieve a certain result or impose a duty of care
Strict liability
Duty of care - Criterion: abstract bonus pater familias
How to distinct both?!
2
, Distinction between duty of care and strict liability
Case law clarified the notion:
o Uncertain nature of the result
Will diligence automatically lead to the result?
o Is the creditor actively involved?
o Did the creditor accept any risk?
Importance of the distinction?
o Burden of proof
Assumed fault of debtor if result has not been achieved (strict liability)
Creditor needs to proof negligence (duty of care)
2. Legal rules concern outward human behaviour
o Not animals/objects
o Not the unexpressed thoughts/wishes/ideas etc.…
3. Legal rules are general and impersonal
o Characteristics of legal rules
o Why does a rule have to be general and impersonal?
Legal certainty (in order to ban arbitrariness)
o Unlimited scope of the legal rule
Individual decisions versus rules
Unlimited number of applications
4. Legal rules are enforced by the authorities
o Enforcement (sanctions) are typical of any kind of rule
Moral rule moral dilemma
Religious rule in hereafter
Social conventions social rejections
o Legal rules are enforced by the government authorities
Court system
Bailiff
Police
Prison
Various forms of enforcement
1. Do I have a subjective right?
Work of the courts (courts acknowledge your claim)
2. Is your subjective right enforceable and how?
Prime sanction = enforcement in kind (specific performance)
The rule in Belgium
Duty AND right of the debtor
Not every obligation can be enforced in kind
3. Qualify the nature of the obligation
Obligation to pay
Obligation to do (incl. give)
Obligation to refrain from doing something
Obligation to pay money
o Seizure
After final court decision
Before final court decision (sequestration)
o Public sale (auction)
o Interest
3
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