Summary
Summary Introduction to Law Study Guide
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Introduction to Law study guide consisting of lectures, readings, and PBLs notes.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Business Law - About Law: An Introduction (Honoré)
-
About Law: an Introduction, by Tony Honoré
-
ABOUT LAW, AN INTRODUCTION” BY TONY HONORÉ
Seller
Follow
mcandradep01
Content preview
Maria AndradeIntroduction to Law Study Guide
PBL 1: Foundation of Governments
The rule of law
Rule of law: government’s powers are limited and citizens have core rights; the State is bound to respect those
rights (and actually does respect)
School of thoughts
Skeptical Trustful
Rule of gov should not be trusted Limit should be min on gov power
law Legal control over them Eg: UK
Eg: US
Checks Approves Limited, thinks gov should be free,
and provided it does not break the law to
balances govern in whatever way it thinks best
Sovereignty
Sovereignty: supreme power of authority
● Two types:
1. External sovereignty: independent nation on the eyes of the international community
a. Limits: members of the EU respect, some laws can’t be intervened
b. Other states cannot meddle with the state’s business
2. Internal sovereignty: they have power to make their own laws inside their own borders
a. constitution
Conventions
Conventions: a practice that people in political life think they are bound to respect though it is not laid down in
law
● Aka: not enforceable by the courts
● Trustful school of thoughts
● Advantages: flexible → can be altered as conditions change
● Disadvantage: They might not be viable
1
, Maria Andrade
Checks and balances
Checks and balances: A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other
branches in order to prevent abuse of power
Examples of checks and balances:
● Separation of powers → trias politica: divides state power
according to function
○ Functions:
1. Legislative → makes the laws
2. Executive → enforces the laws and governs
the country
3. Judicial → judges the laws
○ Reasons for:
■ To avoid too much much concentration of
power
■ Each branch can be kept in check by others
● Federalism → power divided up in geographical basis
○ Reasons for dividing power:
■ Country is too large
■ Language barriers
■ Too much power (central gov) if not balanced
● Bills of rights → dividing power between state and private citizens
○ Listing in a law certain basis of rights of citizens (if there’s a written constitution, then in the
constitution)
○ Ways of ensuring they are respected:
■ Convention
■ International treaty
■ Courts
● Judicial review → judges review legislature, to see if it conforms to the law
○ Reasons for:
■ Will of the people
■ Protection of minorities
○ Centralized systems → ordinary courts are not allowed to set aside statutes if they consider
them unconstitutional → refer questions about constitution to the constitutional court
(supreme court)
○ Decentralized system→ ordinary courts can also claim that statutes are unconstitutional
Constitution
Constitutional law: the branch of law that regulates the state
● Constitution: written doc where all constitutional rules are laid down
2
, Maria Andrade
● Entrenchment: constitution can only be amended through difficult or special procedure
○ Some parts of the constitution cannot be amenable
State
State: organization that is able to control a territory and the people in it
● Exercises its power within the limits of the law
● Strong state → Has all the criteria a state needs
● Weak state → Lacks certain criteria (eg: corruption) ~ one criteria
● Failed state → Lacks all criteria
4 criteria of statehood :
1. Defining territory
2. Population
3. Ability to enter in international politics
4. Effective governance
Functions of state power are trias politica
State power
Absolutism: free from laws → dictator or monarch
Territorial division of power:
● Unitary states: all powers ultimately reside in one central gov authority
○ Everything that other provinces may establish can be retracted by the central gov authority
● Federations
○ State is divided into the organs of the central state (federal level) and the organs of the
subunits (regional levels), this division is explained in the constitution
○ Criteria:
■ Divided in territorial sub-units
■ Conflicts between federations and the state are decided by an independent arbitrary
■ Sub-units have constitutionally protected powers
● Confederations → membership of states are voluntary (federations are NOT eg: US)
○ Joined for activity or effort → have a common goal
○ Eg; united nations, european alliance, provinces in civil war
Government systems
Parliament system Presidential system Semi presidential system
Government is accountable to Head of the executive have their Directly elected head of state and
3
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller mcandradep01. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $11.48. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
81113 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now