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A similar tendency to seek definitions which are distinct from those used in other areas of social policy can be found in anti-discrimination law. As a law student, you will be expected to read many articles, journals, magazines, or textbooks. Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more. Although many scholars argue that “the boundaries between public and private law are becoming blurred”, and that this distinction has become mere “folklore” (Bergkamp, Liability and Environment, 1–2). Environmental law is increasingly important, especially in light of the Kyoto Protocol and the potential danger of climate change.

• Colour-coded map of the legal systems around the world, showing civil, common law, religious, customary and mixed legal systems.
• Socialist law is the legal systems in communist states such as the former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
• According to Malloy , Smith established “a classical liberal philosophy that made individuals the key referential sign while acknowledging that we live not alone but in community with others”.
• Consumer law could include anything from regulations on unfair contractual terms and clauses to directives on airline baggage insurance.

As a result, as time went on, increasing numbers of citizens petitioned the King to override the common law, and on the King’s behalf the Lord Chancellor gave judgment to do what was equitable in a case. From the time of Sir Thomas More, the first lawyer to be appointed as Lord Chancellor, a systematic body of equity grew up alongside the rigid common law, and developed its own Court of Chancery. At first, equity was often criticised as erratic, that it varied according to the length of the Chancellor’s foot. Over time, courts of equity developed solid principles, especially under Lord Eldon. In the 19th century in England, and in 1937 in the U.S., the two systems were merged.

By contrast, the classic civil law approach to property, propounded by Friedrich Carl von Savigny, is that it is a right good against the world. Obligations, like contracts and torts, are conceptualised as rights good between individuals. The idea of property raises many further philosophical and political issues.

Scottish plans to include transgender women in equality law tested in court

The term “civil law”, referring to the civilian legal system originating in continental Europe, should not be confused with “civil law” in the sense of the common law topics distinct from criminal law and public law. Hegel believed that civil society and the state were polar opposites, within the scheme of his dialectic theory of history. The modern dipole state–civil society was reproduced in the theories of Alexis de Tocqueville and Karl Marx. In post-modern theory, civil society is necessarily a source of law, by being the basis from which people form opinions and lobby for what they believe law should be.

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Saudi Arabia recognises Quran as its constitution, and is governed on the basis of Islamic Law. Iran has also witnessed a reiteration of Islamic law into its legal system after 1979. During the last few decades, one of the fundamental features of the movement of Islamic resurgence has been the call to restore the Sharia, which has generated a vast amount of literature and affected world politics.