Chapter I

Law
(Definition)
What is law?

• A citizen may think of ‘law’ as a set of rules which he must obey.

• A lawyer who practices ‘ law’ may think of law as a vocation.

• A legislator may look at ‘law’ as something created by him.

• A judge may think of ‘law’as a guiding principles to be applied in

making decisions
A man with clear head is bald, one with dense
mop is not, but what will you call a person
with fringe of hair here and there?
Meaning of Law

• The law is not rigid, it is flexible.

• Since the value system of society keeps on changing , the law also
keeps changing according to the changing requirements of the society.

• There are several branches of law such as International law,

constitutional law, criminal law, civil law etc..

• Every branch of law regulates and controls a particular field of

activity.
Definition of law-John Salmond

Laws are interests recognized and enforced by the courts of law in the
administration of justice.
Definition of law - Thomas Hobbes

• “Law is the formal glue that holds fundamentally disorganized

societies together."
Why should one know law?

• Because ignorance of law is no excuse.

“Ignorantia juris non excusat”

• If X is caught traveling in a train without ticket, cannot plead that he

was not aware of the rule regarding the purchase of ticket and
therefore, he may be excused.

• If Y is caught driving scooter without driving license, he cannot plead

that he was not aware of the traffic rule regarding the obtaining of a
driving license and therefore, he may be excused.
Business Law

Business laws are those laws which regulate the

conduct of the business.
 Business Law

• Law of Contract
• Contract Act, 1872.
• Law of Sales of Goods
• Sale of Goods Act, 1930.
• Law of Negotiable Instruments
• The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
• Law of Labour
• Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923
• Industrial and Commercial Employment
Ordinance, 1968
• Company Law
• Law of Carriage of Goods
• Law of Partnership
 Chapter II
Term & Phrases
An Introduction to the legal terminologies
Adjudication
• Adjudication is the legal process by which a judge reviews evidence
and argumentation including legal reasoning set forth by litigants to
come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between
the parties involved.

• A decision or sentence imposed by a judge.

• The act of a court in making an order, judgment, or decree
• A judicial decision or sentence

• Examples
i. Real-time claims adjudication is a big component of his
proposals.
ii. The peaceful adjudication of property claims seems far away.
Bona Fide
• Latin-In good faith
• Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of
defrauding.
• The term Implies sincere good intention regardless of outcome.

• Examples
i. Mr. Ali made a bona fide offer to buy a farm. (Made in good
faith without fraud or deceit).
ii. His last album was bona fide hit. (genuine)
iii. A contract where the parties have not acted bona fide is void at
the pleasure of the innocent party.

• Antonym: Mala fide

Mala Fide
• Latin-In Bad Faith
• With or in bad faith
• The fraudulent deception of another person; the intentional or
malicious refusal to perform some duty or contractual obligation
• The existence of bad faith can minimize or nullify any claims that a
person alleges in a lawsuit
• Intentional dishonest act by not fulfilling legal or contractual
obligations, misleading another, entering into an agreement without
the intention or means to fulfill it, or violating basic standards of
honesty in dealing with others.
• Examples: Opposition claimed that the government acted mala fide.
Jurist

• A judge or legal scholar; an individual who is versed or skilled in law.

• The term jurist is ordinarily applied to individuals who have gained

respect and recognition by their writings on legal topics.

• Salmond, Austin, Hart etc.

Advocate

• To support or defend by argument; to recommend publicly.

• An individual who presents or argues another's case;
• One who gives legal advice (A counselor)
• Pleads the cause of another before a court or tribunal;
• A person admitted to the Practice of Law who advises clients of their
legal rights and argues their cases in court.
Acknowledgement

• The signature of a clerk or attorney certifying that the person filing

the document has sworn that the contents are true, and/or that the
document is signed by his or her free act and deed.
Action

• Also called a case or lawsuit.

• A civil judicial proceeding where one party sues another for a wrong
done, or to protect a right or to prevent a wrong.
Adjournment

• Postponement of a court session until another time or place.

Imperative Theory of Law
John Austin
Imperative theory of Law

• John Austin (1790-1859)

Law is the command of the sovereign enforced under threats

of sanctions.

Law is a rule laid down for the guidance of an intelligent

being by an intelligent being having power over him.
 Elements of theory
• Command: an expression of wish that a person do or forbear from doing
something.

• He excluded everything that was not command

• He excluded commands that were not laws

According to Austin Command is:

• A wish
• A sanction
• Generality
• Emanation from a sovereign (person or body)

• Austin’s Command implies the power to punish.

Elements of theory

• Sovereign: a person or body, who receive habitual obedience

within a political society.

• There is no limit on power of sovereign.

• Sovereign is not habit of obedience of others.

• Sanction: Punishment
Criticism on Austin’s definition

• All laws are not Commands, e.g. some laws empower people to make
wills or contracts.
• A sovereign is not bound by his own command, as this would amount
to limitation on his power.
• A sovereign is not bound by command of previous sovereign. This
would hamper continuity of law.
• Rules cannot be explained in terms of commands especially power
conferring rules.
Hart’s concept of law
Hart’s concept of Law

• Started with criticism on Austin.

• According to Hart:
Law is “the union of primary and secondary rules”.

• Legal system has primary rules, power-conferring rules, and

secondary rules.
Primary Rules & Secondary Rules
Primary rules Secondary rules

• Create direct obligation like • Concerned with primary

rules of murder, theft. rules themselves.
• They specify what • They specify the way in
individual must or must not
do. which the primary rules
maybe conclusively
ascertained, introduced
or eliminated.
 Hart’s concept of Law
• Secondary rules confer powers and provide for operations
which lead not merely to physical movement or changes, but
to the creation of duties.

• Hart distinguish three types of secondary rules that mark the

transition from primitive form to full blown legal system.
i. Rules of recognition
ii. Rule of change
iii. Rules of adjudication
Hart’s concept of Law

Law exist when “rules of recognition specifying the criteria of

legal validity, its rules of change and adjudication must be
effectively accepted as common public standards of official
behavior by its officials”.
Chapter II: Types of law
Types of Law
• Substantive Law & Procedural Law
• Civil Law & Criminal Law
• Statutory Law & Case Law
• Civil & Common Law
Substantive Law & Procedural law

• Substantive Law • When a crime is committed

creates, discovers and or dispute arises procedural
defines the rights and law is activated and courts
obligation of each follow the steps laid down in
person in society. law.
• Rights and duties

• Example: Pakistan • Example: Criminal

Penal Code Procedural Code
 Civil Law and Criminal Law
• Civil law deals with • Criminal law deals with
disputes between parties crimes and offences.
regarding contract, • Deals with public wrongs
inheritance, and private involving social harm.
injuries. • Remedies: fine,
• Deals with private wrongs imprisonment, stripes, death
(torts) punishment.
• Remedies: damages or • Govt. is litigating parties.
court orders about certain
actions.
• Govt. is present only as a
judge.
 Statutory law and Case law

• Statutes • Court Cases

• Codified • Decision of superior courts
• Act of Parliament binding on lower courts.
• Recorded and referred
Civil law and Common law

• It is codified. • It is generally un codified.

• Civil law systems have • No comprehensive compilation
comprehensive, of statutes.
continuously updated • It does rely on some scattered
legal codes that specify statutes.
all matters capable of • However, it is largely based on
being brought before a precedent, (judicial decisions in
court. similar old cases.)
• Applicable procedure • Precedents are maintained over
and the appropriate time through the records of the
punishment for each courts.
offense.
• Application: The precedents to
be applied in the decision of
each new case are determined
by the presiding judge
 Chapter IV
Sources of Law
Sources of law

• Legislation
• Laws passed by Government

• Treaties
• Agreements between States

• Customs
• The usual practices by a society

• Precedent
• Judicial decisions
Legislation
Source of Law
 Chapter VI
Legal Rights
(Rights, Duties & Wrongs)
Rights

• It dominates most modern understandings of what actions are proper

and which institutions are just. Rights structure the forms of our
governments, the contents of our laws, and the shape of morality, as
we perceive it.

• To accept a set of rights is to approve a distribution of freedom and

authority, and so to endorse a certain view of what may, must, and
must not be done.
Rights

• According to Salmond “Right is an interest recognized and protected

by rule of law. It is any interest, respect for which is a duty, and the
disregard of which is wrong”

• Duty & Wrong?

Wrongs
• According to Salmond “A wrong is simply a wrong act-an act
contrary to the rule of right & justice.”

• Opposite of right and justice.

• There are two kinds of right:

i. Legal wrong: contrary to legal right that is recognized by law.

Which sanctioning by state. It is a legal wrong if any one break
the traffic rule or if any one kill someone.

ii. Moral Wrong: contrary to natural justice or law. If someone

disobey his teacher, it is morally wrong.
Duties
• According to Salmond: A duty is an obligatory act, which is
to say, it is opposite of which would be a wrong.
• Every duty has a corresponding right. (A purchaser has
right to buy the products from seller and seller has a duty to
give the products to purchaser.)
• According to Austin “Some duties are absolute”. Those do
not have a corresponding right. Such as, Not to commit a
suicide or duty towards God etc.
• According to a Salmond “There can be no duty without a
right any more than there can be a husband without wife or
a parent without a child”
Duties
• Legal duty: A legal duty is an act which is opposite of
legal wrong & which recognized by the law as duty.
Violation of this duty can bring up punishment on
violator.

• Moral Duty: A moral duty is created by nature which is

opposite of moral wrong.

• Sometimes a duty can be both legal & moral. Not to

steal is moral & legal duty. At last, we can say that Right
have a duty & if the duty cannot be maintain then it will
be a Wrong.
Characteristics of a legal right

i. An owner of the right

ii. A subject of the duty
iii. A content of the right
iv. A subject matter of the right
v. A title of the right
Chapter VII
Persons
Person

• Salmond: “A person is being whom the law attributes a

capability of interests & therefore of rights.”

• Dias: the word person means a unit of jural relations.

• Jural relations: Multitude of claims, duties, powers
liberties & immunities treated as a single unit.
• Natural person & legal person: no difference as jural rights
assigned to both.

• Kelsen said law recognizes legal person and does not

recognize natural person
Personality
• Set of jural relations is known as personality.

i. Positivists: human begins and things.

• Lack of legal personality: slaves (in early days).

ii. Naturalist: personality belongs to man by nature & no

one can take it away from man.
• Natural rights are associated with personality & law cannot
touch these rights.
Attributes of Legal Person

• There must be some corpus

• Recognition of law
• The law does not assign legal personality separated from the
body of persons or a person who administers the legal
person.
• There must be a mind administering the affairs of the legal
person.
Corporations

• Legal persons other than humans:

i. Corporation
ii. Institutions
iii. Estate or funds
 Corporate Personality
• Fiction theory: By fiction an abstract entity called the corporation is
created & by a second fiction the wills of individuals are attributed to
it.
• Realist theory: When a body of twenty, or two thousand men bind
themselves together to act in a particular way for some common
purpose. They create a bond which by no fiction of law, but by the
very nature of things, differs from the individuals of whom it is
constituted.
Liabilities of a Corporation

• Limited liability for its members

• Company does not have a mind of its own: act through it’s
board & Corporate veil may be raised in case of unlawful
activities.
• No liability for what is beyond its objective.