Portal:Law
The Law Portal
Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related to the transfer and title of personal (often referred to as chattel) and real property. Trust law applies to assets held for investment and financial security, while tort law allows claims for compensation if a person's rights or property are harmed. If the harm is criminalised in a statute, criminal law offers means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a framework for the creation of law, the protection of human rights and the election of political representatives. Administrative law is used to review the decisions of government agencies, while international law governs affairs between sovereign states in activities ranging from trade to environmental regulation or military action. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, "The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual."
Legal systems elaborate rights and responsibilities in a variety of ways. A general distinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions, which codify their laws, and common law systems, where judge made law is not consolidated. In some countries, religion informs the law. Law provides a rich source of scholarly inquiry, into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis or sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness and justice. "In its majestic equality", said the author Anatole France in 1894, "the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." In a typical democracy, the central institutions for interpreting and creating law are the three main branches of government, namely an impartial judiciary, a democratic legislature, and an accountable executive. To implement and enforce the law and provide services to the public, a government's bureaucracy, the military and police are vital. While all these organs of the state are creatures created and bound by law, an independent legal profession and a vibrant civil society inform and support their progress. (more...)
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Dietrich v The Queen was an important case decided in the High Court of Australia on 13 November 1992. It concerned the nature of the right to a fair trial, and under what circumstances defendants who cannot afford legal representation should be provided with legal aid by the state. Dietrich had entered Australia from Thailand with at least seventy grams of heroin concealed in condoms that he had swallowed. Australian Federal Police arrested him and searched his flat, finding one of the condoms and some heroin; Dietrich alleged that the drugs had been planted by the police. He was tried in the County Court of Victoria, but had no legal representation during the lengthy trial: the Legal Aid Commission of Victoria refused assistance unless he agreed to plead guilty. Dietrich was acquitted of one of the lesser charges, but convicted of the principal charge. The High Court of Australia decided that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented. It is an important case in Australian criminal law, and also in Australian constitutional law, since it is one of a number of cases in which some members of the High Court have found implied human rights in the Australian Constitution. (more...)
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The Accurate News and Information Act was a statute passed by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada, in 1937, at the instigation of William Aberhart's Social Credit government. Aberhart and the Social Credit League had been in a stormy relationship with the press since before the 1935 election, in which they were elected to government. Virtually all of Alberta's newspapers—especially the Calgary Herald—were critical of Social Credit, as were a number of publications from elsewhere in Canada. Even the American media had greeted Aberhart's election with derision. The act would have required newspapers to print "clarifications" of stories that a committee of Social Credit legislators deemed inaccurate. It would also have required them to reveal their sources on demand. Though the act won easy passage through the Social Credit-dominated legislature, Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta John C. Bowen reserved royal assent until the Supreme Court of Canada evaluated the act's legality. In 1938's Reference re Alberta Statutes, the court found that it was unconstitutional, and it was never signed into law. (more...)
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Legal news
- January 29: British courts give green light for assisted dying case
- January 29: New York police confirm cocaine shipment seizure at UN Headquarters
- January 29: Twitter to allow censorship of posts on a country by country basis
- January 28: Five arrested over police payments at News International
- January 26: Wikinews Shorts: January 27, 2012
- January 26: Wikinews Shorts: January 26, 2012
- January 25: One year on: Egyptians mark anniversary of protests that toppled Mubarak
- January 24: Wikinews Shorts: January 24, 2012
- January 23: Wikinews Shorts: January 23, 2012
- January 22: Indian MP demands arrest of writers reading banned novel at literature festival
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:
- ... that the non-payment of debts is the archetype for the seventeen other Hindu titles of law, including the sexual crimes against women?
- ... that the case Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company established the precedents for UK contract law?
- ... that although the Chancery Amendment Act 1858 was repealed in the United Kingdom, it is still valid in the Republic of Ireland and parts of Canada?
- ... that freedom of religion in Singapore, which is guaranteed by Article 15 of the Constitution of Singapore, may be restricted by a general law relating to public order, public health or morality?
- ... that banking regulations in Russia include significant specifics, such as mandatory deposits placed in special reserve accounts at the Russian Central Bank?
- ... that the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland of 1815, considered among the most liberal constitutions of its time, was increasingly disregarded by the Polish government, leading to the November Uprising of 1830?
- ... that Peter Rosted served as chief judge at Inderøy District Court for 46 years, from 1733 to 1776?
- ... that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act extinguished all aboriginal title in Alaska?
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