TYPES OF LAW

· civil and criminal law· public and private law· procedural and substantive law

CIVIL LAW Civil law, deals with disputes between individuals or organizations,

in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case.

Civil law courts provide a forum for deciding disputes involving torts (such as accidents, negligence, and libel), contract disputes, the probate of wills, trusts, property disputes, administrative law, commercial law, and any other private matters that involve private parties and organizations including government departments.

The objectives of civil law are different from other types of law. In civil law there is the attempt to right a wrong, honour an agreement, or settle a dispute. If there is a victim, they get compensation, and the person who is the cause of the wrong pays, this being a civilized form of, or legal alternative to, revenge. If it is an equity matter, there is often a pie for division and it gets allocated by a process of civil law, possibly invoking the doctrines of equity

CIVIL LAW Many civil claims are brought as a result of road traffic accidents,

accidents at work and slipping or tripping and falling in a building, on a road or a public place.

You may also have a claim based on breach of contract or based on a neighbour's interference with your enjoyment of your property - "nuisance" claims.

Other types of cases include claims for damages as a result of libel, i.e., when a person's good name or reputation has been injured as a result of the publication of untruths in a permanent form (for example, in a newspaper). Slander occurs where a person's good name or reputation has been injured as a result of the publication of untruths in a non-permanent form (for example, in a conversation).

You may have a claim in relation to ownership of land or you may require the court to sort out arrangements in respect of marital breakdown.

CIVIL CASE EXAMPLE: LAND LAW Farmer to remain in jail over land

dispute

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0902/1224303348116.html

CRIMINAL LAW crime is defined in law in Ireland as an act which

may be punished by the State. The way in which a criminal offence is investigated and prosecuted depends on the type of crime involved. For these purposes criminal offences may be described in different ways such as:

Summary offences Indictable offences Minor offences Serious offences Arrestable offences

CRIMINAL LAW There are two ways criminal offences can be tried in Irish law: In the lower court (District Court) before a judge without a

jury In the higher courts (Circuit Criminal Court,

Central Criminal Court) before a judge and jury When an offence is dealt with in a District Court, the judge is

restricted in the length of sentence he/she can impose for any offence. The Criminal Justice Act 1984 (Section11) states that the maximum term of imprisonment that can be imposed by the District Court in respect of any number of offences for which sentence is passed at the same time cannot exceed 2 years. Similarly, the District Court cannot exceed a maximum sentence of 1 year in respect of one offence.

Summary and indictable offences indicate the manner in which these offences are tried or dealt with in the courts. A summary offence is one which can only be dealt with by a judge sitting without a jury, that is the District Court, while an indictable offence is one which may be or must be tried before a judge and jury.

All common-law offences are held to be indictable offences as the common law did not distinguish or differentiate between indictable and non-indictable offences. However, criminal statutes or criminal laws passed into law by the Oireachtas do make a distinction between types of crimes and therefore differentiates on how different crimes will be dealt with by the courts.

INDICTABLE VS NON-INDICTABLE

SUMMARY OFFENCEDistrict Court – Judge without JuryExamples of summary offences are: Public Order Offence – Intoxication in a public place.

The penalty stated for being found guilty of this offence is a fine of up to €500. No imprisonment is available to the judge.

Public Order Offence- Threatening abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place. The maximum penalty available to a judge where a person is found guilty of this offence is a fine of up to €1,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to three months or both a fine and a term of imprisonment.

PUBLIC ORDER OFFENCE EXAMPLE Suspended sentence for Public

Order Offence http://

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0909/1224303759394.html

JUDGE AND JURYThere are a number of offences which must be

tried before a judge and jury and these offences are listed in the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 and the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990. These include:

Offence under the Treason Act 1939 Murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder Piracy Rape Aggravated sexual assault

In addition to the above there are a number of offences which do not include an option to be dealt with in the District Court (summary disposal). They must be dealt with on indictment. Examples of these are:

Section 4 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 – Assault causing serious harm. The penalty on conviction on indictment is a fine or imprisonment for life or both. The statute (or piece of law) does not allow for this offence to be dealt with summarily.

Section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 - Riot. Again the offence can only be dealt with on indictment.

INDICTABLE OFFENCE Conspiracy to murder “Lying Eyes” case http://

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0326/1224293136638.html

MAJOR VS MINOR OFFENCEArticle 38.2 of the Constitution of Ireland sets out that minor offences may

be tried in courts of summary jurisdiction, that is, the District Court. There is no definition of what a minor offence is in the Constitution although they are most often set down by the actual law. The distinction between the constitutional concepts of minor and non-minor offences equates more or less with the statutory distinction drawn between summary and indictable offences.

The Supreme Court has however considered the issue of what constitutes a minor offence. The most important case in this area is a case called Melling v Ó Mathghamhna [1962] IR 1. In examining the criteria or rules when deciding whether an offence was minor the Supreme Court laid out the following test:

The severity or seriousness of the punishment Moral guilt of the accused The law in 1937 when the Constitution was adopted, and Public opinion Of these four tests, it is undoubtable that the most important one is the

severity or seriousness of the sentence.

SERIOUS VS NON-SERIOUS The Bail Act 1997 created a new distinction

between serious and non-serious offences. The Act allows bail to be refused where an accused is charged with a serious offence and it can be established that the accused is likely to commit further serious offences if released on bail. The Bail Act 1997 defines a serious offence as an offence for which a person, if convicted, could be imprisoned for 5 years or more.

ARRESTABLE VS NON-ARRESTABLE the Criminal Law Act 1997 abolished

the distinction between a felony and misdemeanour and created the arrestable/non-arrestable distinction. The Act defines an arrestable offence as an offence for which a person could be punished by imprisonment for 5 years or more, similar to the definition of a serious offence mentioned above.

ARRESTABLE VS NON-ARRESTABLE This distinction holds great importance for the Gardaí.

Section 4 of the Criminal Law Act 1997 allows a Garda to arrest without warrant any person whom the Garda, with reasonable cause, believes to be guilty of committing or having committed an arrestable offence.

Any person arrested for such an arrestable offence (without a warrant) can be detained in a Garda station for a maximum period of 12 hours for questioning before being charged with an offence or being released. Also, if you remain silent when questioned by Gardaí in certain circumstances, inferences can be drawn from your silence in any proceedings against you for an arrestable offence. Further information on your right to silence is available here.

SECTION 4 OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT Detention under section 4 Cross border fuel laundering http://

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0901/breaking48.html

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is

part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts,[1] as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems. It is to be distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between natural and artificial persons (i.e., individuals, business entities, non-profit organizations) and the state including regulatory statutes, penal law and other law that effects the public order.

In general terms, public law involves interrelations between the state and the general population, whereas private law involves interactions between private citizens.

PUBLIC LAW An action by an individual (or legal

equivalent) against the attorney general is a civil matter, but when the state, being represented by the prosecutor for the attorney general, or some other agent for the state, takes action against an individual (or legal equivalent including a government department), this is public law, not civil law.

In public law the objective is usually deterrence, and retribution.

PUBLIC LAW EXAMPLE DPP case Garda/IRA passport allegations http://

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0928/1224304855706.html

PROCEDURAL VS SUBSTANTIVE Substantive law is the statutory or written law that

defines criminal acts. Substantive law defines the legal relationship of people with other people or between them and the state. Substantive law stands in contrast to procedural law, which comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil or criminal proceedings.

Substantive law defines crimes and punishments (in the criminal law) as well as civil rights and responsibilities in civil law. It is codified in legislated statutes or can be enacted through the initiative process.

PROCEDURAL VS SUBSTANTIVE Procedural law deals with the method and

means by which substantive law is made and administered. The time allowed for one party to sue another and the rules of law governing the process of the lawsuit are examples of procedural laws.

Example: Statue of Limitations Act 1957 http://

www.irishstatutebook.ie/1957/en/act/pub/0006/index.html

PROCEDURAL VS SUBSTANTIVE Another way of summarizing the difference

between substantive and procedural is as follows: Substantive rules of law define rights and duties, while procedural rules of law provide the machinery for enforcing those rights and duties. However, the way to this clear differentiation between substantive law and, serving the substantive law, procedural law has been long, since in the Roman civil procedure the action included both substantive and procedural elements (see procedural law).

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