CLASSSIFICATIONS OF LAW

Law is intertwined with the lives of people.It governs the conduct of people from
cradle to the grave and the influence of law in one’s life even extends from before
birth to even after death. In this society,there is a complex body or set of rules
which are made to control the activities of members of the society. Different laws
are available for different situations like laws to govern working conditions, laws
to control leisure pursuits and laws to regulate relationships of personal nature.

Terms:

Law:
A binding custom or practice of a community : a rule of conduct or action
prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling
authority.[i]

A rule, usually made by the government of a country, that is used to order the way
in which the society has to behave.[ii]

The law is a set of rules that are laid down to regulate the government of the state
and control the relationship between the state and its citizens and also to govern the
relationship between one citizen and another which is enforceable by the courts.

Classifications of Law:

Law may be classified in various different ways but the most important
classifications are as follows:

 Public Law and Private Law

 Criminal Law and Civil Law
 Substantive Law and Procedural Law
 Municipal Law and International Law
 Common Law and equity
Public Law and Private Law:
Public law:

Public law is the law that is concernedwiththerelationship of the citizens and the
state. This consists other different specialist areas as follows:

Constitutional law:

Constitutional law is concerned with the Indian constitution. It covers within its
twenty five partsand twenty schedules the composition and procedures of
Parliament, the functioning of central and local government, citizenship and the
fundamental rights and liabilities of the citizens of the country.[iii]

Administrative law:

Administrative law is the law that is brought to for better and convenient
administration of the government and the government bodies. There has been a
stark increase in the activities of government over the pastfew years. Many
schemes have been introduced by the Government for helping to ensure a proper
standard of living for everyone. A huge number of disputes arise out of the
administration of different schemes and a body of lawhas been developed to deal
with the problems of such persons against the decision of  administrative agency.

Private law:
Private law is the law that is predominantly concerned with the rights and liabilities
of individuals towards each other. The involvement of the states in this area of law
is restricted to providing a proper method of resolving the dispute which has
arisen. Therefore, the legal process gets started by the citizen who is aggrieved and
not by the state. Private law is also known as‘civil law’ and often it is in contrast
with criminal laws.

Criminal law and civil law:

Legal law sare classified usually into two different types: criminal and civil law. It
is important to note here that the nature of thisclassification is because there are
major differences in the purpose, procedures and terminology of every branch of
law.

Criminal law:
Criminal law is the law that is connected with the act of forbidding particular
forms of wrongful conduct and imposing punishment on those who engage in such
acts. Criminal proceedings are usually brought in the name of the State and are
known as ‘prosecutions’. It should be noted that prosecutions may be assessed by a
private individual or other bodies, such as the trading standards department of the
local authority but cannot undertake the case of the prosecution.

In criminal cases there is a prosecutor who prosecutes the defendant for the offence
committed. The consequences of being proved guilty are so extreme that the
standard of proof is higher in criminal cases as compared to civil scenarios.The
allegations of a criminal conduct need to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. If the
prosecution successfully proves the guilt of the defendant, hemight be punished by
the court respectively.           

Punishments that are available to be imposed on the convict are imprisonment and
fines. If the prosecution is unsuccessful in proving the guilt of the accused
defendant, he is acquitted.[iv]

Civil law:
The civil law deals with the private rights and duties which arise between
individuals in a country. The object of a civil action is to correct the wrongdoing
that has been committed. Enforcement of civil law is the accountability of the
individual who has committed the wrong and the state is responsible to provide for
the procedure to resolve the dispute. In case of civil proceedings, the person who
claims sues the defendant in the civil court and asks for a remedy. The claimant
will be successful in his claim if he is able to prove his case. If the claimant is not
successful, the defendant will not bemade liable for his actions. 

Substantive and Procedural Law: 

The law which defines rights and liabilities is known as substantive law. It is called
so since it lays down a proper and precise substance of subject matter which is
enforceable in the courts. The purpose of a law that is substantive is to define,
create or confer a proper substantive legal right or status or to impose the nature
and extent of any sort of legal duties or obligations.

Substantive law, with regard to a specific subject, defines the legal rights and
relationship of people between themselves or between them and the State. Any
wrongdoing of an individual, group of persons or the state against another will
hold him liable to the othersaccordingly. For the purpose of any substantive law,
the wrongs could be either civil or criminal. Substantive law refers to all forms of
law both, public and private including the law of contracts, property, torts and
crimes of all kinds. 

The law of procedure is that branch of law thatdeals with the process of litigation.
It embodies the rules and procedures pertaining to the institution and prosecution
of any kind of civil or criminal proceeding. Procedural law consists of a set of rules
by which a court hears cases and decides the proceedings. Historically, the law that
many know is substantive law, and procedural law has always been a matter of
concern only to those who preside over as judicial officers or those advocating law.
But, over a period of time, the courts developed a system of evidence and
procedure, that fall within the purview of procedural law relating to the fairness
and transparency of such process.[v]

The Indian Evidence Act, the Limitation Act, the Code of Civil Procedure, the
Code of Criminal Procedure are instances of procedural law.

Municipal Law and International Law: 

Municipal or Domestic law is that facet of law that springs from and has an effect
on the members of a particular state. An example of a municipal law is the
Constitution of India that applies only in India.

On the other hand,International law is the law that governs laws between different
countries. It regulates the relationship between various independent countries and
is usually governed by treaties, international customs and so on. Examples of
International law include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights etc.[vi]

Common law and equity:

Law may further be classified as per the nature as to whether they form part of the
common law or equity. The distinction between the systems of common law and
equity rises from far long in history and could be understood properly by an
examination of the origins of English law. The common law is the law followed
and gained by the Crown of England. It could be traced back to 1066 when
William of Normandy obtained the crown of England by defeating King Harold in
the Battle of Hastings. Before the Normans arrived there was no such thing known
as English law. The Anglo-Saxon system of law was based on the local
community. Each and every area possessed its own system of courts whereinthe
local customs were applied as common law. The Normans were great
administrators and they undertook a process of centralisation that created an
accurate climate for the evolution of a uniform system of law for the entire country
which is equally applicable as a rule of law.

Conclusion:

Therefore, law could be classified into different types and every form of law
emerged over a period of time to form a set of rules that we use to govern the
society on the whole. According to the various functions governed by law, it is
classified as different forms of law to avoid chaos or confusion in administering
such laws. Laws are involved into every aspect of human life and it is imperative
to classify law so as to follow them for the benefit of the society.