Categories of Civil Law
There are several categories of civil law:
1. Contracts
2. Torts
3. Property law
4. Family law
5. Wills and Estates
6. Employment law
The two main categories of civil law are contracts and torts.
A contract is an agreement between two people, usually in a written form. Contracts are formal agreements that impose rights and responsibilities on the parties involved which are enforceable by law. A contract has distinct parts:
· an offer and acceptance
· consideration
· capacity
· consent and
· lawful purpose.
The law and obligations of the parties involved with a contract are fairly cut and dry. Examples of contracts would include:
· Jordan is hired by a grocery store to stock shelves for $8.00/hour. He does so, but the store refuses to pay Jordan for the work he provided.
· Devon buys a stereo, agreeing to pay for it in 12 equal monthly payments. He makes the first three, but then fails to make the remaining monthly payments
Pick one of the two situations above. Identify:
1. What was the agreement between the two parties?
2. What were their rights and responsibilities?
3. What were their rights and responsibilities?
4. Was there an offer and an acceptance?
5. Were they capable of meeting their obligations?
6. Did they consent to these obligations?
7. Were these lawful purposes?
8. Is the agreement fuzzy or cut and dry?
Torts are not like contracts. In a tort there is no underlying agreement that establishes the rights and responsibilities between two parties. There are three subcategories within torts: negligence, intentional torts, and strict liability.
Torts are the act of omission (failure to do something) or the act of commission (doing something you should not) that causes harm. They are informal occurrences that deal with wrongs or injuries inflicted upon one party by another, outside of the context of a formal relationship or contract. Therefore, the liability does not come from an agreed upon set of rights and responsibilities such as those defined in a contract, but rather from the law itself. In torts, the parties involved are strangers according to the law. The only reason they are brought together is the misfortune which resulted in the tort action. For example, I may not have very much to do with my neighbor until my son puts a rock through her bay window.
Examples of torts could include:
· Susan is struck by a reckless driver and suffers a loss of income because she can not attend work due to injuries.
· The city fails to care properly for a public swing set and a child is injured as a result.
Pick one of the two examples of torts from the reading above. Identify:
1. Was there an agreement between the two?
2. Was it a formal or informal relationship?
3. Will the liability be defined by an agreed upon set of responsibilities or from the law itself?
4. What brought the two parties together?
Reflection:
Why do we not sue someone each time that we have been wronged? For example: Why does Susan not sue the dry cleaner for ruining her blouse?