Definition
Private law refers to the rules which govern disputes between individuals or groups of individuals outside of the political domain.
Discussion
Overview
Private law seeks to foster cooperation between non-political actors, almost exclusively outside of government. Technically, any law which is not public law is private law.
In some countries, including the United States, this domain of law is referred to as âcivil lawâ. This is not to be confused with the reference to the civil legal system.
Private law is not able to force people to follow certain rules unless they have consened to those rules.
This is in contrast to regulation or criminal law, both of which are of the political domain and force people to follow rules whether or not those people have consented. Such law is public law
Private law generally cocnerns matters (such as contracts and property, torts, and family law.
Today, private law typically does not concern physical violence. Physical violence is largely a matter dealt with through public law and, in particular, criminal law.
Private law disputes can be settled outside of a government systems. In contrast, breaches of regulation or criminal law must be dealt using government systems, such as public court.
A fair legal system must never permit breaches the Legal Principle.
The private law frameworks of countries like the United Kingdom and the United States today generally function well, serving as useful blueprints for how a free society might structure many aspects of its jurisprudence.
Much of contract law, property law, tort law, trials, appeals, and evidence law has been developed over centuries and is generally compatible with the Legal Principle. These dispute resolution procedures could be fine-tuned, but we inherit a foundation here that generally functions well.
Some fundamental principles underlying private law can be loosely described with phrases like: âDo the Right Thingâ, âAct Fairlyâ, âAct Reasonablyâ, âKeep Promisesâ, âBe Trustworthyâ, and âBe Responsibleâ.
Much of private law already aligns with the Legal Principle, but some coercive elements must be removed
- Some matters which should be dealt with using private law are influenced by aggressing public laws. For example, regulation in fields such as employment, [tax and workersâ compensation, social security, elder care and bankruptcy should be abolished.
- However, the misalignment between our current legal system and the Legal Principle primarily stems from the substantive law, specifically: a) failure to prohibit aggressing and b) prohibition of non-aggressing behavior:
- Failure to prohibit aggressing
- Legalized coercion via contract enforcement (and obstruction of due process): The state enforces the illegitimate âsocial contractâ, appropriating property from non-aggressors without consent or due process.
- Corporate harm sanctioned by regulatory exemptions: the state grants legal immunity to corporations that breach the Legal Principle by damaging othersâ property via certain types of pollution.
- Prohibition of non-aggressing behavior
- Government coercion through victimless “Crimes”: the state aggresses against non-aggressors by enforcing prohibitions on consensual activities and valid contracts like drug use and prostitution, for instance.
- Failure to prohibit aggressing