TYPES OF LAW
· civil and criminal law
· public and private law
· procedural and substantive law
CIVIL LAW
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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Farmer to remain in jail over land dispute
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland
/2011/0902/1224303348116.html
CRIMINAL LAW
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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
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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.
INDICTABLE VS NON-INDICTABLE
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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.
SUMMARY OFFENCE
District Court – Judge without Jury
Examples 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
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland
/2011/0909/1224303759394.html
JUDGE AND JURY
There 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
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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
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MAJOR VS MINOR OFFENCE
Article 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
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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
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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
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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/breakin
g/2011/0901/breaking48.html
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PUBLIC VS PRIVATE
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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.
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PUBLIC LAW EXAMPLE
DPP case
 Garda/IRA passport allegations
 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland
/2011/0928/1224304855706.html
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PROCEDURAL VS SUBSTANTIVE
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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/p
ub/0006/index.html
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PROCEDURAL VS SUBSTANTIVE
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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).
HOMEWORK
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Find a legal case/issue in the news at the
moment (it can be from any jurisdiction)
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Bring in the article or printout
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Identify what type of law it involves