Chapter 1 sn the nature of tw; sd equity: Jaw and equity: “The law fete every aspect of a esi governs or ‘conduct fom the cradle tothe grave and fs iflsence tren ented oom belore our bith Yo afer our death, We lve im a sociry which as developed a complex body of roles to contol the acivtes of ts members “Thote ar laws which gorern working conitons (eg by laying down iim standards of hell and safety), lows which segulate Ibure pursuits (eg. by banning alcool on couches and truine traveling to football ‘matches, and laws which cone personal relationships (eg. by proiiting marcage horse clos alative) So what "aw? and owe is diferent fom other ind of alee The law isa sto les, enforceable by the cours, which regulate the goverment of the state and pre the seatisonip betwen the ate ae cies And between one ctzen und anther As individals we ‘encounter many ‘rules. The rules ofa paricular sport, sch athe offside dein fot or the reso hb, te dengned to ing order to prticle city. Other binds of rle may relly be social conventions, suchas fot speaking ofthe ded. In this case the “ule rere tetetion of what community roars to be appropriate behaviour. In neither situation wonkd we ‘expec ther tole the fre efliwad tae enforced bythe court. The nature of law Learning objectives ‘tor stung hs chapter you shout undorstand tho folowing mn points: “= the ways in which the aw may be classed, including the diferences ‘between puble and private am, cil and criminal aw and common law 1s the development of English aw including the emergence ofthe common 1» the basic principles of lga!fabily, such a the distinction between chal ad crina abit. tell consider such enters ws the sequvements that ‘tat be cterod tn start busines wears, the Highs tao dates which cine En busioseteamactons ad the consequences of business ire, ln order to under stand the lp implications of tsnese activites, ite first necessary to examine some busi features of our gf leg sytem. 1 portant to remember that English a efor t the law staple to England and Wales. Scoland and Norther Irelund have thee own lint egal ystems, Classification of law ‘There ore various ways in which the law may be classified; the most important are as lows 41 Public nd private lam. The diinction betwern public and priate lw i ilustrated in Figure LL (0) Puli aw, Publiclw is concerned with the rdaion- Ship beewee the sat and its citizens. This comprises sever pecan areas sch a (i) Conineiona aw. Contato aw iseoneered with