DEFINE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE WORLD LEGAL SYSTEMS?

1. PREFACE:

The legal system of a country is a part of its social system and reflects the social,
political, economic, and cultural characteristics of the society. A legal system consists
of certain basic principles and values, and a set of operational norms including the
rights and duties of citizens spelled out in the laws. The legal system explores the
political organization and structure of society.

2. INTERPRETATION OF TERM LEGAL SYSTEM:

According to Black's Law Dictionary:

A body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and

having legal binding force. That which must be obeyed and followed by
citizens subject to sanction or legal consequences is a law".

3. BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM:

A legal system consists of certain basic principles and values largely outlined by the
constitution, a set of operational norms including the rights and duties of citizens
spelled out in the law.

4. SOURCES OF LEGAL SYSTEM:

5. BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM:

The building blocks of the World legal system are,

I. Rule of law.
II. Separation of Powers.
III. Judicial Review.
IV. Executive.
V. Human Rights.

6. RULE OF LAW:

The phrase "rule of law" has been used since the time of Aristotle in the fourth
century BC. The supremacy of rule of law has always been a principle of the
constitution. It means that the exercise of powers should be conditioned by law and
that the subject should not be exposed to the arbitrary will of the ruler.

Definition of Rule of Law:

 According to Dicey:

"The ruler of law means " no man is above and every person should be treated
in accordance with law".

Rule of Law in the Charter of UN:

The concept of rule of law is embedded in the charter of the United Nation.

The preamble of the United Nation:

The Preamble of the charter states as one of the aims of the UN is "to
establish conditions under which justices and respects for the obligations
arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be
maintained".

According to the Secretary-General of UNO:

"The Rule of law" is a principle of governance in which all institutions and

entities, public and private, including the State itself, are publicly
promulgated, equally enforce and independently adjudicated, and which are
consistent with international human rights norms and standards.

7. SEPARATION OF POWER:

Meaning of separation of power:

According to Black's Law Dictionary:

"The division of governmental authority into three branches of government,

legislative executive and judicial each with specified duties on which neither
of the other branches can encroach".
Main exponent:

The main exponent of the theory of Separation of power is Montesquieu:

Origin of theory:

Montesquieu, the French thinker of the 18th century was the first writer who
expounded on this division as a theory of Separation of power to Safeguard
the liberty of the individuals in his book "The Spirit of Laws" in 1748.

The object of theory:

 The primary object of such a functional distribution of authority is to
safeguard liberty by not giving two or more kinds of work to one agency.

Montesquieu theory:

"In every Government, there are three sorts of powers; legislative executive,
and Judicial. The liability of the individuals requires that neither all these
powers nor any two of them should be placed in the hands of one man or one
body of men".

Application of theory:

The doctrine which was taken over by the framers of the American
constitution had no relevance to the British constitution the doctrine has no
place at all in the parliamentary democracies except in so far as it has secured
the independence of the judiciary from the control of the executive.

8. JUDICIAL REVIEW:

Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court in a national legal system (NLS) to
examine the actions of legislative, executive, and administrative arms of the
government and to determine whether such actions are consistent with the
constitution.

Meaning of judicial review:

According to Black's Law Dictionary:

"A court's power to review the actions of other branches or level of

governments".

Landmark case:

The first case on the judicial review was the Marbury VS Madison case.
Where the court asserted its authority for judicial review to strike down a law
as unconstitutional. At the end of his opinion, Chief Justice John Marshall
maintained that:

Held: "It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department [the
judicial branch] to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular
cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict
with each other, the Courts must decide on the operation of each."

Objects of judicial review: Followings are the objects of judicial review,

 I. To keep the Congress and the President within the limits of their powers.

II. To defend civil liberties and rights.

III. To keep states within their constitutional limits.

IV. To uphold the constitution by protecting the federal legislature.

9. EXECUTIVE:

A national legal system is based on the theory of separation of power, to distribute the
authority between different branches of the legal system and the Executive is one of
those branches of the Legal system. The executive does not pass the laws, (it is the
role of the legislature) or interpret them (the role of the judiciary). Instead enforces
the law as written by the legislature and interpreted by the judiciary. The executive
should maintain a high standard of accountability, transparency, and responsibility in
the conduct of public business.

10. HUMAN RIGHTS:

Human rights are inherent rights of all human beings which they possess by their
being "human" in nature. These rights are not only interrelated but interdependent and
indivisible as well. In a legal system, everyone is equally entitled to the protection of
such human rights.

Human rights in United nation Charter:

The United nation charter state that one of the purposes of the UN is to
achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian charter and in promoting and
encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedom for all without
distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.

11. CONCLUSION:

Finally, we may remark that the legal system explores the political organization and
structure of society provide a scheme of individual relationship within it, and
contributes to the stability of society by offering an objective mechanism for the
resolution of disputes and conflicts within the community.