United States today is looked at as a law full of law suits. The famous case of McDonalds getting sued for not writing a warning for hot coffee being hot is still talked amongst people all over the world today. People make jokes at every situation that might be possibly end up being a lawsuit. With all these fact, it might even seem like the United States is the heart and home of the laws and rights. But where did laws originate from? Who first said you cannot steel from others without consequences?
The development of law is closely related to development of human civilization. Civil codes are written when a steady civilization is created. The oldest civil codes can be dated back to 3000BC in Ancient Egypt. The code is based on social equality and impartiality. The oldest known tablet containing a law code that is surviving today is The Code of Ur-Nammu. It was written in 2100BC in Sumerian language. The laws written in the code is arranged by if-then pattern. It was quite advanced because it institutes fines of monetary compensation for bodily damage than eye for an eye principle except for capital crimes such as murder, adultery and rape which are punished with death.
Around 1760Bc, King Hammurabi further developed Babylonian law, where eye for an eye is exercised, by codifying and inscribing it in stones and placing in several copies throughout the kingdom of Babylon as stele for the entire public, both citizen and visitors, to see. Though some of the codes might be applicable to today’s laws, the cultures of the Babylonian age can be observed from the tablets. The Old Testament of the bible is probably the oldest written law that can still be relevant for modern legal laws. Dating back to 1280BC, it takes the form of moral imperatives to make a better society.
In Asia, Ancient India and China represent distinct traditions of law. They even had independent schools for legal theory and practice. The Indian law was not exactly a law, but a way to rule and govern with the philosophy that went with tolerance and Pluralism, and was eventually cited across Southeast Asia. The Indian law, with Hindu tradition along with Islamic law, was affected by the common law when India became part of the British Empire. Along with India, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Hong Kong were affected as well. Though the Asian legal tradition reflects a blend of secular and religious influences, massive transformation took place with the adaptation of the common European law. Japan was the first country to westernize their law, probably affected by the German Law.
Today, in most advanced countries, the act of judging according to the law is taken care of in courts. It is typically overseen by either a government or independent regulating body such as association for a certain organization or a law society. Lawyers are often higher to represent the person or people in courts and give advice about legal rights and duties. In some countries the Judge decides the case and in others, a group of juries, made up of common citizens, make up the decision.
Whether it be cruel punishment or a monetary compensation, law has been existing for a while, but we all must keep in thought that it is made not to punish us but to protect us.
By: Fred Jones
Posts Tagged ‘Monetary Compensation’
Definition And Use Of Tort Law
April 7th, 2010
Simply put torts are civil laws that recognize personal wrongs which answer to a charge of law as grounds for accountability or lawsuit. These are wrongs that have resulted in personal injury or harm and are grounds for seeking a claim of compensation by the injured party. Some torts are civil crimes which are punishable by imprisonment but the main reason of tort law is to provide a way to be compensated or get relief for damages inflected and to discourage any one else from committing the same harmful violations. The person who was injured may sue for an injunction to halt the damaging conduct or for monetary compensation for damages encountered.
There are several types of damages an injured party may make claim and receive compensation from, such as : loss of wage capacity, pain and suffering, undue mental duress, and reasonable medical expenses. Claims can include both present and future expected losses.
Included amongst the most common of torts are: trespass, assault, battery, negligence, product liability, and intentional infliction of emotional distress (harassment).
Torts also fall into three general categories:
Intentional torts are those wrongs which the defendant had knowledge of, or by reason should have known, would occur through their direct involvement, being a part of or intentional lack of action. Negligent torts are when the defendant’s actions are deemed unreasonably unsafe. Strict liability wrongs don’t depend on how little the defendant’s sense of responsibility was, but is established after the fact, when a particular action causes damage. A person may operate in a unreasonable manner but is not subject to tort until a claim to cease and desist or call for compensation is made.
intentional torts (e.g., intentionally harming a person); negligent torts (causing an accident by failing to obey traffic rules); and strict liability torts(e.g., liability for knowingly making and selling defective products
Tort law is derived through common law Judges and enacted into state law by legislatures which enact statutory law.
General Principle Torts
(1) Any one who invades the privacy rights of another is subject to liability payment for any resulting damage to the interests of the person who was harmed.
Privacy invasion is explained by:
(a) unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another, or
(b) identity theft, appropriation of the other’s name or likeness, or
(c) Malicious, false or unreasonable publicity given to other person’s private life, or
(d) publicity of an unreasonably nature that places the other person in a false light before the public,
Intrusion upon Seclusion is a person who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another person or his/her private affairs or concerns. The wrong doer is subject to liability to the wronged for invasion of privacy, if the intrusion is seen as highly offensive to a reasonable person.
Appropriation of Name or Likeness (identity theft) is a person who takes the name or likeness of another for his/her own use or benefit The wrong doer is subject to compensate the wronged person for invasion of privacy.
Publicity Given to Private Life, when a person deliberately produces derogatory publicity concerning the private life of another person is subject to liability to the injured person for invasion of his/her privacy, if the publicized material is of a kind that
(a) would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and
(b) is not of legitimate concern to the public.
Publicity Placing a Person in a False Light is when one person falsely gives publicity before the public in such a manner as to shed a false light upon the integrity or character of another person. Such a person is subject to pay for injuries received by the injured person for invasion of privacy, if:
(a) the false light in which the other was placed would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and
(b) the actor had knowledge of or acted in reckless disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the other would be placed.
Common Law Protections of Privacy It was found that infringements on personal actions are not valid while in the workplace Restatement of Torts (2nd)
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Ellis v Angwyn