Chapter 1: Law and Legal Systems - Insurance Law

What is the body of general rules which governs and controls the behavior of people in the country or sovereign state in which people live?

Laws

What happens when someone breaks a legal rule?

They will face some penalty or adverse consequence

What does it mean if someone faces a penalty or adverse consequence if they break a rule?

They are backed by sanctions

What are laws based upon?

The reflection of the feelings of the community as to what is right, and what is wrong

What is true about some laws, particularly criminal law?

They are based on morality

What is much of the law designed to do?

• Regulate the economy

• Ensure life is orderly and civilized

Why do tax regulations exist?

For the sake of economic efficiency

Why is there a rule requiring all drivers to drive on a specific side of the road?

For safety rather than morality

Why are much of the non-consumer (business) laws created?

To ensure that commerce functions smoothly and according to principles which are clear and well-understood

Why must laws be enforced?

They may be ignored, leading to disorder and confusion

How are laws enforced?

• By legal systems in developed societies to bring wrongdoers to justice

• Established courts to hear disputes and try offenders

• Designed mechanisms to ensure that disputes between private parties are resolved with decisions that can be enforced

Which territory in the United Kingdom has a legal system that has different origins from those of English law?

Scotland

What is one of the major legal systems in the world?

English Common Law

What are some countries that have adopted English Common Law?

• USA

• Canada

• Australia

• New Zealand

• Many states in Africa and the Far East

What, along with English Common Law, as spread to be widely used?

Civil Law

What area along with the UK also uses Civil law?

Europe

What is Civil law based on?

The laws of ancient Rome

Who does law relate to insurance?

An insurance policy is a legal contract

What does it mean for an insurance policy to be a legal contract?

Insures and insureds are subject to laws that apply to all contracts, along with the principles that apply specifically to insurance

What are the two distinct meanings for ‘civil law’?

• Civil law system

• Civil law as opposed to criminal law

What meaning for civil law is the legal system inspired by Roman law, and the primary basis for legal statutes is legislation?

Civil law system

What is another name for common law?

Case law

What meaning for civil law refers to the branch of law that deals with disputes between individuals and organisations?

Civil law as opposed to criminal law

What is the body of law that refers to cime?

Criminal law

What are the basic distinctions that are made in law?

• Public law

• Private law

What type of law is concerned with the legal structure of the state and relationships between the state and individual members of the community, along with governing the relationships between one state and another?

Public law

What is included under public law?

• Constitutional law

• Administrative law

• Criminal law

What type of law refers to the structure of the main institutions of government and how they work with each other, including the relationship between the two Houses of Parliament in the UK and between central and local government

Constitutional law

What is included under constitutional law?

• The making of treaties with foreign states

• The status, function and powers of the Monarch, Members of Parliament, Government Ministers, the Judiciary, the Civil Service and the Armed Forces

What is true about every country with a written or unwritten constitution?

It will have its own body of constitutional law

What is connotational law in the United States based on?

Interpretations of the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court

What is constitutional law in the UK based on?

Statutes, common law, and conventions

A1B

Administrative Law