SESSION 1

INTRODUCTION

Meaning – Object – Sources of

Law – Civil Law vs. Criminal Law
– Principle of Natural Justice
Ignorantia Ignorance of the law is no excuse

legis non
excusat You are not excused of your legal
liability due to the lack of the
knowledge of the law of the land.
Meaning of Law ‘Law’ includes any ordinance, order, bye-law, rule,
regulation, notification, custom or usage having in
the territory of India the force of law

- Constitution of India
Need for Law In Man’s association with people in different
capacities, he is expected to observe a code of
conduct or a set of rules.

The objective of these rules is to make human

association possible & conducive for the welfare
of the state & its people
LAW IS A GENERAL TERM:

Citizen : rules to obey

Lawyer: vocation

Legislator: rules which he has created

Judge: guiding principles to apply to decision.

Since it is not possible to give a single accurate definition, the
term law is preceded by an adjective e.g. Civil Law, Criminal
Law, Mercantile Law

Law includes all the rules and principles which regulate our
relationship with other individuals and with the State.
Meaning of Law State regulates the conduct of its
people by a set of rules.

Such rules of conduct, if

recognised by the State and
enforced by it on people is
termed as Law.
IS LAW Law is not static. As
circumstances & conditions in a
STATIC? society change, laws are changed
to fit the requirements of the
society. As such, law prevailing in
a society at any point of time
must be in conformity with the
general sentiments, customs &
aspirations of its people.
OBJECT OF Object of law is order; result of
order is that men are enabled to
LAW look ahead with some sort of
security as to the future.

In the Indian Context it is to

establish Socio - Economic Justice
and remove existing imbalance in
the socio- economic structure.
NEED FOR A businessman should be aware
of legal principles so as to help
THE him in avoiding conflict with the
KNOWLEDG persons with whom he comes
into business contact.
E OF LAW
 THE ENGLISH MERCANTILE LAW
SOURCES OF 1. Customs, usage and tradition
LAW 2. Decisions of Judges in similar
situations
(With respect to 3. Act of parliament

Mercantile Law) 4. Laws prevailing among traders

5. Roman law…..
 LAW ENACTED BY PARLIAMENT OR
SOURCES OF STATE LEGISLATURE
LAW
(With respect to PRECEDENTS SET BY PREVIOUS
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Mercantile Law)
CUSTOMS AND USAGE
INDIAN FLAWS & LAWS

SCENARIO THE INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEMS

COULD CONSIDER MIGRATING
FROM JURASSIC PARK

WHY DO WHEELS OF JUSTICE

GRIND SLOWLY?
INDIAN
SCENARIO A total of 3.11 crore cases are
pending in district and subordinate
courts, of which 2,23,05,498 are
criminal cases and 88,15,608
pertain to civil matters (of which
40 lakh are cheque bounce cases).
(Source – July 2019)
Civil Law vs Criminal Law

Civil Law Criminal Law

Definition: Civil law deals with the disputes between Criminal law (also known as penal
individuals, organizations, or between the law) is the body of statutory and
two, in which compensation is awarded to common law that deals with crime
the victim. and the legal punishment of criminal
offenses.

Burden of proof: "Preponderance of evidence" Burden of "Beyond a reasonable doubt":

proof is initially on the plaintiff and then Burden of proof is always on the
switches to the defendants. state/government.
 Civil Law vs Criminal Law

Civil Law Criminal Law

Examples: Landlord/tenant disputes, divorce Theft (by deception or unlawful
proceedings, child custody proceedings, taking), assault, robbery, trafficking in
property disputes (real estate or controlled substances, etc.
material), etc.

Type of punishment: A defendant in civil litigation is never A guilty defendant is punished by

incarcerated and never executed. Losing either incarceration in a jail or fine
defendant in civil litigation only paid to the government, or, in
reimburses the plaintiff for losses exceptional cases, the death penalty.
caused by the defendant’s behavior. Defendant can be found guilty or not.
Either party (plaintiff or defendant) can
be found at fault.
 Civil Law vs Note: The distinction between civil and criminal law cannot
always be maintained because some acts are considered
Criminal Law both as crimes as well as civil wrongs.

Civil Law Criminal Law

Case filed by: Private party Government

Appeal: Either party may appeal a Only the defendant may appeal a
decision in a civil suit. court ruling in a criminal case.
The prosecution cannot appeal if
the defendant is found not guilty.
‘Locus standi’ In law, standing or locus standi is the term
for the ability of a party to demonstrate to
the court sufficient connection to and harm
from the law or action challenged to support
that party's participation in the case.
Public Interest In Indian law, public interest litigation means
litigation for the protection of the public
interest.
Litigation
It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by
the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by
any other private party.

It is not necessary, for the exercise of the court’s

jurisdiction, that the person who is the victim of
the violation of his or her right should personally
approach the court.
Public Interest Public interest litigation is the power given to the
public by courts through judicial activism.

Litigation The seeds of the concept of public interest

litigation were initially sown in India by Krishna
Iyer J., in 1976 in Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs.
Abdul Thai (Trade Union was allowed to file a
case even though it had no locus standi)

However, the person filing the petition must

prove to the satisfaction of the court that the
petition is being filed for a public interest and not
just as a frivolous litigation by a busy body.
Public Interest Such cases may occur when the victim does
not have the necessary resources to
commence litigation or his freedom to move
Litigation court has been suppressed or encroached
upon.

The court can itself take cognizance of the

matter and proceed suo motu or cases can
commence on the petition of any public-
spirited individual.
Law of The 'Law of Limitation' prescribes the time-limit for
different suits within, which an aggrieved person
can approach the court for redress or justice.
Limitation The suit, if filed after the exploration of time-limit,
is struck by the law of limitation.

It's basically meant to indirectly punish persons

who go into a long slumber over their rights.

The statutory law was established in stages. The

very first Limitation Act was enacted for all courts in
India in 1859. And finally took the form of
Limitation Act in 1963.
Equality before Article 14 in The Constitution Of India 1949
The State shall not deny to any person equality
law before the law or the equal protection of the laws
within the territory of India (Prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth.)
Principle of In India there is no statute laying down the minimum
procedure which administrative agencies must follow
while exercising decision-making powers. This
Natural Justice minimum fair procedure refers to the principles of
natural justice.

Natural justice is a concept of common law and

represents higher procedural principles developed by
the courts, which every judicial, quasi-judicial and
administrative agency must follow while taking any
decision adversely affecting the rights of a private
individual.

Natural justice implies fairness, equity and equality.

Principle of The principle of natural justice encompasses
following two rules: -

Natural Justice
Nemo judex in causa sua - No one should be
made a judge in his own cause or the rule
against bias.
Audi alteram partem - Hear the other party
or the rule of fair hearing or the rule that no
one should be condemned unheard.
(Natural Justice is another name of common-
sense Justice)
Rule of bias
PERSONAL BIAS:
When there is a face off between a deciding or authoritative
party and someone who is either on his side or against him,
there occurs something called personal bias that may either be
positive or negative in its effect.
This sort of bias is characteristic of judge-witness, prosecutor-
judge, and judge-witness-prosecutor combinations.
An illustration would be Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.
V State of Bihar, the Court quashed the Government’s
notification that cancelled the petitioners mining license as
there was political rivalry between the minister and the
petitioners in a previous criminal case.
Rule of bias PECUNIARY BIAS:
When an adjudicating body has any financial
interest, even to a very paltry extent, its decision
would be subject to the suspicion of pecuniary
bias.
Rule of bias
OFFICIAL BIAS:
The subject of this project, official bias, has often
emerged as a matter of dispute in many cases both in
India and other countries as well. Official bias is, in most
cases, characteristic of disputes in administrative
activities, where the judging authority has sizeable
interest in the prosecution.
Gullapalli Nagesh Rao v APSRTC, where the government
nationalised road transport. The contention of bias was
rooted on the fact that the Secretary of Road Transport
Department who heard the matter was biased as he was
in charge of commencing the scheme as well as
adjudging its prudence.
Rule of bias PREJUDGMENT OF ISSUES:
A person who made a prior statement on the
subject matter can not be a judge on disputes on
the same subject matter.
COMPONENT 1. Right to notice.
a. Time, place and nature of hearing.

S OF RIGHT b. Legal authority under which hearing is to

be held.

TO FAIR
c. Statements of specific charges which the
person has to meet.

HEARING. 2. Right to know the evidence against him.

3. Right to present case and evidence.
4. Right to cross-examination.
5. Right to counsel.
Some Some exceptions to the rule of fair hearing as
recognised by courts are as follows:

Exceptions to Public Interest:

the Rule of Where defence and state secrets are involved.

Right to be Emergency:

Heard. Urgency is pleaded as an excuse for not

complying the principles of Natural Justice.
Some Impracticability:
In extreme situations it may highly impracticable
Exceptions to to comply the rules. In Radha Krishna V. Osmaina
University (AIR 1974) the decision of the
university cancelling the entire MBA examination
the Rule of on the reason of mass copying with out hearing
students held valid.
Right to be
Heard.
Principle of The other principle which has been stated
to constitute elements of Natural Justice
Natural Justice is:

The Court / Tribunal must act honestly

and impartially and not under the
dictation of other persons to whom
authority is not given by Law.
Thank you!