Legal Basics
2024 - 2025
• About myself
• About the course
• The aim of the course
• INTERACTIVE SESSIONS
TOPICS OF THE DAY
• definition of law (importance)
• law vs ethics – prevailing?
• sources of law (legislator, where to find)
• legal systems
• main branches of law (importance – basic
principles)
• basics of the legal system (fundamental principles,
structures, and concepts that define how laws are
created, interpreted, and enforced within a particular
jurisdiction
Definition of law
• Set of rules, aiming to regulate human behavior, in order to ensure safety in a
community
• Has a binding effect: must be followed and if not, will be enforced by the state
• Valid: passed in an appropriate process and then published by an authorized body
• In effect: applicable to a defined area (can go beyond borders: see international law),
in a given period of time; in certain cases applicable only to a specific group of
persons
• Applicable to natural persons (human beings) and/or legal persons (organizations)
• Norms can be
• A./ cogent (obligatory) or dispositive (allowing deviation),
• B./ substantive /material (defining rights and obligations) or procedural
VALIDITY - EFFECTIVITY
• Validity of law:
• a./ passed in an appropriate process and
b./ published by an authorized body –
(knowing the rule?)
• Effectivity: the extent to which the rules
achieve their intended purposes and
produce the desired outcomes within a
legal system
SOURCES OF LAW
• Two meanings: who can create law and where can I find law?
• Who can create the law? = Who has such power (who determines the
scope of legislators?)
• 1/ Parliament / Congress and Senate / National Assembly – issuing laws
(acts)
• 2/ Government / Ministry / Authority (e.g. National Bank) – issuing decrees,
based on laws (acts)
• 3/ Special powers:
• a/ municipalities (local level)
• b/ intergovernmental cooperation (international level)
• c/ judges (only in certain cases)
Where can I find law
• written sources (statutes, judgments);
• ”soft law” – guidelines, recommendations,
communications; academic and
professional materials)
• unwritten sources (customs, ethical rules)
LEGAL SYSTEMS
• Civil law system: only the authorities can create new laws, the
judge only applies the law. (Countries in continental Europe, eg.
France, Germany, Hungary etc.)
• Common law system: in addition to the authorities, judge can also
make law in absence of rules issued by the government (precedent,
to be followed by lower courts). See UK, US, Commonwealth states.
• Religious law system (e.g. Islamic law, Canon law)
• Customary law systems (mostly unwritten rules)
• Mixed systems
MAIN BRANCHES OF LAW I
PUBLIC PRIVATE
PUBLIC LAW
• Relationship between the state and individuals or entities
• 1./ Establishment, Maintenance, and Exercise of Public
Authority
• 2./ Superordination relationship (hierarchical superior-
subordinate or vertical)
• 3./ Superior Rights Characterize
• 4./ Not considering the will of the obligIigated
• 5./ Mandatory + Enforcement (execution rights and
organizations)
PRIVATE LAW
• Individuals and entities
• Ensuring and Exercising Subjective Rights:
– Focuses on the rights and obligations of individuals and private legal entities.
• Coordinate Relationship (Horizontal):
– equal legal status and rights of individuals and organizations
• Characterized by Autonomy of Will:
– The will of the parties is significant in legal transactions.
• Conflict of Interests:
– Parties act based on their own interests.
• Indirect Coercion (Legal or Institutional Pressure):
– Legal disputes are resolved through mediation and application of laws by the judiciary.
• Contingency, Random Regulation:
– Regulations are flexible and can be applied based on the circumstances of each case.
• Authorizing Regulation:
– Parties have rights and assume obligations through legal transactions.
MAIN BRANCHES OF LAW II
• Constitutional law: regulates the structure of the principal organs of the
government and their relationships to one another and determines their
principal functions (Alaptörvény, 2011)
• Administrative law: governs the operation of the various bodies related to
the government
• Criminal law: exercising the state’s monopoly of legal violence (state
versus perpetrator, where the procedure is started by the state)
• Civil law: governing relationships between persons (the state is not part of
the relationship and courts decide dispute upon request of one of the parties
only)
• Commercial law: rules related to commercial transactions
• Business law: any rules related to business relationships
Constitutional law
• Subject: study of the state's constitutional
system, constitutional institutions
• Fundamental (Citizen’s) rights and
obligations
• Separation of powers (balance of
legislative, executive, and judicial powers
• Constitutional remedies through
constitutional courts
ADMINISTRATIV LAW
• Regulation of Administrative Agencies (powers, functions, and
procedures of government agencies)
• Administrative Decision-Making (process)
• Judicial Review (reviewing administrative decisions in courts)
• Rulemaking (governs the procedures agencies must follow when
creating, amending, or repealing rules)
• Enforcement and Compliance: (enforcement)
• Due Process (due process rights, notice, opportunity to be heard,
fair and impartial decision-making)
• Delegation of Authority (delegation of legislative and executive
powers to administrative agencies)
CRIMINAL LAW
• Behaviours - offenses against the public
• defines crimes
• prescribing punishments of perpetrators
• establishing procedures for the
investigation and prosecution of criminal
offenses
CIVIL LAW
•Contract Law (agreements between parties)
•Tort Law (negligence, purposfulness or willfullness)
•Property Law (ownership, use, and transfer of property)
•Family Law family relationships, eg. divorce, child custody,
adoption
•Succession and Inheritance Law (transfer of assets after a
person's death)
•Contractual Disputes (conflicts from breach of contracts)
•Personal Injury Law individuals seek compensation for injuries or
harm
•Employment Law relationship between employers and
employees)
OTHER BRANCHES OF LAW
• MIXTURE OF BRANCHES
• Business
• Corporate
• Environmental
• Communication
• Advertising
• Traveling
• etc
WATCH!
• Common law Vs Statutory Law & Common
law Vs Civil law : Differences
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUCepI
y2UUI
(1’50”)
• What is Business Law: Definition and
Overview
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch9LP
TtIwaI
