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Public Law versus Private Law
Public law entails the legal principles upon which public bodies base their decisions. Public law entails acts passed by government authorities and which affect the relationship between the state and the citizen as opposed to the relationship between citizens.
Private law differs from the above in that it governs the interactions amongst citizens.
In some instances both public law and private law can come into play. A person can hit another person. The state may prosecute the culprit under criminal law while under private law, the citizen who was hit, may also bring a civil law case against the culprit (defendant) for damage to character, medical expenses, and more.
A strictly private law case is for example, the contract between a patent owner and a marketing company.
There is a license agreement between the two parties. Failure on one part doesn’t necessary change the relationship between the state and an individual.
Both private citizen parties involved can bring civil law cases against each other, but unless one of the laws under public law has been broken, then the case will fall under private law. Under public law, we find constitutional, administrative, and criminal law.
If there is an infringement of human rights by the state, under constitutional law, the individual or group of individuals can challenge the state body. If fraud is committed by one party in an intellectual property agreement, then criminal law can also come into action, although the individuals bringing action against each other would do so not under public law, but under civil law. I
f you need help in any private law case, contact us at Smit & Van Wyk today.
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