1.2 Introduction to Law

Purpose and Function of Law

Law in a democratic society is a set of rules for human behavior established by a legitimate legislative authority which has binding force upon citizens. The purpose and function of law is to

1. prevent undesirable behavior (deter crime);

2. facilitate private arrangements between individuals (allow for contracts);

3. settle private and public disputes (establish dispute resolution systems);

4. determine procedures for changing the law (provide legislative processes);

5. regulate the institutions of state to protect individual freedom (create constitutions);

6. keep the peace (allow for orderly protest);

7. remedy social injustice (prevent discrimination);

8. facilitate planning (allow debate on change); and

9. provide for orderly change in government (establish democratic electoral systems).

To be effective and legitimate, law must be seen as fundamentally fair, flexible, and applied equally to all persons or entities. A set of enforceable rules—a law—is specific for each jurisdiction. For example, law may consist of a nomadic tribe’s unwritten code of behavior, a U.S. state's seatbelt law, a European nation's legal code, or a U.S. court decision. U.S. law is a combination of international treaties, the Constitution, federal law, state law, local law, common law, traditional civil law, and published court decisions.

Common Law

U.S. law is based primarily on the English and American common law. Common law, sometimes called judge-made law or case law, is the compilation of hundreds of years of judges’ decisions determining the outcomes of cases. Over time, these opinions have formed a body of law that has established a framework for determining the elements, and associated remedies, for various causes of action from contract disputes to crimes to family law cases.

Precedent and Stare Decisis

The term precedent refers to a rule or principle of law that has been established in a ruling by a court of higher authority, such as an appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court. Lower courts are bound to adhere to the decisions made by a higher court on a similar legal matter. This principle is known as stare decisis, which is Latin for “to stand by things decided.” Stare decisis promotes uniformity, fairness, and some measure of predictability. Because a judge is bound by these previously-made decisions, these decisions are referred to as binding precedent. For example, in a recent case from Indiana, Walgreens allowed one of its pharmacists to have improper access to his former girlfriend’s prescription records. The jury found that Walgreens had violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The court of appeals affirmed the decision.1 Consequently, the case set a binding precedent in Indiana that an employer can be held liable for HIPAA violations by its employees. It also established a persuasive, but not binding, precedent for other state and federal courts to make the same decision.

However, decisions made by a low-level court do not become binding precedent on courts of higher authority, like a court of appeals or the Supreme Court. For example, suppose a state court in Utah rules in a civil case that a hairdresser must refund the price of a haircut to a consumer if the consumer is not happy with the haircut. If the hairdresser appeals the matter to a higher court, the appeals court has no obligation to defer to the lower court’s decision. In other words, the lower court’s decision is not binding precedent for the higher court.

Civil Law

In addition to the common law, U.S. law has historically been influenced by the civil law of European countries. In civil law jurisdictions, like the state of Louisiana, which has a legal system based on French civil law, legal principles and rules derive from enacted statutes, not case law.

Res Judicata

Another fundamental principle of law is the concept of res judicata, which is Latin for “a matter judged.” Res judicata is the doctrine that a court’s final judgment on the merits of a case is conclusive, and the disputed matter cannot be raised again in court. The res judicata doctrine allows a party to litigate a civil lawsuit for money damages only once. In other words, the final judgment of the court means the matter has been finally decided.