LAW, MUNICIPAL. Municipal law is defined by Justice Blackstone as “a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state which commands what is right and forbids what is evil.” This definition has been criticised and perhaps rightly regarded as imperfect. The last part was considered abundant for the former; see note by Mr. Christian; and the first too general and vague and too limited in its meaning to give a fair idea of the subject. See law, civil law. Mr. Chitty defines municipal law as “a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what should and should not be done.” 1 Bl. Com. 44, note 6, adapted from Chitty. 2. City law was a law enacted by the Romans to govern a particular city or province; This term derives from the Latin municipium, which by virtue of them designated a city subject to its own laws and had its own magistrates. The aggregate of the opinions of the courts forms the common law. If there is no law that deals specifically with a dispute, the courts turn to previous cases.
The questions, arguments and stocks of previous cases guide courts in resolving similar disputes. A prior opinion or collection of opinions on a particular point of law is called a precedent, and courts generally follow precedents, if any, when deciding cases. Breaking with precedents may be justified when circumstances or attitudes have changed, but following precedents is the norm. This gives the common law some predictability and consistency. The common law often deals with civil matters, such as contractual disputes and personal injury (tort). Almost all criminal statutes are legislative, so common law principles are rarely applied in criminal matters. A set of codes of conduct having binding legal force and effect, prescribed, recognised and applied by the supervisory authority. Unanimous consent: Agreement among members of Congress to repeal a particular rule of procedure in order to expedite proceedings. In the Senate, for example, if there is no objection, unanimous approval is allowed.
But if only one senator objects, the motion of unanimous approval is defeated. Unanimous requests for short-term consent are generally granted. Those concerning the schedule of the plenum, the conditions for the consideration of a bill or other matters, or the rights of other senators are generally not offered, or a leader of the Assembly will oppose them until all senators concerned have had a chance to accept them. LAW, CIVIL LAW. The term civil law is generally applied as an eminence to the civil or municipal law of the Roman Empire, without distinction at the time when the principles of that law were established or modified. In another sense, civil law is the set of laws contained in the institutes, the codex and condensed of emperor Justinian and the new constitutions of him and some of his successors. Ersk. Prof. L. Scotl. B. 1, vol.
l, p. 9; 6 R. L. 494. 2. The institutes contain the elements or first principles of Roman law in four books. The Digests or Pandects are in fifty books and contain the opinions and writings of eminent jurists, digested according to a systematic method whose works included more than two thousand volumes, The New Code or the Collection of Imperial Constitutions in twelve books; which was a substitute for the codex of Theodosius. Novels or new constitutions, later than the other books, and were an addition to the code, which contained new decrees of successive emperors when new questions arose. These form the corpus of Roman law or corpus juris civilis, as it was published in the time of Justinian. 3.
Although these laws were successful in the West, they were generally not adopted, even during the emperor`s lifetime; and after the Lombard invasion, they were so completely neglected that the codex and pandectes remained until the twelfth century, 1130 AD. Chr., were lost; when it is said that the pandects were accidentally discovered in Amalphi and the code in Ravenna. But as if luck were an atonement for their former austerity, they have since been the study of the wisest men and are revered as law by the most polite nations.