Introduction to Law and Legal Concepts
Types of Standards
Standards are divided into legal, religious, and social. Law is further divided into:
Characteristics of Law
- Heteronomous: Created by a person other than the addressee of the norm. (e.g., One and one makes two).
- Bilateral: Imposes duties and confers powers. (e.g., Prohibited and permitted).
- Coercive: Enforceable by means of force in cases of violation.
- Externalized: Regulates external conduct; statutory duty is already established.
Right
The set of rules created by the legislature to regulate the external behavior of individuals living in society.
Types of Right
- Objective: The set of mandatory rules, attributes, and components constituting a legal system. (e.g., Right in each country).
- Subjective: The powers conferred upon individuals by law to perform certain acts.
- Effective: The rules considered mandatory by the state in a specific place and time.
- Positive: The set of rules that are actually being observed, even if they are no longer in existence or have not yet been formally established.
Objective Law
1) Public Law
Deals with the state organization and its purposes.
a) Internal Law (Applies to the whole country)
- Constitutional Law: The organizational structure of the state and its form of government.
- Administrative Law: Public administration and public services responsible for collective needs.
- Procedural Law: The set of rules concerning the application of the rule of law (e.g., How to solve problems of individuals).
- Criminal Law: Offenses, penalties, and preventive measures (e.g., Punishment to be imposed).
- Labor Law: Labor relations between employers and employees; balances rights and obligations of both parties.
- Agricultural Law: The allocation and return of land and water to communities involved in agricultural life (e.g., Ejido land).
b) External Law (Relations with foreign countries)
2) Private Law
Deals with the relationships between individuals. Applies to the state when acting as an individual.
a) Domestic Law (Governing the Relations of Mexicans)
- Civil Law: The main facts and events of human life; the legal status of human beings in relationship with others.
- Commercial Law: Legal relations arising from commercial transactions.
b) External Law (Mexican relations with foreigners)
Subjective Right
1) Public Law
The faculty that individuals have against the authority.
- Right of Freedom: To do or not do certain acts.
- Right to Petition: To request the intervention of the authority for the restitution of damages.
- Political Rights: The right to vote or be voted for upon reaching the age of majority.
2) Private Law
Legal relationships between individuals.
a) Heritage Rights (Have an economic content)
- Real Rights: Legal power exercised directly or indirectly over a thing.
- Credit Rights: The power of one person (creditor) to require another (debtor) the delivery of something or the execution of an action.
b) Non-property Rights (Have no economic content)
Legal Assumptions
The assumptions in legislation upon whose realization the consequences of law depend. They are divided into acts and deeds.
1) Legal Fact
A natural occurrence or human action that, under the law, produces legal consequences.
a) Natural Law Fact:
A natural phenomenon related or not to humans (e.g., Birth or death).
b) Legal Fact of Man:
Human will is involved, but it is not intended to cause legal consequences, yet they arise.
2) Act
A manifestation of the will intended to create, modify, transmit, or extinguish rights or obligations (e.g., An agreement of wills, testaments, divorce, and marriage).
a) Essential Elements
- Consent: The will to do something, the internal act of wanting that is expressed and externalized. This demonstration must be:
- Express: When you sign something.
- Tacit: When you accept and understand something (demonstrate it).
- Purpose:
- Direct:
To create, transmit, modify, or extinguish rights and obligations.Indirect: The thing or act done. It must be materially possible, both physically and legally.Form: The use of certain formulas or the pronunciation of certain words with officials (e.g., Minutes before a notary public).Standard (Act): Requires that a law sanctions the effect intended by the author of the act.
3) Elements of Validity
- Lawfulness: The act must not be contrary to the laws of public order or morality.
- Absence of Defects of the Will:
- Error:
The subjective state that is at odds with reality.Dolo: The use of suggestion or artifice to mislead or keep someone in error.Violence: The use of physical force or threats.Injury: A weakening or depreciation, or damage caused by a disproportion between the benefit and burden.Capacity: The ability of a person to directly enforce their rights and fulfill obligations.Dependability: Must be declared in writing, whether public or private.