Branches of law and their classification

Since its inception, law has been one of the most complex activities of the human being. It is one of the human concepts most related to civilization and the advancement of humanity. The law was born to regulate the behavior of the human being and his relationship with others. But as human relationships become more complex, so the law and its classifications become more complex. That is why today we will talk about the branches of law and their classification in today’s modern world.

Law is born with the need to organize human society. In the emphasis of organizing human society lies the need to organize leadership and succession. From there are born the first laws that are transmitted orally. In the same way, little by little, the social relations of property and the exercise of violence are being organized. This is how the law arises, as a way of materializing the law.

Law is born with the organization of society and is consolidated with writing. But let’s see how it evolved and what were the first legal codes in history. It was from there that the various branches of law began to be born.

Birth and the branches of law

Although the law was born before writing, the truth is that there are no elements to study these processes due to the lack of documentation. We had to wait until the arrival of the writing to be able to follow the evolution of the laws.

Below we go on to mention the first legal norms and codes that were preserved, in whole or in part, and allowed us to study them:

• Urukgina Code (2300 BC): this code guided the Uruk city of sumerian civilization.
• The code of your-Nammu (2050 A.C.): was established by the king of the city of your.
• The Hammurabi Code (1750 BC): Established by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, it is one of the most complete ancient codes. It focused on one of the branches of law called criminal law, when this classification did not yet exist.
• Qin Code: The Qin dynasty laid the foundations for the law of the Chinese empire. This same code was used by later dynasties. It was one of the first codes to collect and regulate, in a single document, various aspects of human life. A document containing military, political, economic, ideological, and cultural aspects. Certainly, a fairly complete document.

But it was Roman law that laid the foundation for modern legal law. It is the most complex of the legal constructions of ancient history. With Roman law is born all the modern theory related to law and the concept of branches of law. It is from Roman law that one begins to differentiate between public law and private law.

While public law regulated the affairs of the State, private law regulated aspects of citizens’ private lives. Roman law was certainly a great source of inspiration for modern law.

Classification of types of laws

Fundamentally, law in general is classified into public and private law. With the evolution of society also appeared the so-called social law. It seeks to cover all the law that is associated with human rights.

Public law regulates the activity of the state, both political and administrative functioning. It regulates the way in which laws are modified and enforced, as well as the procedures for the election of those responsible for the state. It also establishes mechanisms for prosecuting and punishing conduct that is considered contrary to the State, the whole society.

On the other hand, private law regulates relations between private citizens. That is where trade relations and damages that are not regulated by the criminal law area fall. Family relations are also regulated (law associated with marriages, divorces, etc.)

Finally, social law seeks to regulate the interaction of human beings with their society and the protection of their rights. Here we find everything that may be related to the fundamental human rights of the human being collected in:

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (in force since 1976)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (in force since 1948)

Next, we will go on to detail each of the branches of law framed in each of these categories of law.

Branches of public law

Public law is the part of the law that regulates the interaction between private citizens and the institutions of public power, when they exercise their legitimate powers. It also regulates the ways in which citizens can gain access to power and claim their rights.

In this way we have that the branches of law that cover public law are: constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law.

Branches of private law

Private law as we mentioned is the branch that regulates the relationship between people or “private”. In this regard, family relations, property relations, obligations, as well as commercial relations are regulated.

Also labour relations which are sometimes considered to be framed in the field of social law and in other cases in the field of private law.

The branches of private law are: civil law, commercial law and labour law.

Branches of social law

Social law, rather than starting from the point of equality of men, seeks it as an aspiration. To do this, it regulates the elements to try to level human beings or seeks to balance inequalities in relationships.

Among the branches of law found in this classification are the following: Labor Law (when not considered part of private law), immigration law, agrarian law and law related to social security.

The future of law

As civilization becomes more complex, law, its classification, and branches become more complex. But this is to benefit men. Every day human beings live in a more civilized world

Gustavo Mirabal is passionate about law. That is why he studied it and focused on private law because he believes in the potential of the individual.

In this way with his career as a financial advisor and focused on the commercial branch of private law he considers it a way to help others achieve their dreams. Without a doubt a laudable goal.