5.1 What is a “Body of Law” and which bodies of law are most relevant to the U.S. Criminal Justice System?
Terry D. Edwards
Body of Law Defined
Body of law: “A body of law is a collection of all the rules and laws people in a specific place must follow. It’s like a big book that tells everyone what they can and cannot do. For example, the California Code is a body of laws that people in California must follow”(LSData, n.d., para. 1).
There are several bodies of law applicable in the United States. See Table 5.1.
|
Body of Law |
Defined |
Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Administrative Law |
“The law governing the administration and operation of administrative agencies (including executive and independent agencies) and the relations of administrative agencies with the legislature, the executive the judiciary, and the public” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 20). |
Revocation of driving privileges decisions are made by the state Department of Licensing. |
|
Consumer Law |
“The area of law dealing with consumer transactions—that is, a person’s obtaining credit, goods, real property, or services for personal, family or household purposes” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 169). |
Complaints regarding defective new vehicles would be addressed through a warranty or state protection agency. |
|
Family Law |
“1. The body of law dealing with marriage, divorce, adoption, child custody and support, child abuse and neglect, paternity, assisted reproductive technology, and other domestic-relations issues. 2 (More broadly) all the law dealing with wills and estates, property, constitutional rights, contracts, employment and finance as they relate to families” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 333). |
See the examples in the definition. |
|
International Law |
“The legal System governing the relationships between countries; more modernly, the law of international relations, embracing not only countries but also such participants as international organizations and individuals (such as those who invoke their human rights or commit war crimes)” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 427). |
Treaties and trade agreements between countries are governed by international law. |
|
Labor/ Employment Law |
“The field of law governing the relationship between employers and employees, especially law governing the dealings of employers and the unions that represent employees” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 457). |
Efforts to unionize a business would be subject to state and federal laws. |
|
Military Law |
“1. The branch of public law governing military discipline and other rules regarding service in the armed forces. It is exercised both in peacetime and in war, is recognized by civil courts, and includes rules far broader than for the punishment of offenders. 2. More broadly, the administrative as well as the disciplinary rules for the armed forces–as for example, the rules of enlistment and billeting” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 512). |
Military members committing criminal offenses on military facilities are tried by courts-martial not civilian proceedings. |
|
Tort Law |
“1. A civil wrong, other than breach of contract, for which remedy may be obtained, usually in the form of damages; a breach of a duty that the law imposes on persons who stand in a particular relation to one another. Tortious conduct is typically one of four types: (1) a culpable or internal act resulting in harm; (2) an act involving culpable and unlawful conduct causing unintentional harm; (3) a culpable act of inadvertence involving an unreasonable risk of harm; and (4) a nonculpable act resulting in accidental harm for which, because of the hazards involved, the law imposes strict or absolute liability despite the absence of fault, 2. The branch of law dealing with such wrongs” (Thomson Reuters, 2021, p. 793). |
Individuals involved in automobile accidents would resolve liability issues in civil proceedings applying the tort law of the appropriate jurisdiction. |
Specific Bodies of Law Most Relevant to the U.S. Criminal Justice System
Not all bodies of law are directly relevant to the U.S. Criminal Justice System. The two bodies of law having the greatest “presence” in or effect upon the U.S. Criminal Justice System are constitutional law and criminal law. These two bodies of law are defined as follows:
Constitutional Law
Defined: “1. The body of law deriving from the U.S. Constitution and dealing primarily with governmental powers, civil rights, and civil liberties. 2. The body of legal rules that determine the constitution of a state or country with a flexible constitution” (Thomson/West, 2000, p. 136).
Criminal Law
Defined: “The body of law defining offenses against the community at large, regulating how suspects are investigated, charged and tried, and establishing punishments for convicted offenders. Also called Penal Law” (Thomson/West, 2000, p. 170).
Did you know
Did you know that the armed forces of the United States (and the armed forces of most other countries as well) have their own set of Substantive and Procedural criminal laws? (See §5.3.4 for the definition and further discussion of these terms.) For the armed forces of the United States, the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) establish, through federal laws enacted by Congress, the substantive criminal offenses and procedural processes involved with the investigating, charging, arresting, trying, and sentencing of active-duty members, as well as activated National Guard and Reserve members and military academy students. The Military Justice System not only applies to activities within the United States but to military personnel stationed overseas as well (Joint Service Committee on Military Justice, 2023).
Exercise: How is military criminal law similar to civilian criminal law? How is it different?
See the most recent MCM publications.
A collection of all the law relating to a specific legal topic. E.g., criminal law, constitutional law, military law.
The body of law deriving from the U.S. Constitution and dealing primarily with governmental powers, civil rights, and civil liberties. (Thomson/West, 2000, p.136)
The body of law defining offenses against the community at large, regulating how suspects are investigated, charged and tried, and establishing punishments for convicted offenders. Criminal law consists of substantive criminal law and procedural criminal law. Also called Penal Law. (Thomson/West, 2000, p.170)
