Know everything about Different types of Indian Laws.

 

The Constitution of India grants various rights to each and every Indian citizen. Along with the benefits of such rights comes the threat of infringement. The laws in India are very complex because as it maintains a hybrid legal system with a blend of civil, common law and customary law or religious law within the legal framework Indian inherited from the colonial era and various legislation, formerly introduced by the British people which are still in effect, in a much modified form today. There is a separate law according to all the religions based out in India. Thus, it can be stated that the sources of Indian Law can be traced back to customs, Religious thoughts and morality, legislation or delegated legislation, judicial decisions, scientific commentaries and also equity in India.

Different types of law in India are:

As discussed earlier, there are various kinds of laws in India. To simplify the understanding about the Indian laws, we have designed them into four major and important categories which are the Common law, Criminal law, Civil law, and statutory law. Let us take a look at these four types of laws.

 1.    Common Law

The Common law is a kind of Indian law which can be traced back to roots which are in England. It was introduced in India along with the intrusion of the British East India Company. Common law is also known as judicial precedent or case law. It conveys from the name only that, this source of laws are made by the decisions of the cases in Indian court. This was commonly seen in the UK, where if a case was brought up in the court of law and if the decision was given by the judge then that decision was taken as a precedent for the future cases.

While in statutory law, laws are made by keeping in mind the future cases, which may arise. The statutes governing civil and criminal justice like, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and principles of law, compiled in these codes, we have today were primarily derived, from the Common Law principles in India. 

2. Criminal Law

The Indian Criminal law is basically dealt by, the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Based on British criminal law, the Indian Penal code, defines basic crimes and punishments and is applicable to resident foreigners and citizens alike, and recognizes offences committed by Indian nationals in abroad. This kind of law is an offence which is considered to be an offence against the society at large i.e against everybody, and not against a particular individual.

The police of the state have a  key role to play in this kind of law. Murder, assault, robbery, rape are some kinds of offences that can be included in criminal law. These offences are classified in criminal law because such wrongdoing threatens all the people around as they could have also been a victim of the same. Criminal law is dealt with by the public services and not by private lawyers or investigators.

3. Civil Law

Civil laws can be simply defined as the law which deals with actions which are not criminal laws. All the civil matters are heard by the civil courts of India. The Civil Procedure Code (C.P.C) regulates the functioning of the civil courts of India. This code has various features like procedure of filing of civil cases, which includes specific rules for proceedings of a case, rights of appeals, review or reference etc. India is a country of diversity. Each religion has its own specific laws to follow, Indian civil law becomes very complex. Indian laws are redefining according to the modern world after independence, for example: the most recent domestic violence act was passed in the year 2005. Civil law can be further subdivided into Torts, Contract law, Family law and Property law.

 A)    Law of Tort

The law of tort was introduced in the Indian Constitution in the year 1980s. It includes personal injury and civil wrongdoing in the laws of India. A tort is a civil wrong, done by one person or entity to another person or entity, which results in injury or property damage and compensation given is in monetary terms to the injured or suffered party. There are three branches of torts: negligence, intentional tort, and strict liability which fall under the Indian Law of Tort.

B) Contract Law

The Indian Contract Act, 1872 deals with all kinds of legal contracts law. It includes all provisions with regards to the duration of a contract to its discharge and also comprises the penalties in case of the breach in the contract. Contract law is a law that deals with agreements between two or more parties. If one party does not follow the terms and conditions of the contract, they will be considered of committing a civil wrong known as "Contact Breach.” These contracts could be oral or written and should be legal. However, there are certain types of contracts that must be reduced to writing format.

C) Family Law/ Personal law

Family and Personal law is another branch of civil law. It works with marriage, divorce, annulment, child custody, adoption, birth, child support, and any other issues affecting family relations. In India, various religions have different laws in this regard, depending upon the individual's religion on India be it of the Hindu law, Muslim law, Christian law, Parsi law or Sikh law. The cases relating to this law are handled by the family and personal court, and its features comprises of dividing up property and finances after a divorce, establishing child custody, child support, and spousal support among other relations. Few newer areas that fall under the umbrella of family law are; same-sex marriage, artificial conception, surrogate motherhood, in fertilization, and palimony which fall under Personal and Family Law.

D) Property Law

Property laws are of two types. In which Both personal and real properties are included. According to the property law these laws can be categorized as tangible or intangible. Tangible property comprises jewelry, animals, merchandise While, intangible property comprises patents, copyrights, stocks, and bonds. According to the Property Act, the Land and anything built on it, that cannot be easily removed, as well as anything under the surface of the land, such as oil and minerals are comprised in a real property.

These can be of two kinds; trespass and conversion. Trespass to land is when a defendant enters a person's private property without the consent of the person whereas; conversion refers to a defendant, depriving the owner of their personal property, without the owner's consent, and then using the owner property as his own.

4. Statutory Law

This law is also called the legislative law. These laws can be set down by the national, state legislature or by the local municipalities. It is the foundation structure of the present legal system of India. The statute law is a formal Indian act of the Legislature in written form. Statutory law declares the will of the Legislature. The Statutory law comes into role by codification.

The statutory laws undergo the usual process of legislation. It is formed as follows: A bill is proposed in the legislature and is also being voted. Once approved, it has to be approved by the  executive authority which is either  a governor at the state level or the president at the federal level. If the executive signs the bill, it is considered as a statute. If the executive fails or refuses to sign the bill, the special veto power can be used and can be sent back to the legislature. If the parliament passes the bill following all the rules and regulations  it becomes a law. Statutes are generally recorded, or codified, in writing and then these are published. Statutory law generally becomes valid on a given date which is mentioned in the bill. Statutes can be changed later by the concerned parliament authorities if it is found unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction.