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SLC22-W1 / Basic Notions of Law

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6 days agoSteemit8 min read

This is my homework post for Steemit Learning Challenge Season 22 Week 1 assignment of Professor @anasuleidy’s class, Basic Notions of Law.

Part 1

1.1. My Understanding on Law

As far as I understand, law is a set of regulations that are made to regulate the behavior of society. Laws are made and promulgated by an authority. The existence of law is intended to create order, regularity and justice.

Law is divided into several types, as mentioned in class: Positive law, Objective Law, Subjective Law, Substantive Law, and Adjective Law. In addition to having its own characteristics, each type of law also has differences in the focus on its legal object. These five concepts complement each other with their own characteristics and focus:

Positive Law: the law that actually applies today.
Objective Law: general rules that are widely applied.
Subjective Law: individual rights that arise from objective law.
Substantive Law: the content of the law that regulates rights and obligations.
Adjective Law: procedures for enforcing substantive law.

My search on the internet from various sources made me reach the following conclusions in seeing the differences in these types of law.

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1.2. The Two Exmaples of Objective and Subjective Law in My Country, Indonesia

Two examples of Objective Law in Indonesia:
- Article 104 paragraph (3) of Law Number 22 Year 2009 on Road Traffic and Transportation (Traffic Rules) states, “Road users must obey traffic signs, road markings, traffic signal devices, and officer instructions.”
- Article 362 of the Criminal Code on Theft reads, “Any person who takes property belonging to another with intent to unlawfully possess it, shall, being guilty of theft, be punished by a maximum imprisonment of five years.”

Both articles apply to everyone without exception.

Two examples of Subjective Law in Indonesia:
- Article 18 of the Basic Agrarian Law (UUPA) stipulates that when land rights are revoked for public purposes (e.g. road construction), the landowner is entitled to compensation.
- Article 56 of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) states that any person arrested by the authorities has the right to a lawyer or legal defense.

These two articles of law are examples of laws that only apply to certain relevant persons, namely those whose land is subject to revocation of rights and those arrested by the authorities, respectively.

1.3. Case Study

Regarding the case example in the class article, my conclusion is this:

Objective Law. The objective law in the story is the obligation for everyone to obey the rules and signs on the road. The rule to obey traffic lights is part of traffic law that applies generally to all drivers without exception. Under traffic rules, everyone is required to stop when the traffic light turns red. This rule is impersonal and designed to maintain order and safety on the road.
Subjective Law. In this case, subjective law was present when the driver cited an emergency to pick up and take her child to the hospital. Such claims for Subjective Law rights must be supported by valid evidence or justification. The driver can show the chat history on his cell phone, for example. But even then he must still consider the safety of himself and other road users.

Part 2

2.1. Comparison between Law and Norms

It was also mentioned in class that in addition to Laws that are established by authorities and monitored for implementation (having the power to regulate people's behavior and provide sanctions for violators), there are Norms. Norms are rules or guidelines that develop in society that govern individual behavior in social interactions, but do not always have strict legal sanctions. If Laws are written and promulgated and their implementation can be enforced, then Norms are unwritten, just a set of rules that develop in a particular society or group, with softer social sanctions and not enforced by the state.

Based on my search on the internet, I have created a comparison table between Law and Norm as shown below.

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2.2. Examples of Law and Norms In My Country, Indonesia

Examples of Law in Indonesia: Law No. 1/1974 on Marriage regulates matters relating to marriage including the conditions of a valid marriage and the minimum age of marriage and the consent of both parties. This law has subsequently been amended by Law Number 16 of 2019 (Amendment to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage), where if in the first law the minimum age of marriage for men and women was 19 and 16 years respectively, then in the latest law the minimum age for both is required at 19 years. The state has the right to prohibit and not legalize marriages conducted in violation of this age requirement.
Examples of Norms in Indonesia: Norms of politeness and decency that regulate behaviors such as: 1) the need to respect each other especially to senior citizens and elders; 2) maintaining a modest dress code; 3) speaking well and avoiding hurting others with words; 3) respecting certain places e.g. sites of worship; 4) not making out in public; 5) not having sex before marriage, and so on. Violators of such norms are subject to social sanctions such as ostracization or shame.

Based on the case example given in the class article, my conclusion is as follows:

Breach of Law: Mr. Juan Perez did not pay the rent for 3 months, meaning that he violated the terms set out in the lease agreement that required timely payment. This is a violation of law because the lease agreement is legally binding and violation of it can result in legal action, such as eviction or a demand to pay the rent owed.
Norm Violation: Mr. Juan Perez keeps 4 dogs as pets in his apartment, which is prohibited by building regulations. Mr. Juan Perez has not broken any formal laws but he has broken the agreed rules of the community in which he lives, causing inconvenience to other residents and hence the complaint.

Part 3

After reading the narrative in the class article and reading from several sources on the internet, I understand that Comparative Law is an attempt to compare laws. Comparison can be done in several ways, including:

studying the law in the same case applied in different countries, for example the law on the use of dangerous drugs in Indonesia and the United States;
comparing the implementation of a particular law in two different time periods (past and present);
comparing private and public law;
and others.

I have come to the conclusion that Comparative Law has a certain level of usefulness. And it is especially important to get the best picture of the formulation and implementation of a particular law.

Here are some aspects that I think are relevant and become strong reasons that Comparative Law has a special important position in the legal world:

The importance of the existence of Comparative Law can be mentioned in cases involving more than one jurisdiction, for example in legal issues related to international business or cross-border disputes.
Comparative Law can help countries study the history of the implementation of certain laws in other countries in terms of history, social, and so on so that they can emulate successes or mitigate failures.
Comparative Law helps countries involved in international agreements understand each other's legal systems.
In a world that is witnessing rapid and massive technological developments, where sometimes national borders are often blurred, Comparative Law can be the starting point for the development of a global law that finds its relevance when we talk about matters concerning -for example- digital intellectual property rights.
Comparative Law can help decision-makers and legal practitioners study the implementation of certain laws in the past and look at the successful aspects and hindering factors and compare with the implementation of similar laws in the present, to get an ideal picture when the implementation of similar new laws will be carried out.