5. Branches of law in the uk (family law, contract law, labor law, Intellectual property law)

Labour Law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions and employers. Out of all different branches of law, this one deals with the terms and conditions of work, and disputes regarding employment of labour. This is a set of rulings and regulations that govern the relationship and terms between employers and employees.

Family law is a branch of law which deals with “domestic relations», it is concerned with such subjects as adoption, divorce, separation, paternity, custody, support and child care.The law sees the family as a special institution. Family law considers married and unmarried couples, and their children; custody of and responsibility for children; and protection from violence at home.

Contract law is a body of rules governing the formation, performance, and enforcement of contracts. Its major purpose is to protect the reasonable expectations of individuals, businesses, and governments, that contract will be binding on and enforceable by the parties. A contract is an agreement which is made between two or more parties and which is binding in law.

Intellectual property, often known as IP, is fast-moving and sometimes complex area of law. It covers a wide range of diverse issues and allows people to own their creativity and innovation in the same way they can own physical property. IP refers to the creations of mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. The term “intellectual property” is connected with the intangible products of the intellect.

6. What is crime?

Crime is a breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a punishment. Individual human societies may define crimes differently. Modern societies generally regard crimes as offences against the public or the state. The word ‘crime’ is generally associated with wrongdoing but not every type of wrongdoing is a crime. Telling lies is immoral wrong but if telling lies is put into practice resulting in physical harm to another, then such action becomes both criminal and immoral.

There are some acts which are considered to be crimes in one country but not in another. For example, it is a crime to have more than one wife at the same time in France, but not in Indonesia. There are quite a lot of agreements among states as to which acts are criminal. But such acts as stealing, physical attack or damaging somebody’s property will be unlawful in all countries and the way of dealing with people suspected of crime may be different. Different societies or governments often review their ideas of what should and shouldn’t be a crime. In recent years the Internet has grown explosively and there appeared the new crimes such as unauthorized access or “hacking”, copyright infringements. Cybercrimes may intentionally harm the reputation of the victim, they may threaten a nation’s security or financial health.