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Residency

Residency

::See also: residency (medicine) or medical residency Residency is the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place. It is important in terms of politics, as candidates must maintain residency within the district in which they intend to run. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, and sometimes by the political office for which a person runs. The cutoff may be as little as a month or as much as several years. Once elected, the office-holder must remain resident in the appropriate district, or usually be forced to resign. Voting by the general public (the electorate) is also defined by residency, with most people being prohibited from doing so except at the precinct for their primary residence. There are sometimes exceptions for this, such as so that expatriates can vote in the country where they maintain their original citizenship. It is also important in terms of other law, such as requirements that vehicles and other things which must be licensed in the place which the owner resides. There is a grace period normally around 30 days for persons moving into the area. In addition to such responsibilities, certain benefits also come from residency. Discounts on tuition usually are allowed for students who are resident within the state or province (or country) for a year or more, if it is a public university or the like. Other forms of public assistance such as welfare may also have a waiting period, to prevent abuse. Residency in any given U.S. state is recognized by the U.S. Constitution as "citizenship" of that state, a somewhat unusual arrangement known as "dual citizenship" (though not in the original multi-national context). In Malta, residency has been interpreted to include not only the physical presence in the country, but includes and allows periodic absence from the country. A person who is temporarily absent from Malta because of work, study, illness or mission, must not and cannot be considered as not resident in Malta. A person who goes abroad to study or for work purposes is still 'directly and continuously concerned' with the political activity of the country of residence and therefore has the right to vote.

Residency (medicine)

Residency is a stage of postgraduate medical training in North America which leads to eligibility for board certification in a primary care or referral specialty. Residency follows medical school, and may follow the internship year or include the internship year as the first year of residency. Residency is comprised almost entirely of the care of hospitalized or clinic patients, mostly with direct supervision by more senior physicians.

Terminology

A resident physician is more commonly referred to as a resident, or alternatively as a house officer. The residents collectively are the house staff of a hospital. The duration of most primary care residencies is three years, with the year beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30. A first year resident is often termed an intern. Third year residents are also called senior residents in a 3 year residency. The supervising physicians past residency are referred to as attending physicians or attendings.

History

Residencies as an opportunity for advanced training in a medical or surgical specialty evolved in the late 19th century from brief and less formal programs for extra training in a special area of interest. They became formalized and institutionalized for the principal specialties in the early twentieth century, but even in mid-century, residency was not seen as necessary for general practice and only a minority of primary care physicians participated. By the end of the twentieth century in North America, very few new doctors go directly from medical school into independent, unsupervised medical practice, and more state and provincial governments are requiring one or more years of postgraduate training for medical licensure. Residencies are traditionally hospital-based and in the middle of the twentieth century, residents would often live in hospital-supplied housing. Call (night duty in the hospital) was sometimes as frequent as every second or third night for up to three years. Pay was minimal beyond room, board, and laundry services. It was assumed that most young men training as physicians had few obligations outside of medical training at that stage of their careers. The first year of practical patient-care oriented training after medical school has long been termed internship. Even as late as the middle of the twentieth century, most physicians went into primary care practice after a year of internship. Residencies were separate from intership, often served at different hospitals, and only a minority of physicians served them. Many changes have occurred in postgraduate medical training in the last fifty years. #Nearly all doctors now serve a residency after graduation from medical school. In many states, full licensure for unrestricted practice is not available until graduation from a residency program. Residency is now considered desirable preparation even for primary care (what used to be called "general practice"). #The internship has been subsumed into residency for most physicians. It is now uncommon for a physician to take a year of internship before entering a residency, and the first year of residency training is now considered equivalent to an internship for most legal purposes. Physicians who graduate from osteopathic medical schools (getting the D.O. degree instead of M.D.) are still encouraged and often required to take an internship before applying for residency. #The number of separate residencies has proliferated and there are now dozens. For many years the principal traditional residencies included internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, urology, physiatry, and psychiatry. Family practice residencies have been available for many years. #Pay has increased and residents now make a wage which can support a family. Few residents live in hospital-supplied housing anymore, but unlike most attending physicians (that is, those who are not residents), they do not take call from home; they are usually expected to remain in the hospital for the entire shift. #Call hours have been greatly restricted. In July of 2003, strict rules went into effect for all residency programs in the US, known to residents as the "work hours rules". Among other things, these rules limited a resident to no more than 80 hours of work in a week, no more than 30 hours at a stretch (with no new patients in the last six), and call no more often than every third night. In-house call for most residents these days is typically one night in four; surgery and obstetrics residents are more likely to have one in three call. A few decades ago, in-house call every third night or every other night was the standard. #For many specialties an increasing proportion of the training time is spent in outpatient clinics rather than on inpatient care. Since in-house call is usually greatly reduced or absent on these outpatient rotations, this also contributes to the overall decrease in the total number of on-call hours.

Medical residency

A medical residency is a post-graduate educational and clinical training program for physicians in North America. It is filled by a resident physician who has received a postgraduate medical degree (M.D. or D.O.) and is enrolled in a clinical training program, generally affiliated with a hospital. Where as medical school gives doctors a broad range of medical knowledge, basic clinical skills, and limited experience practicing the art of medicine, medical residency gives in-depth training within a specific branch of medicine, such as Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pathology, Pediatric Medicine, Psychiatry, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, General Surgery. The field of Surgery has several specialties such as neurosurgery, orthopaedics, otolaryngology,ophthalmology, urology. Medical residencies vary in duration from 3 years for primary care to upwards of 7 years for a more specialized field. The first year of residency has been called internship. Often the first hospital year is combined with a specialized residency program, but sometimes doctors do a year or two in a general field of study and then complete a separate specialty residency program. In some of the United States, doctors can obtain a general medical license after completing one year of internship. Many residents have medical licenses and do legally practice medicine ("moonlight") without supervision in settings such as urgent care centers and rural hospitals. However, in all residency-related medical settings, residents are supervised by attending physicians who must approve their decision-making. Doctors must complete a residency in their speciality in order to become board-certified. Board certification is not a requirement for the practice of medicine but it ensures the public that a doctor has completed training in a speciality and has passed an examination. In some specialities, recertification is required after a period of several years, to ensure that doctors stay up to date with new medical knowledge in their field. Access to graduate medical training programs such as residencies is competitive. Applicants apply to programs, are selected for interview, and submit a rank-order list to a centralized matching service (currently the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Residency programs submit a list of applicants in rank order as well. The two parties' lists are combined by an NRMP computer which (theoretically) creates optimal matches of residents to programs. On a certain day in March each year ("match day") these results are announced and are celebrated in hospitals and medical schools nationwide. In 2000-2004 the matching process was attacked as anti-competitive by class-action lawyers. Congress reacted by requiring that antitrust cases cannot make this argument. Medical residencies traditionally required brutally long hours of their trainees - classically, 36-hour shifts separated by 12 hours' rest, and 100+ hour weeks. The American public (though not some physicians trained under the same circumstances) is increasingly recognizing that such long hours are counter-productive; sleep deprivation increases rates of medical errors and motor vehicle accidents. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has recently limited the number of work-hours to 80 hours weekly, overnight call frequency to no more than one overnight every third day, 30 hour maximum straight shift, and 10 hours off between shifts.

Politics

Politics is the process by which decisions are made for a given society. The method of making decisions for groups varies, but the act of decision making is the key component that characterises politics. Although it is generally applied to governments, politics is also observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. Political science is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power, i.e. the ability to impose one's will on another. One theorist, Harold Lasswell, has defined politics as "who gets what, when, and how." Another definition of 'politics' is: "how power is distributed within a group or system".

A natural state

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes published his most famous work, Leviathan, in which he proposed a model of early human development to justify the creation of human associations. Hobbes described an ideal state of nature wherein every person had equal right to every resource in nature and was free to use any means to acquire those resources. He noted that such an arrangement created a “war of all against all” (bellum omnium contra omnes). Further, he noted that men would enter into a social contract and would give up absolute rights for certain protections. While it appears that social cooperation and dominance hierarchies predate human societies, Hobbes’s model illustrates a rationale for the creation of societies (polities).

Early history

V.G. Childe describes the transformation of human society that took place around 6000 BCE as an urban revolution. Among the features of this new type of civilization were the institutionalization of social stratification, non-agricultural specialised crafts (including priests and lawyers), taxation, and writing. All of which require clusters of densely populated settlements - city-states. The word "Politics" is derived from the Greek word for city-state, "Polis". Corporate, religious, academic and every other polity, especially those constrained by limited resources, contain dominance hierarchy and therefore politics. Politics is most often studied in relation to the administration of governments. The oldest form of government was tribal organization. Rule by elders was supplanted by monarchy, and a system of Feudalism as an arrangement where a single family dominated the political affairs of a community. Monarchies have existed in one form or another for the past 5000 years of human history.

Definitions

- Power is the ability to impose one's will on another. It implies a capacity for force, i.e violence.
- Authority is the power to enforce laws, to exact obedience, to command, to determine, or to judge.
- Legitimacy is an attribute of government gained through the acquisition and application of power in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles.
- A government is the body that has the authority to make and enforce rules or laws.

Political power

Samuel Gompers’ often paraphrased maxim,"Reward your friends and punish your enemies," hints at two of the five types of power recognized by social psychologists: incentive power (the power to reward) and coercive power (the power to punish). Arguably the other three grow out of these two. Legitimate power, the power of the policeman or the referee, is the power given to an individual by a recognized authority to enforce standards of behavior. Legitimate power is similar to coercive power in that unacceptable behavior is punished by fine or penalty. Referent power is bestowed upon individuals by virtue of accomplishment or attitude. Fulfillment of the desire to feel similar to a celebrity or a hero is the reward for obedience. Expert power springs from education or experience. Following the lead of an experienced coach is often rewarded with success. Expert power is conditional to the circumstances. A brain surgeon is no help when your pipes are leaking.

Authority and legitimacy

Max Weber identified three sources of legitimacy for authority known as (tripartite classification of authority). He proposed three reasons why people followed the orders of those who gave them:

Traditional

Traditional authorities receive loyalty because they continue and support the preservation of existing values, the status quo. Traditional authority has the longest history. Patriarchal (and more rarely Matriarchal) societies gave rise to hereditary monarchies where authority was given to descendants of previous leaders. Followers submit to this authority because "we've always done it that way." Examples of traditional authoritarians include kings and queens.

Charismatic

Charismatic authority grows out of the personal charm or the strength of an individual personality (see cult of personality for the most extreme version). Charismatic regimes are often short lived, seldom outliving the charismatic figure that leads them. Examples include Hitler, Napoleon, and Mao.

Legal-rational

Legal-Rational authorities receive their ability to compel behavior by virtue of the office that they hold. It is the authority that demands obedience to the office rather than the office holder. Modern democracies are examples of legal-rational regimes.

References

GOMPERS,SAMUEL; “Men of Labor! Be Up and Doing,” editorial, American Federationist, May 1906, p. 319

Candidate

A candidate is a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
- to be elected to an office - In this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
- to receive an honor or award
- to receive membership in a group See also:
- Soviet-related intermediate status, Kandidat

Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak", is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. As a topic, it draws its substance from Public International Law, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law and the powers of the executive and legislative branches of government to allocate resources to best serve the needs of each society.

Jurisdiction in the international dimension

Public international law provides a framework within which nations and states (in the political sense of the words) can come into being and relate to each other.

Jurisdiction as a political issue

A number of supranational organizations and bodies have been created which provide mechanisms whereby disputes between states may be avoided, discussed or resolved, e.g. through arbitration or mediation. When a country is recognised as de jure, this is an acknowledgement by the other de jure nations that the new country has sovereignty and the right to exist. This is a political system that moves slowly, gathering consensus wherever possible and the extent to which any state will co-operate or participate is always at the discretion of each sovereign state. By definition, if any state does agree to participate in any of the activities of the supranational bodies and to accept decisions that might be made in the ordinary course of their business, that state is giving up a little of its sovereign authority and thereby allocating a little power to these bodies. In so far as these bodies or nominated individuals may resolve disputes in a judicial or quasi-judicial fashion, or promote treaty obligations in the nature of laws, the power ceded to these bodies cumulatively represents each body's own jurisdiction. But no matter how powerful each body may appear to become, the extent to which any of the judgments may be enforced, or proposed treaties and conventions may become or remain effective within the territorial boundaries of each nation is a political matter under the sovereign control of the relevant representative government(s) which, in a democratic context, will have electorates to satisfy.

International versus municipal jurisdiction

The fact that international organizations, courts and tribunals have been created raises the difficult question of how to co-ordinate their activities with those of national courts. If the two sets of bodies do not have concurrent jurisdiction but, as in the case of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the relationship is expressly based on the principle of complementarity, i.e. the international court is subsidiary or complementary to national courts, the difficulty is avoided. But if the jurisdiction claimed is concurrent, or as in the case of International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the international tribunal is to prevail over national courts, the problems are more difficult to resolve politically. The concept of universal jurisdiction is fundamental to the operation of global organizations such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which jointly assert the benefit of maintaining legal entities with jurisdiction over a wide range of matters of significance to states (the ICJ should not be confused with the ICC and this version of "universal jurisdiction" is not the same as that enacted in the War Crimes Law (Belgium) which is an assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction that will fail to gain implementation in any other state under the standard provisions of public policy). Under Article 34 Statute of the ICJ http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ibasicdocuments/Basetext/istatute.htm only states may be parties in cases before the Court and, under Article 36, the jurisdiction comprises all cases which the parties refer to it and all matters specially provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force. But, to invoke the jurisdiction in any given case, all the parties have to accept the prospective judgment as binding. This reduces the risk of wasting the Court's time. Despite the safeguards built into the constitutions of most of these organizations, courts and tribunals, the concept of universal jurisdiction is controversial among those states which prefer unilateral to multilateral solutions through the use of executive or military authority, sometimes described as realpolitik-based diplomacy. Within other international contexts, there are intergovernmental organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) that have socially and economically significant dispute resolution functions but, again, even though their jurisdiction may be invoked to hear the cases, the power to enforce their decisions is at the will of the states affected, save that the WTO is permitted to allow retaliatory action by successful states against those states found to be in breach of international trade law. At a regional level, groups of states can create political and legal bodies with sometimes complicated patchworks of overlapping provisions detailing the jurisdictional relationships between the member states and providing for some degree of harmonization between their national legislative and judicial functions, e.g. the European Union and African Union both have the potential to become federated states although the political barriers to such unification in the face of entrenched nationalism will be very difficult to overcome. Each such group may form transnational institutions with declared legislative or judicial powers. For example, in Europe, the European Court of Justice has been given jurisdiction as the ultimate appellate court to the Member States on issues of European law. This jurisdiction is entrenched and its authority could only be denied by a Member State if that Member State asserts its sovereignty and withdraws from the Union.

The jurisdictional relationship between international and municipal laws

The standard treaties and conventions leave the issue of implementation to each state, i.e. there is no general rule in international law that treaties have direct effect in municipal law, but some states, by virtue of their membership of supranational bodies, allow the direct incorporation of rights or enact legislation to honor their international commitments. Hence, citizens in those states can invoke the jurisdiction of local courts to enforce rights granted under international law wherever there is incorporation. If there is no direct effect or legislation, there are two theories to justify the courts incorporating international into municipal law:
- Monism :This theory characterizes international and municipal law as a single legal system with municipal law subordinate to international law. Hence, in the Netherlands, all treaties and the orders of international organizations are effective without any action being required to convert international into municipal law. This has an interesting consequence because treaties that limit or extend the powers of the Dutch government are automatically considered a part of their constitutional law, e.g. the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In states adopting this theory, the local courts automatically accept jurisdiction to adjudicate on lawsuits relying on international law principles.
- Dualism :This theory regards international and municipal law as separate systems so that the municipal courts can only apply international law either when it has been incorporated into municipal law or when the courts incorporate international law on their own motion. In the United Kingdom, for example, a treaty is not effective until it has been incorporated at which time it becomes enforceable in the courts by any private citizen, where appropriate, even against the UK Government. Otherwise the courts have a discretion to apply international law where it does not conflict with statute or the common law. The constitutional principle of parliamentary supremacy permits the legislature to enact any law inconsistent with any international treaty obligations even though the government is a signatory to those treaties. :In the United States, the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution makes all treaties that have been ratified under the authority of the United States and customary international law, …the "Supreme Law of the Land" (U.S. Const.art. VI Cl. 2) and, sas such, the law of the land is binding on the federal government as well as on state and local governments. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the treaty power authorizes Congress to legislate under the Necessary and Proper Clause in areas beyond those specifically conferred on Congress (Missouri v. Holland 252 U.S. 416 (1920)).

The jurisdiction of courts between and within states

This now concerns states in the technical legal sense of the word and the relationships both between courts in different states, and between courts within the same state.

Supranational

At a supranational level, countries have adopted a range of treaty and convention obligations to relate the right of individual litigants to invoke the jurisdiction of state courts and to enforce the judgments obtained. For example, the Member States of the EEC signed the Brussels Convention in 1968 and, subject to amendments as new states joined, it represents the default law for all twenty-five Member States of what is now termed the European Union on the relationships between the courts in the different countries. In addition, the Lugano Convention (1988) binds the European Union and the European Free Trade Area. With effect from 1 March 2002, all the Member States of the EU except Denmark accepted Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001, which makes major changes to the Brussels Convention and is directly effective in the Member States. In some legal areas, at least, the reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgments is now more straightforward. At a state level, the traditional rules still determine jurisdiction over persons who are not domiciled or habitually resident in the European Union or the Lugano area. There is a real and growing problem of forum shopping and in the reluctance of some states to adopt more positive Conflict of Laws rules. Although the Hague Conference and other international bodies have made consistently useful recommendations on jurisdictional matters, litigants with the encouragement of lawyers now more commonly operating on a contingent fee continue to exploit the system to their advantage, always seeking remedies in courts where the outcome is more likely to be favorable.

Federal

Many nations are subdivided into states and provinces (i.e. a subnational "state") in a federation (as can be found in Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and the United States) and these subunits will exercise jurisdiction through the court systems as defined by the executives and legislatures operating within the whole. Sometimes when the areas of separate governmental entities overlap one another—for example, between a state and the federation to which it belongs—their jurisdiction is shared or concurrent jurisdiction. Otherwise one governmental entity will have exclusive jurisdiction over the shared area. When jurisdiction is concurrent, one governmental entity may have supreme jurisdiction over the other entity if their laws conflict. If the executive or legislative powers within the jurisdiction are not restricted or restricted only by a number of limited restrictions, these government branches have plenary power such as a national policing power. Otherwise an enabling act grants only limited or enumerated powers. The problem of forum shopping also applies as between federal and state courts, and it is for each system to adjust jurisdictional matters to achieve the fairest possible results.

State level

Within each state, it is for the government to determine the allocation of jurisdiction: #There must be physical distribution of courts and tribunals throughout the territory which should be divided into convenient functional divisions to provide an effective service to the local communities. Hence, it may be convenient for there to be an extensive network of smaller local courts having a criminal law jurisdiction so that neighborhoods can have a disposition system administered by those familiar with their locality and its needs (see criminal jurisdiction). Whereas more specialized civil and commercial courts need only be located in larger towns and major cities where there is a demand for the particular specialisms consistent with the economic costs of providing the facilities and personnel to staff them. Each court system lays down detailed rules for determining who may invoke the jurisdiction in each of the various divisions. In addition to the possibility that the plaintiff has a local domicile, nationality or habitual residence, these conditions may vary from minimum residence requirements for those more transiently present, that business has been conducted within the territory or that there is some other real connection between the plaintiff and/or the cause of action and the state in which the lawsuit has been filed. #The government may decide that individuals within the executive should have the power to make judicial or quasi-judicial decisions, and the extent to which the exercise of this jurisdiction should be subject to review by the courts. This has constitutional implications in that many states operate on the basis of the separation of powers which requires that each branch of government operates as a check on the potential abuse of power by the others. Within the formalized judicial structure, jurisdiction may also be granted to individuals for the provision of specialized functions (e.g. the role of special referees or those individuals of prestige commissioned to conduct inquiries into specific situations with the power to compel testimony). In parallel to the courts system, other tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies may also have a form of jurisdiction, e.g. for arbitration, mediation, etc within a broad framework of alternative dispute resolution. Under normal circumstances, the supervisory function of the courts will be built into the constitutive process for each tribunal or body, or the courts will allow their jurisdiction to be invoked, e.g. by way of remedies such as certiorari, to ensure that justice is seen to be done. However, some well-established bodies such as the Beth Din represent more interesting challenges. Such religious or culturally-based courts often have significant power within the relevant communities yet, in an increasingly multi-ethnic, multi-cultural world, the secular or culturally-different majority in each state cannot be seen to be too quick to interfere and impose its standards without appearing to engage in unequal treatment and discrimination (see the secular response to the get as an example).

Jurisdiction in the United States

The primary distinctions between areas of jurisdiction are codified at a national level. As a common law system, jurisdiction is conceptually divided between jurisdiction over the subject matter of a case and jurisdiction over the person of the litigants. (See personal jurisdiction.) Sometimes a court may exercise jurisdiction over property located within the perimeter of its powers without regard to personal jurisdiction over the litigants; this is called jurisdiction in rem. A court whose subject-matter jurisdiction is limited to certain types of controversies (for example, suits in admiralty or suits where the monetary amount sought is less than a specified sum) is sometimes referred to as a court of special jurisdiction or court of limited jurisdiction. A court whose subject-matter is not limited to certain types of controversy is referred to as a court of general jurisdiction. In the U.S. States, each state has courts of general jurisdiction; most states also have some courts of limited jurisdiction. Federal courts (those operated by the federal government are courts of limited jurisdiction. Federal jurisdiction is divided into federal question jurisdiction and diversity jurisdiction. The United States District Courts may hear only cases arising under federal law and treaties, cases involving ambassadors, admiralty cases, controversies between states or between a state and citizens of another state, lawsuits involving citizens of different states, and against foreign states and citizens. Certain courts, particularly the United States Supreme Court and most state supreme courts, have discretionary jurisdiction, meaning that they can choose which cases to hear from among all the cases presented on appeal. Such courts generally only choose to hear cases that would settle important and controversial points of law. Though these courts have discretion to deny cases they otherwise could adjudicate, no court has the discretion to hear a case that falls outside of its subject-matter jurisdiction.

External links

- [http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/jurisdiction.html LII Law about... Jurisdiction]
- [http://www.cdi.org/news/law/gtmo-sct-decision.cfm Supreme Court Decision] on Guantanamo Bay jurisdiction Category:International law Category:Law

Political office

: politician

Month

:In Egyptian mythology, Month is an alternate spelling for Menthu. A month is that from one date to the next months date with the same number. so Emma's wrong. The month is a unit of time, used with calendars, which is approximately as long as some natural period related to the motion of the Moon (moon gives month in the same way that wide gives width and broad gives breadth). The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases; such months are synodic months and last ~29.53 days. From excavated tally sticks, researchers have deduced that people counted days in relation to the Moon's phases as early as the Paleolithic age. Synodic months are still the basis of many calendars.

Astronomical background

The motion of the Moon in its orbit is very complicated and its period is not constant. Moreover, many cultures (most notably those using the ancient Hebrew (Jewish) calendar and the Islamic calendar) start a month with the first appearance of the thin crescent of the new moon after sunset over the western horizon. The date and time of this actual observation depends on the exact geographical longitude as well as latitude, atmospheric conditions, the visual acuity of the observers, etc. Therefore the beginning and lengths of months in these calendars can not be accurately predicted. Most Jews currently follow a precalculated calendar, but the Karaites rely on actual moon observations.

Sidereal month

The actual period of the Moon's orbit as measured in a fixed frame of reference is known as a sidereal month, because it is the time it takes the Moon to return to the same position on the celestial sphere among the fixed stars (Latin: sidus): 27.321 661 days (27d 7h 43min 11.5sec) or about 27 ⅓ days. This type of "month" has appeared among cultures in the Middle East, India, and China in the following way: they divided the sky in 27 or 28 lunar mansions, characterized by asterisms (apparent groups of stars), one for each day that the Moon follows its track among the stars.

Tropical month

It is customary to specify positions of celestial bodies with respect to the vernal equinox. Because of precession, this point moves back slowly along the ecliptic. Therefore it takes the Moon less time to return to an ecliptic longitude of zero than to the same point amidst the fixed stars: 27.321 582 days (27d 7h 43min 4.7sec). This slightly shorter period is known as tropical month; cf. the analogous tropical year of the Sun.

Anomalistic month

Like all orbits, the Moon's orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle. However, the orientation (as well as the shape) of this orbit is not fixed. In particular, the position of the extreme points (the line of the apsides: perigee and apogee), makes a full circle in about nine years. It takes the Moon longer to return to the same apsis because it moved ahead during one revolution. This longer period is called the anomalistic month, and has an average length of 27.554 551 days (27d 13h 18min 33.2sec), or about 27 ¹/₂ days. The apparent diameter of the Moon varies with this period, and therefore this type of month has some relevance for the prediction of eclipses (see saros), whose extent, duration, and appearance (whether total or annular) depend on the exact apparent diameter of the Moon. The apparent diameter of the full moon varies with the full moon cycle which is the beat period of the synodic and anomalistic month, and also the period after which the apsides point to the Sun again.

Draconic month

The orbit of the Moon lies in a plane that is tilted with respect to the plane of the ecliptic: it has an inclination of about five degrees. The line of intersection of these planes defines two points on the celestial sphere: the ascending and descending nodes. The plane of the Moon's orbit precesses over a full circle in about 18.6 years, so the nodes move backwards over the ecliptic with the same period. Hence the time it takes the Moon to return to the same node is again shorter than a sidereal month: this is called the draconic, nodical, or draconitic month. It lasts 27.212 220 days (27d 5h 5min 35.8sec), or about 27 ⅕ days. It is important for predicting eclipses: these take place when the Sun, Earth and Moon are on a line. Now (as seen from the Earth) the Sun moves along the ecliptic, while the Moon moves along its own orbit that is inclined on the ecliptic. The three bodies are only on a line when the Moon is on the ecliptic, i. e. when it is at one of the nodes. The "draconic/draconitic" month refers to the mythological dragon that lives in the nodes and regularly eats the Sun or Moon during an eclipse.

Synodic month

The cause of moon phases is that from the Earth we see the part of the Moon that is illuminated by the Sun from different angles as the Moon traverses its orbit. So the appearance depends on the position of the Moon with respect to the Sun (as seen from the Earth). Because the Earth orbits the Sun, it takes the Moon extra time (after completing a sidereal month, i. e. a full circle) to catch up and return to the same position with respect to the Sun. This longer period is called the synodic month (from Greek syn hodô or σὺν ὁδῴ, with the way, i. e. the Moon travelling with the Sun). Because of the perturbations of the orbits of the Earth and Moon, the actual time between lunations may range from about 29.27 to about 29.83 days. The long-term average duration is 29.530 588 days (29d 12h 44min 2.8sec), or about 29 ½ days.

Month lengths

Here is a list of the average length of the various astronomical lunar months . These are not constant, so a first-order (linear) approximation of the secular change is provided: Valid for the epoch J2000.0 (1 Jan. 2000 12:00 TT): Note: time expressed in Ephemeris Time (more precisely Terrestrial Time) with days of 86400 SI seconds. y is years since the epoch (2000), expressed in Julian years of 365.25 days. Note that for calendrical calculations, one would probably use days measured in the time scale of Universal Time, which follows the somewhat unpredictable rotation of the Earth, and progressively accumulates a difference with ephemeris time called ΔT.

Calendrical consequences

:For more details on this topic, see lunar calendar and lunisolar calendar. At the simplest level, all lunar calendars are based on the approximation that 2 lunations last 59 days: 30 day full month followed by a 29 day hollow month — but this is only marginally accurate and quickly needs correction by using larger cycles, or the equivalent of leap days. Second, the synodic month does not fit easily into the year, which makes constructing accurate, rule-based lunisolar calendars difficult. The most common solution to this problem is the Metonic cycle, which takes advantage of the fact that 235 lunations are approximately 19 tropical years (which add up to not quite 6940 days). However, a Metonic calendar (such as the Hebrew calendar) will drift against the seasons by about 1 day every 200 years. The problems of creating reliable lunar calendars may explain why solar calendars, having months which no longer relate to the phase of the moon, and being based only on the more predictable motion of the sun against the sky, have generally replaced lunar calendars for civil use in most societies.

Months in various calendars

Julian and Gregorian calendars

The Gregorian calendar, like the Julian calendar before it, has twelve months: #January, 31 days #February, 28 days, 29 in leap years, or 30 on certain occasions in related calenders #March, 31 days #April, 30 days #May, 31 days #June, 30 days #July, 31 days #August, 31 days #September, 30 days #October, 31 days #November, 30 days #December, 31 days For the rationale behind the unusual day lengths, see February and August. One of Wikipedia's sister projects, Wiktionary, provides translations of each of the Gregorian/Julian calendar months into a dozen or more languages. Month-by-month links are provided here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. Months existing in the Roman calendar in the past include:
- Mercedonius, an occasional month after February to realign the calendar.
- Quintilis, renamed to July in honor of Julius Caesar.
- Sextilis, renamed to August in honor of Caesar Augustus. The famous mnemonic Thirty days hath September is the most common way of teaching the lengths of the months.

Islamic calendar

There are also twelve months in the Islamic calendar. They are named as follows: # Muharram ul Haram (or shortened to Muharram) محرّم # Safar صفر # Rabi`-ul-Awwal (Rabi' I) ربيع الأول # Rabi`-ul-Akhir (or Rabi` al-THaany) (Rabi' II) ربيع الآخر أو ربيع الثاني # Jumaada-ul-Awwal (Jumaada I) جمادى الأول # Jumaada-ul-Akhir (or Jumaada al-THaany) (Jumaada II) جمادى الآخر أو جمادى الثاني # Rajab رجب # Sha'aban شعبان # Ramadhan رمضان # Shawwal شوّال # Dhul Qadah ذو القعدة (or Thw al-Qi`dah) # Dhul Hijja ذو الحجة (or Thw al-Hijjah) For details, please see Islamic calendar.

Hebrew Calendar

The Hebrew calendar has 12 or 13 months. # Nisan, 30 days # Iyyar, 29 days # Sivan, 30 days # Tammuz, 29 days # Av, 30 days # Elul, 29 days # Tishri, 30 days # Heshvan, 29/30 days # Kislev, 29/30 days # Tevet, 29 days # Shevat, 30 days # Adar 1, 30 days, intercalary month # Adar 2, 29 days Adar 1 is only added in leap years. In ordinary years, Adar 2 is simply called Adar.

Hindu Calendar

The Hindu Calendar has various systems of naming the months. The months in the lunar calendar are: # Chaitra # Vaishaakha # Jyaishtha # Aashaadha # Shraavana # Bhaadrapada # Aashvayuja # Kaartika # Maargashiirsha # Pausha # Maagha # Phaalguna These are also the names used in the Indian national calendar for the newly redefined months. The names in the solar calendar are just the names of the zodiac sign in which the sun travels. They are # Mesha # Vrishabha # Mithuna # Kataka # Simha # Kanyaa # Tulaa # Vrishcika # Dhanus # Makara # Kumbha # Miina

Iranian/Persian calendar

The Iranian / Persian calendar, currently used in Iran and Afghanistan, also has 12 months. The Persian names are included in the parentheses. # Farvardin (فروردین)‎, 31 days # Ordibehesht (اردیبهشت)‎, 31 days # Khordad (خرداد)‎, 31 days # Tir (تیر)‎, 31 days # Mordad (مرداد)‎, 31 days # Shahrivar (شهریور)‎, 31 days # Mehr (مهر)‎, 30 days # Aban (آبان)‎, 30 days # Azar (آذر)‎, 30 days # Dey (دی)‎, 30 days # Bahman (بهمن)‎, 30 days # Esfand (اسفند)‎, 29 days, 30 in leap years

Icelandic/Old Norse calendar

The old icelandic calendar is not in official use anymore, but some holidays and annual feasts are still calculated according to it in Iceland. It has 12 months, broken down into two groups of six.
- Skammdegi (e. Short days) # Gormánuður (14. October - 13. November, e. slaughter month or Gór's month) # Ýlir (14. November - 13. December, e. Yule month) # Mörsugur (14. December - 12. January, e. fat sucking month) # Þorri (13. January - 11. February, e. frozen snow month) # Góa (12. February - 13. march, e. Góa's month, see Nór) # Einmánuður (14. march - 13. April, e. lone or single month)
- Náttleysi (e. Nightless days) # Harpa (14. April - 13. may, Harpa is a female name, probably a forgotten goddess) # Skerpla (14. may - 12. June, another forgotten goddess) # Sólmánuður (13. June - 12. July, e. sun month) # Heyannir (13. July - 14. August, e. hay business month) # Tvímánuður (15. August - 14. September, e. two or second month) # Haustmánuður (15. September - 13. October, e. autumn month)

Notes

# Derived from ELP2000-85: M. Chapront-Touzé, J. Chapront (1991): Lunar tables and programs from 4000 B. C. to A. D. 8000. Willmann-Bell, Richmond VA; ISBN 0-943396-33-6

Elect

:Joseon

Resign

A resignation occurs when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down. Leaving of a job upon the expiration of a term is not a resignation. Abdication is the equivalent of resignation of a reigning monarch or pope, or other holder of a non-political, hereditary or similar position. A resignation is a personal decision to exit a position, though outside pressure exists in many cases. For example, Richard Nixon resigned from the office of President of the United States in 1974 following the Watergate scandal, when he was almost certain to have been impeached by Congress. Resignation can be used politically, as in the Philippines July 2005 when ten cabinet officials resigned in order to put pressure on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to do the same over allegations of electoral fraud. Although government officials may tender their resignations, they are not always accepted. Alternatively, resignation as a procedure may be used as a political weapon. In 1995, the British Prime Minister, John Major, resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party in order to contest a leadership election with the aim of silencing his critics within the party and reassert his authority. Having resigned, he stood again and was re-elected. For many public figures, primarily departing politicians, resignation is an opportunity to deliver a valedictory speech in which they can elucidate the circumstances of their exit from office and in many cases deliver a powerful speech which often commands much attention. This can be used to great political effect, particularly as, subsequent to resigning, government ministers are no longer bound by collective responsibility and can speak with greater freedom about current issues.

List of notable resignations

- 1795 - John Jay, Chief Justice of the United States
- 1800 - Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States
- 1817 - Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York
- 1829 - Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York
- 1832 - John C. Calhoun, Vice President of the United States
- 1848 - Francis R. Shunk, Governor of Pennsylvania
- 1885 - Grover Cleveland, Governor of New York
- 1898 - John W. Griggs, Governor of New Jersey
- 1910 - Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of New York
- 1913 - Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey
- 1942 - Herbert H. Lehman, Governor of New York
- 1947 - Edward Martin, Governor of Pennsylvania
- 1947 - Walter E. Edge, Governor of New Jersey
- 1963 - John Profumo, British Secretary of State for War, after misleading the British House of Commons in relation to his controversial personal life
- 1969 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France, following defeat in a constitutional referendum
- 1973 - Spiro T. Agnew, Vice President of the United States, over allegations of financial irregularities
- 1973 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York
- 1974 - Richard Nixon, President of the United States, after becoming mired in the Watergate scandal
- 1984 - Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
- 1990 - Geoffrey Howe, British Deputy Prime Minister, over differences with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over government policy on the European single currency
- 1990 - Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, after narrowly failing to win the first round of a leadership contest
- 1991 - Albert Reynolds, Irish Minister for Finance
- 1993 - Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, retiring from politics.
- 1994 - Morihiro Hosokawa, Prime Minister of Japan
- 1994 - Tsutomu Hata, Prime Minister of Japan
- 1995 - John Major, British Prime Minister (resigning as leader of the Conservative Party)
- 1997 - Fife Symington, Governor of Arizona
- 1999 - Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation, retiring from politics
- 2001 - Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey
- 2001 - Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgian Minister for Justice
- 2001 - Tom Ridge, Governor of Pennsylvania
- 2001 - Henry McLeish, First Minister of Scotland, over allegations of improper financial dealings
- 2002 - Robin Cook, British Leader of the House of Commons (formerly Foreign Secretary), over his opposition to the UK's involvement in the invasion of Iraq
- 2003 - Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency
- 2003 - Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia, after extensive public demonstrations against him
- 2003 - Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, retiring from politics.
- 2004 - Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada, retiring from politics.
- 2004 - George Tenet, Director of US Central Intelligence , officially for 'personal reasons', resigned after criticism of the CIA's approach to intelligence used to support the 2003 Iraq War
- 2004 - James McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey
- 2005 - Carlos Mesa, President of Bolivia (rejected by National Congress)
- 2005 - Tom DeLay, Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, from his leadership position while under investigation.
- 2005 - Michael Brown, Director of Federal Emergency Management Agency, after heavy criticism of his handling of emergency management operations in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
- 2005 - Greg Sorbara, Finance Minister of Ontario, resigned while under investigation.
- 2005 - David Blunkett, British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, resigning after breaking the ministerial code of conduct regarding private business appointments, becoming the second minister to resign twice from the Blair government.

Public

Public is of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake. Public is also defined as the people of a nation not affiliated with the government of that nation. Public also refers to the general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the public; also, a particular body or aggregation of people; as, an author's public. "Public Network" means a network that is regulated as a common carrier.

Electorate

Category:Elections In politics, an electorate is the group of people entitled to vote in an election. The term can refer to:
- the totality of voters or electors (the electorate has the opportunity to express its will)
- the partisans of a particular individual, group or political party (Gospodin Putin played to the prejudices of his personal electorate)
- the collection of the voters enrolled in a geographically-defined area (the electorate of Finchley returned the Tory candidate again)
- less commonly, the geographically-defined area which returns (elects) a representative (the electorate of Finchley borders on the electorate of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, splitting the new housing estate of Royal Cupolas). The term was also sometimes used to refer to the dominion of an Elector in the Holy Roman Empire, who was a prince or bishop able to participate in the selection of the Emperor. One particularly well known electorate of this type was the Electorate of Hanover. In this usage, the word refers to a realm controlled by a single elector, rather than a collective of multiple electors (as in the other usages given).

Synonyms

When the term is used in the last, geographic, sense above, electorates are more commonly known as:
- ridings (Canada)
- divisions (Australia - official usage)
- seats (Australia, New Zealand - public usage)
- constituencies - (England)
- wards (usually for local government elections)
- districts

Precinct

For the law enforcement usage, see police station. A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. There are several different uses for the word.

Elections

A precinct is generally the lowest-level minor civil division in the United States. Precincts usually do not have have separate governmental authorities, but for purposes of conducting elections, the next highest-level MCD, such as a county, township, etc., is subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific location where its residents go to vote. Sometimes several precincts will use the same polling station. Political parties often designate individuals, known by various titles such as "precinct captain" or "Precinct Committee Officer", to help them keep track of how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and to encourage people to vote. Precinct data are not widely available. Data on your precinct can be found by contacting your local governmental unit's election office.

Religion

It can refer to the ground (sometimes consecrated) immediately surrounding a religious house or place of worship (e.g. Ancient Rome).

Public Housing

In Singapore, a precinct refers to a cluster of public housing blocks arranged as a single unit. Category:Elections

Citizenship

:For other uses, see citizen (disambiguation). Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. It is largely coterminous with nationality, although it is possible to have a nationality without being a citizen (i.e. be legally subject to a state and entitled to its protection without having rights of political participation in it); it is also possible to have political rights without being a national of a state - for example a citizen of a Commonwealth country resident in the United Kingdom is entitled to full political rights. See nationality for further discussion of the properties of national citizenship and how it can be acquired. Citizenship also often implies working towards the betterment of the community one lives in through participation, volunteer work and efforts to improve life for all citizens. In this vein, some schools in England and Wales give citizenship lessons – a slight variation of Personal and Social Education.

Subnational citizenship

Citizenship most usually relates to membership of the nation state, but the term can also apply at subnational level. Subnational entities may impose requirements, of residency or otherwise, which permit citizens to participate in the political life of that entity, or to enjoy benefits provided by the government of that entity. But in such cases, those eligible are also sometimes seen as "citizens" of the relevant state, province, or region. Citizenship as explained above is the political rights of an individual within a society. Thus, you can have a citizenship from one country and be a national of another country. One example might be as follows: A Cuban-American might be considered a national of Cuba due to his being born there, but he could also become an American citizen through naturalization. Some countries like Cuba and the United States of America forbid dual citizenship in the other country because of political tensions between the two nations. However, even though one might acquire another citizenship, one will always be a national of the country in which he was born. Nationality most often derives from place of birth and, in some cases, ethnicity. Citizenship derives from a legal relationship with a state. Citizenship can be changed but nationality will remain forever.

Supranational citizenship

In recent years, some intergovernmental organisations have extended the concept and terminology associated with citizenship to international level; where it is applied to the totality of the citizens of their constituent countries combined. Two examples are given below. As of 2005, citizenship at this level is a secondary concept, with a weaker status than national citizenship.

European Union (EU) citizenship

The Maastricht Treaty introduced the concept of citizenship of the European Union. This citizenship flows from national citizenship — one holds the nationality of an EU member state and as a result becomes a "citizen of the Union" in addition. EU citizenship offers certain rights and privileges within the EU; in many areas EU citizens have the same or similar rights as native citizens in member states. Such rights granted to EU citizens include:
- the right of abode
- the right to vote and the right to stand in local and European elections
- the right to apply to work in any position (including national civil services with the exception of sensitive positions such as defence). EU member states also use a common passport design, burgundy coloured with the name of the member state, national seal and the title "European Union" (or its translation). Union citizenship continues to gain in status and the European Court of Justice has stated that Union citizenship will be the "fundamental status of nationals of Member States" (see Case C-184/99 Rudy Grzelczyk v Centre Public d'Aide Sociale d'Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve, [2001] ECR I-6193, para 31). The European Commission has affirmed that Union citizenship should be the fundamental status of EU nationals however this is not accepted by many of the member states of the European Union.

Commonwealth citizenship

The concept of "Commonwealth Citizenship" has been in place ever since the establishment of the Commonwealth of Nations. As with the EU, one holds Commonwealth citizenship only by being a citizen of a Commonwealth member state. This form of citizenship offers certain privileges within some Commonwealth countries:
- Some such countries do not require tourist visas of citizens of other Commonwealth countries.
- In some Commonwealth countries resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries are entitled to political rights, e.g., the right to vote in local and national elections and in some cases even the right to stand for election.
- In some instances the right to work in any position (including the civil service) is granted, except for certain specific positions (e.g. defence, Governor-General or President, Prime Minister). Whilst Commonwealth citizenship is sometimes enshrined in the written constitutions (where applicable) of Commonwealth states and is considered by some to be a form of dual citizenship, there have never been, nor are there any plans for a common passport. Although the Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1949, it is often treated as if it were a member, with references being made in legal documents to 'the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland', and its citizens are not classified as foreign nationals, particularly in the United Kingdom.

Honorary citizenship

Some countries extend "honorary citizenship" to those whom they consider to be especially admirable or worthy of the distinction. By Act of Congress and presidential assent, honorary United States citizenship has been awarded to:
- British statesman Sir Winston Churchill (1963)
- Swedish humanitarian and diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1981)
- Pennsylvania founder William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn (1984)
- Macedonian-born Catholic nun and humanitarian Mother Teresa (1996)
- French nobleman and American Revolutionary War ally, the Marquis de La Fayette (2002) A bill was introduced in Congress to grant such status to the Russian nuclear physicist and prisoner of conscience Dr. Andrei Sakharov in 2002 but it was not made law. The only people to ever receve honorary Canadian citizenship are Raoul Wallenberg posthumously in 1985, and Nelson Mandela in 2001. American actress Angelina Jolie received an honorary Cambodian citizenship in 2005 due to her humanitarian efforts.

Historical citizenship

Historically, many states limited citizenship to only a proportion of their nationals, thereby creating a citizen class with political rights superior to other classes, but equal with each other. The classical example of a limited citizenry was Athens where slaves, women, and metics were excluded from political rights, but the Roman Republic forms another example, and, more recently, the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had some of the same characteristics.

External links

- [http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/cig/g4000c.htm#c1 EU Glossary: Citizenship of the Union]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-1/democracy.html The Concept of Citizenship in Education for Democracy]
- [http://www.dreptonline.ro/resurse/cetatenie.php The Law in Romania: The Romanian Citizenship ] Category:Human migration Category:Nationality Category:Government ja:市民 simple:Citizenship simple:citizen

Law

:This article is about law in society. For other possible meanings, see law (disambiguation). Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who do not follow the established rules of conduct. Law is typically administered through a system of courts, in which judges hear disputes between parties and apply a set of rules in order to provide an outcome that is just and fair. The manner in which law is administered is known as a legal system, which typically has developed through tradition in each country. Legal practitioners, most often, must be professionally trained in the law before they are permitted to advocate for a party in a court of law, draft legal documents, or give legal advice.

Legal traditions

There are generally four broad legal traditions that are practiced in the world today.

Civil law

The Civilian system of law is a codified law that sets out a comprehensive system of rules that are applied and interpreted by judges. It is by and large the most commonly practiced system of law in the world, with almost 60 % of the world's population living in a country ruled on the civilian system. The most important difference to common law is that normally, only legislative enactments are considered to be legally binding, but not precedent cases. However, as a practical matter, courts normally follow their previous decisions. Furthermore, in some civil law systems (e.g. in Germany), the writings of legal scholars have considerable influence on the courts. In most jurisdictions the core areas of private law are codified in the form of a civil code, but in some, like Scotland it remains uncodified. The civil law system has its origins in Roman law, which was adopted by scholars and courts from the late middle ages onwards. Most modern systems go back to the 19th century codification movement. The civil codes of many, particularly Latin countries and former French and Spanish colonies closely trail the Code de Napoléon in some fashion. However, this is not true for most Central and Eastern European, Scandinavian and East Asian countries. Notably, the German BGB was developed from Roman law with reference to German legal tradition. The importance of the Code Napoléon should also not be overemphasized as it covers only the core areas of private law, while other codes and statutes govern fields such as corporate law, administrative law, tax law and constitutional law.

Common law

The Common law is an Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, based on unwritten laws developed through judicial decisions that create binding precedent. The common law system is currently in practice in Australia, Canada (excluding Quebec), United Kingdom, and the United States (excluding Louisiana). In addition to these countries several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system. For example, India and Nigera operate largely on a common law system but incorporate a good deal of customary law and religious law.

Customary law

Customary law are systems of law that has evolved largely on their own within a given country and have been adapted to meet the needs of the particular culture. Note that customary law may also be relevant within jurisdictions following another legal tradition in fields or subfields of law where no legislative enactment exists. For example, in Austria, scholars of private law often claim that customary law continues to exist, whereas public law scholars dispute this claim. (In any case, it is hard to find any practically relevant examples.)

Religious law

Many countries base their system of law on religious tenants. The most dominant system of this form of law is Muslim law (or "Sharia") which is a codified law that is found within the Koran. These laws deal primarily with the personal rights and dispute resolution between individuals. It is used in some Middle Eastern nations; such as in the Iran and Saudi Arabia. On a smaller level there are still regions of the world that practice canon law, which is followed by Catholics and Anglicans, and a similar legal system is used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The same can be said for Jewish law (halakha or halacha), which is followed by Orthodox and Conservative Jews, in substantially different forms.

Bodies of law

In the broadest sense, bodies of law can be subdivided on the basis of who the parties to an action are. It is frequent that practiced fields of law overlap into several of these bodies of law.

Private law

The area of private law in a legal system concerns law that oversees disputes between private individuals. This area is, to a large extent, the most comprehensive area of law, dealing with all non-criminal harm one person does to another.

Public law

The area of public law, in a general sense, is the law in a given legal system that concerns disputes between the government and private individuals residing within the country. The state can bring actions against people for criminal acts, as well as breach of regulatory laws. Equally, individuals can bring actions against the government for harm it has done. This includes grounds on the basis of a breach of regulations, legislate on matters beyond their competence, or violation of an individuals rights. These last two points are often protected under a countries’ constitution.

Procedural law

Procedural law concerns the areas of law that regulate how all actions are dealt with. This includes who can have access to the court system, how complaints are submitted, and what are the rights of the parties involved. Procedural law is often known as "adjective" law as it is the law that concern how other laws are to be applied. Typically, this is broadly covered by a government’s civil and criminal procedure rules. But equally this includes the law of evidence which determines what means are used to prove facts, as well as, the law regarding remedies.

International law

International law governs the relations between states, or between citizens of different states, or international organizations. Its two primary sources are customary law and treaties.

Philosophy of law

Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy and jurisprudence which studies basic questions about law and legal systems, such as "what is the law?", "what are the criteria for legal validity?", "what is the relationship between law and morality?", and many other similar questions. In the western tradition there are several schools of thought on the philosophical basis of law. First, there is natural law, which attempts to describe law as an inherent quality in humans that is derived from natures. Second, there is the positivism which believes that law is a purely human-made construct that society uses to maintain social order. Third, there is legal realism which believes that law is an arbitrary set of rules that are largely established through the tastes and preferences of judges.

Anthropology of law

:See main discussion at Honour Law has an anthropological dimension. It has been recognized from Montesquieu to the present that law is shaped by the kind of society in which it is practised. One continuum into which various societies can be placed contrasts the "culture of law" with the "culture of honour". In order to have a culture of law, people must dwell in a society where a government exists whose authority is hard to evade and generally recognised as legitimate. People take their grievances before the government and its agents, who arbitrate disputes and enforce penalties. This behaviour is contrasted with the culture of honour, where respect for persons and groups stems from fear of the revenge they may exact if their person, property, or prerogatives are not respected. Cultures of law must be maintained. They can be eroded by declining respect for the law, achieved either by weak government unable to wield its authority, or by burdensome restrictions that attempt to forbid behaviour prevalent in the culture or in some subculture of the society. When a culture of law declines, there is a possibility that an culture of honor will arise in its place.
History

Practice of law
Practice of law is typically overseen by either a government organization or independent regulating body such as a bar association or barrister society. To practice law – i.e. appear in front of a judge on behalf of someone, draft legal documents, etc. – the practitioner must be certified by the regulating body. This usually entails a two or three year program at a university’s faculty of law or a law school, followed by an entrance examination (eg. bar admissions). Once accredited, a legal practitioners will often work in law firm, as well as in government, a private corporation, or even work as sole practitioner. A significant component to the practice of law in the common law tradition involves legal research in order to determine the current state of the law. This usually entails exploring case reporters, legal periodicals, and legislation.
See also

- Law topics overview
- List of areas of law
- List of legal topics
- List of legal terms
- List of jurists
- List of legal abbreviations
- List of case law lists
- List of law firms
Further reading

- Cheyenne Way: Conflict & Case Law in Primitive Jurisprudence, Karl N. Llewellyn and E. Adamson Hoebel, University of Oklahoma Press, 1983, trade paperback, 374 pages, ISBN 0806118555
- The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal language, Sandro Nielsen, Gunter Narr Verlag 1994.
- [http://browse.addall.com/Browse/Author/2088479-1 Other books by Karl N. Llewellyn]
- David, René, and John E. C. Brierley. Major Legal Systems in the World Today: An Introduction to the Comparative Study of Law. 3d ed. London: Stevens, 1985 (ISBN 0420473408).
External links

- [http://www.legalmatch.com LegalMatch] Legal Resource
- [http://ausicl.com The Australian Institute of Comparative Legal Systems]
- [http://www.lpig.org Law and Policy Institutions]
- [http://www.llbee.com/news.php?p=news Laws External Education- Legal News By Subject]
- [http://www.4lawschool.com 4LawSchool- Legal Reference]
- [http://ww3.definitions-legal.com:8567/ Law, Legal Definitions & Reference]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-3/law.htm Essentials of Law-Related Education. ERIC Digest.]
- [http://www.law.cornell.edu LII - Topical overviews, US Supreme Court decisions, US Code (Acts of Congress)]
- [http://www.worldlii.org WorldLII - The World Legal Information Institute]
- [http://www.lawmoose.com LawMoose Legal Reference Library]
- [http://legallinks.jenkinslaw.org Legal Research Links]
- [http://www.findlaw.com FindLaw]
- [http://ausicl.com The Australian Institute of Comparative Legal Systems]
- [http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm Everybody's Legal Glossary] - From Nolo
- [http://www.alllaw.com/ AllLaw]
- [http://legal.wikicities.com/ WikiCities Legal Site]
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-ideology/ Law and Ideology]
- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-language/ Law and Language]
- [http://en.jurispedia.org/ The shared law] in Jurispedia
- [http://www.avocatura.com Romanian Law]
- [http://www.thedailylaw.com Daily Law news]
- [http://members.fortunecity.com/victorcauchi/lex/lexindex.htm Laws of Malta] Chapter summaries and a general Glossary of definitions.
- [http://LawyerIntl.com LawyerIntl.com] Legal Resource and Law Dictionary
- [http://LawGuru.com LawGuru.com] Legal Portal
- [http://forumprawne.org Prawo i porady prawne] - web discussion board about Polish law Category:Core issues in ethics ja:法 (法学) simple:Law th:กฎหมาย

License

: Licence is also a state of liberty, and is sometimes used as a synonym for licentiousness. A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is a document or agreement giving permission to do something. In law, the document is the evidence of a license to be distinguished from the underlying license which is the actual permission to an act in a way that would be otherwise unlawful. Originally in reference to property, a license was the right of an individual to enter upon the property of another to do an act that would have otherwise been considered illegal as a trespass, such as walking in the woods, hunting game or swimming in the lake. To be distinguished from a license coupled with an interest which is an irrevocable license that granted some interest in land or in a chattel. Such a license could be enforced with an injunction. Licenses can be gratuitous, revokable at will (sometimes called a bare license) or a type of bailment.

Occupational

Licensing (or