Definition
Private law is that part of law that governs the relationships between legal subjects (persons subject to the law) on a horizontal level, i.e., the relationships between parties with equal legal power.
Introduction
Private law is that part of law that governs the relationships between legal subjects (persons subject to the law) on a horizontal level. Theoretically, private law thus governs relationships between parties with equal legal power. In contrast, public law is that part of law that governs the relationship between the state and private persons on a vertical level. Public law is thus primarily concerned with the exercise of state power. The distinction between private law and public law is one of the most basic divisions in the domestic law of many legal systems.
In light of the basic description of private law and public law in...
References
Fairgrieve D (2003) State liability in tort: a comparative law study. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Maree PJH (2013) Investigating an alternative administrative-law system in South Africa. Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85591. Accessed 24 Mar 2016
Quinot G (2008) State commercial activity: a legal framework. Juta, Cape Town
Residents of Joe Slovo Community, Western Cape v Thubelisha Homes and Others (CCT 22/08) (2009) ZACC 16; 2009 (9) BCLR 847 (CC); 2010 (3) SA 454 (CC). http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2009/16.html. Accessed 29 Mar 2016
Turpin CC (1999) Public contracts. In: Von Mehren A (ed) International encyclopedia of comparative law: contracts in general. JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tubingen
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Quinot, G. (2016). Private Law and Public Administration. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1191-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1191-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences