Public Law

What is Public Law?

Public law is the field of the law that governs how the government interacts with its constituents. Public law regulates how the government uses its authority and encompasses many other types of legislation, including administrative law, criminal law, constitutional law, and international law.

A key branch of public law that establishes the makeup, prerogatives, and boundaries of governmental power is constitutional law. Together with the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of government, it also outlines the fundamental liberties and rights of citizens.

The rules and principles that direct the actions of government officials and agencies are referred to as administrative law. It is concerned with how administrative bodies, like tribunals, commissions, and regulatory organisations, conduct their business and make decisions. Crimes against the state and society are covered by criminal law. Criminal law governs the discovery, pursuit, and punishment of these crimes, which include offences like theft, murder, fraud, and terrorism.

The legal interactions between different nations and their governments are governed by international law. It consists of treaties, conventions, and agreements reached between several states about a range of topics, including trade, human rights, and war.

Governments have the power to enact rules and regulations to safeguard their population and carry out their policies. As a result, it is more focused on the protection of the general public than it is on the interests of specific people.
The balancing and weighing of numerous interests and rights, particularly the public interest versus individual rights and freedoms, is a common practice in public law.

Public law, in general, provides the basis for our democratic system of government and ensures that it runs fairly and equitably while defending the fundamental rights and liberties of all citizens.

Constitution

The area of law that deals with the interpretation and application of a nation’s constitution is known as constitutional law. The framework of values and guidelines that define how a state or country is governed, including the rights of its people and the authority of its government, is known as a constitution. Constitutional law is concerned with matters like the division of authority among the various governmental branches, the defence of individual liberties, and the procedure for revising the constitution. It is crucial to make sure that a nation’s government preserves the values of democracy, the rule of law, and individual rights while operating within the bounds of the constitution.

Administrative

The body of law known as administrative law governs how the government’s administrative agencies conduct their business. It contains the legal guidelines and practises that these organisations must adhere to when performing their duties, including issuing or refusing permits, inspecting and enforcing laws, resolving conflicts, and announcing rules and policies. The interaction between the government and those who are subject to its regulations or who are impacted by its decisions is governed by administrative law. The development of government and the transfer of authority from the legislative and executive branches to administrative agencies are the sources of this area of law. The goal of administrative law is to guarantee that administrative agencies carry out their duties in a way that upholds the rule of law, procedural fairness, accountability, and transparency.

Public Service

A subset of law known as public service law regulates the activities of public service organisations, such as governmental bodies, nonprofits, and businesses that offer public services.

This area of law entails rules and legal structures that guarantee openness, responsibility, and effectiveness in the provision of public services. It includes a variety of legal subjects, including administrative law, contract law, employment law, and constitutional law.

By ensuring that public services are provided in a fair, efficient, and effective manner, public service legislation seeks to advance the public interest. It offers legal redress to public service organisations, as well as to people who have been victimised by the government or other public service organisations.
Employee complaints, healthcare, taxes, public safety, environmental protection, and education are a few examples of the kinds of things that public service law can deal with. Because public service is so crucial to all societies, it is crucial that they work within the bounds of the law and look out for the interests of the public. This is why legal specialisation is so crucial.