NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 12 Public Law and Private Law

NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 12 Public Law and Private Law Solutions English Medium As Per New Syllabus. to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse throughout different chapters NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 12 Public Law and Private Law Notes and select need one. NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 12 Public Law and Private Law Question Answers Download PDF. NIOS Study Material of Class 12 Introduction to Law Paper Code: 338.

NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 12 Public Law and Private Law

Also, you can read the NIOS book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) Book guidelines. These solutions are part of NIOS All Subject Solutions. Here we have given NIOS Class 12 Introduction to Law Chapter 11 Substantive Law and Procedural Or Adjective Law Solutions, NIOS Senior Secondary Course Introduction to Law in Hindi Medium for All Chapter, You can practice these here.

Public Law and Private Law

Chapter: 12

Module – 3 Classification of Law

INTEXT QUESTIONS 12.1 

1. Explain briefly Constitutional Law. 

Ans: Constitutional Law is a branch of Public Law. It determines the political organization of the State and its powers.

2. Define ‘Criminal Law’? 

Ans: Criminal Law is the body of law that relates to crime. It enumerates Acts that are threatening, harming, or otherwise endangering the health, safety, and moral welfare of people. It also provides for the punishment /penalty to which any one committing such acts will be liable.

3. What do you understand by ‘Administrative Law’? 

Ans: Administrative Law is a body of the law created by Administrative Agencies in the form of Regulations, Orders, and Decisions

4. Define Public Law.

Ans: In Short, Public Law governs relationship between the State with its citizens and also relationship between individuals directly concerning the society. Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure are the Subject matter of Public Law

INTEXT QUESTIONS 12.2 

1. Define Private Law. 

Ans: Private Law is concerned with the relationship between individuals with one another or private relationship between citizens and companies that are not of public importance. Private is substantive and defines the rights of the individuals or it may be adjective indicating the procedure by which rights are to be enforced or protected.

2. Distinguish between antecedent right ‘in rem’ with right ‘in personam’. 

Ans: The antecedent rights ‘in rem’ are rights which, irrespective of any wrong having been committed, are available for the benefit of the person of inherence against a person of incidence so unlimited so as to comprise the whole world, while the rights ‘in personam’ are those available against a definite person and may arise out of agreement of the parties or by virtue of duty assigned by law.

3. What is ‘Private Adjective Law’? 

Ans: The Private ‘Adjective Law’ provides for the mode in which the State, as such a personality, may sue or be sued.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 12.3 

1. List the Theories which have been evolved to determine the nature of distinction between Public Law and Private Law. 

Ans: (i) The Interest Theory. 

(ii) The subordinate Theory. 

(iii) The Subject Theory.

2. What is Interest Theory?

Ans: The ‘Interest Theory’ as developed by the Roman jurist Ulpian provides that Public Law is that, which concerns Roman State and Private Law is concerned with the interests of citizens.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 12.4 

Write True/False. 

1. Judges play an important role in shaping Law. (True/False) 

Ans: True.

2. The ‘Doctrine of Precedent’ is an operating rule of a Common Law System. (True/False)

Ans: False.

TERMINAL EXERCISES

1. Explain meaning and nature of Public Law. 

Ans: Public Law is the branch of law that governs the relationship between the State (Government) and its citizens, as well as the relationship between individuals concerning society. It regulates the powers and functions of the government and protects public interest.

Nature of Public Law:

(i) It governs the relationship between the State and individuals.

(ii) It deals with matters affecting society and public welfare.

(iii) It regulates the powers and duties of government authorities.

(iv) It protects the rights of citizens and ensures the rule of law.

(v) It includes Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure.

2. Define Private Law. 

Ans: Private Law is that branch of law which governs the relationship between individuals, organizations, or private entities, rather than between the State and individuals. It deals with matters of private interest and personal rights, not of public concern.

In Private Law, the State acts as an impartial authority, whose role is limited to recognizing, enforcing, and adjudicating disputes between private parties through its judicial institutions.

According to Holland, Private Law may be substantive, as it defines the rights and duties of individuals, or adjective (procedural), as it provides the means for enforcing those rights.

3. Write short notes on the following: 

(a) Constitutional Law.

Ans: Constitutional Law is that branch of Public Law which determines the organization, powers, and functions of the State, and lays down the fundamental principles governing the relationship between the State and its citizens.

The primary function of Constitutional Law is to establish the political center of authority in a State and to ensure the supremacy of law in all governmental actions.

In India, the Constitution declares the country to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Federal system and a Parliamentary form of government at both the Union and State levels, along with an Independent Judiciary.

It defines the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and guarantees Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, which together form the foundation of governance.

(b) Administrative Law. 

Ans: Administrative Law is that branch of Public Law which governs the organization, powers, and functions of administrative authorities and regulates their relationship with citizens. It ensures that the administration acts within the limits prescribed by law and does not misuse its powers.

According to Holland, Administrative Law deals with the manner and functioning of the various organs of the Sovereign Power as provided by the Constitution. It includes all activities of the government such as law-making, revenue collection, foreign affairs, justice administration, property management, and the execution of State policies for public welfare.

4. Differentiate between Public and Private Law. 

Ans: 

Public Law	Private Law
It deals more with issues that affect the general public (may be individual, citizen or corporation) or the State itself.	It focuses more on issues affecting private individuals, or corporations.
The persons concerned in a Public Law, right are, therefore, necessarily dissimilar, one of them being always that highly abnormal person which is called a State.	Both of the persons concerned in Private Law, rights are as a rule, perfectly similar, and of that normal type which requires no special investigation.
It may also be remarked that the majority of the rights dealt with in Public Law are permanently enjoyed by the State as the person of inherence against its subjects as the persons of incidence.	In Private Law on the contrary, he/she who is today the person of inherence with reference to a right of any given description may very probably become tomorrow the person of incidence with reference to a precisely similar right and vice versa.
In Public law the State is not only arbiter, but is also one of the parties interested. The rights and duties with which it deals concern itself of the one part and its subjects of the other part.	In Private law the State is indeed present, but it is present only as arbiter of the rights and duties which exist between one of its subjects and another.
Public Law is concerned with the structure of government, the duties and powers of officials, and the relationship between the individual and the State.	Private Law is concerned with both substantive and procedural rules governing relationship between individuals (such as the law of torts or private injuries, contracts, property, wills, inheritance, marriage, divorce, adoption, and the like).

5. Write short notes on the following: 

(a) Interest Theory. 

Ans: The ‘Interest Theory’ has been developed by the Roman jurist Ulpian: “Publicum ius est, quod ad statum rei Romanae spectat, privatum quod ad singulorum utilitatem. Public law is that, which concerns Roman State, Private Law is concerned with the interests of citizens. The weak point of this theory is how to define public interest as many issues of private law may also affect the public interest.

(b) Subordinate Theory. 

Ans: The ‘Subordinate Theory’ differentiates according to the relationship between the participants. Public law is characterized by a superior-subordinate relationship, whereas private law creates a relationship of coordination. Therefore, Public Law is prominent for unilateral binding regulations such as statues and administrative acts and private law for contracts. This theory has been developed in the last century based on the idea of administration being restricted to executory administration. It clearly fails to explain relationship in the area of public service administration.

(c) Subject Theory.

Ans: The ‘Subject Theory’ is concerned with the position of the subject of law in the legal relationship, to which the rights and duties are assigned. If it finds itself in a particular situation, as a public person (the holders of Sovereign Authority such as a State or a Municipality), the public law applies, otherwise it is private law authorizing or obliging everyone. A combination of above theories can provide a workable distinction. We can now say that a field of law is considered Public Law or Private Law on the basis of public interest, endowment of the power and the relation to the State.

6. Discuss the role of Judges in Shaping Law.

Ans: Judges play a vital and creative role in the development and evolution of law, especially in Common Law systems like those of England and the United States. The Common Law is largely uncodified and depends on judicial precedents, meaning that the decisions made by judges in previous cases form binding rules for future cases.

(i) Law-Making through Precedents: The Doctrine of Precedent (stare decisis) is a key feature of Common Law. Under this principle, judges are bound to follow earlier judicial decisions in similar cases, thereby ensuring consistency and stability in the law. As each new case is decided, it refines or extends existing legal principles, making judges the true creators of law.

(ii) Judicial Creativity and Discretion: According to Bernard Rudden, the main creator of the Common Law is the Judiciary. In contrast to Civil Law systems, where judges only apply codified statutes, Common Law judges actively interpret, adapt, and sometimes create new principles.

H.L.A. Hart also acknowledged that in ‘hard cases’, where no clear rule exists, judges exercise discretion to “fill in the gaps” and make new law guided by fairness and justice.

(iii) Views of Legal Thinkers:

President Roosevelt (1908) remarked that judges are often the chief lawmakers since their interpretations of property, contracts, and liberty shape social and economic policies.

A.V. Dicey argued that judge-made law is real law, created under the form of interpretation. However, he also identified limitations:

(a) Judges cannot openly declare a new law — it must appear as an interpretation.

(b) Judges cannot override a statute enacted by Parliament.

(c) Superior courts may overrule inferior courts but not legislative laws.

(iv) Rule of Law and Judicial Review: According to T.R.S. Allan, the Rule of Law allows judges to strike down government or legislative actions inconsistent with constitutional principles. However, Tomkins and T. Poole caution that the judiciary should not replace the legislature in political or policy matters; instead, its role is to check executive power and ensure legality and rationality.

(v) Balance Between Law and Policy: Judges influence social progress by adapting legal principles to meet changing needs, while also respecting the separation of powers. They do not legislate openly but develop the law incrementally through reasoned decisions, thereby bridging legal rules and social realities.