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Chapter 1
Private and public law
Within the English legal system, two distinct areas of law operate: private and public
law. They both aim to create social order, but have a number of distinct differences.
Within public law, different categories exist. These include criminal law, constitutional
law, administrative law, social welfare law and all deal with matters relating to the
whole country.
Private law is concerned with the law enforced between individuals. This can include
contract law, family law and other areas which deal with intellectual property rights
(copyrights, designs and patents), land law (and the way in which it is transferred),
probate (dealing with wills and how property is distributed after someone dies) and
company law (which deals with the ways in which companies are created and
operated).
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