Engineering And Construction Law

And Contracts

Chapter Two
The United States and other
Legal Systems

Engineering and Construction Law and Contracts © 2011 Pearson Higher Education,
Janet K. Yates Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ Chapter Two Discusses:

◼ The U.S. Legal System
◼ Civil Law

◼ Common Law

◼ Shari’a Law

◼ Asian Law

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS
◼ Civil Law
◼ Derived from the roman legal system (Romano-
Germanic
◼ Germanic code adopted in 1896
◼ Based on Roman precepts of legislation, administering
edits, and judicial reasoning (based on code of
Justinian)
◼ Civil law jurisdictions
◼ Europe, South Africa, Scotland, Quebec, Louisiana,

former French colonies, and some Eastern Bloc

countries

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ Civil Law
◼ Does not rely on precedent law
(previous law cases) to plead existing
cases
◼ Cases are evaluated based on existing
laws
◼ No rigid rules of evidence

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ Common Law Jurisdictions

◼ Great Britain and the former colonies of
great Britain such as the U.S., India, and
Malaysia
◼ Referred to as judge-made laws

◼ Judges formalized court rulings

◼ Judicial decisions are recorded and used

as precedents for future legal cases

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ Types Of Laws in the U. S. Legal

System
◼ Criminal
◼ Constitutional
◼ Statutory
◼ Administrative
◼ Case
◼ Common

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS
◼ Asian Legal System
◼ Japanese Law
◼ Derived from ancient laws influenced by
French law
◼ People’s Republic Of China
◼ Conciliation is used more than litigation to
obtain harmony
◼ Use law codes of the Chi’in since 220 b.C.

◼ Laws created by the National People’s

Congress

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

 Shari’a Law Jurisdictions

 Rulings issuing from God to organize
the life of human beings
 Five Types Of Rulings
 Obligations

 Recommendations

 Prohibitions

 Reprehensibility

 Permissibility

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ The United States Legal System

◼ Power is shared between federal and
state governments
◼ Contracts are administered and
interpreted by state governments
◼ Construction projects are subject to
laws of the state where they are being
built

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 CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ The Purpose Of Constitutions

◼ Set forth a set of rules, guidelines, or
principles to help regulate how an
organization will be operated

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ The Federal And State Systems Of

Government
◼ Executive Branch – President, Governors, and
Mayors
◼ Legislative Branch – Senate and House of
Representatives
◼ Judicial Branch – Court system
◼ Administrative Branch – Administrative
agencies

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ The Exclusive Jurisdiction of the

Federal Government
◼ Admiralty
◼ Bankruptcy
◼ Currency
◼ Patents and Copyrights
◼ Actions Against the U.S.
◼ Violations of Federal Criminal Laws

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

 The Exclusive Jurisdiction of State

Government
 Contracts
 Violations of State Criminal Laws
 State Constitutions
 Real Estate
 Insurance
 Education
 Corporations
 Tort Liability

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL
SYSTEMS

◼ Responsibility of Engineers and

Constructors for Implementing Laws
◼ If they work for administrative agencies
they assist in interpreting and enforcing
government regulations
◼ Responsible for the safety and welfare of

citizens

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CHAPTER TWO - THE U.S. AND OTHER LEGAL SYSTEMS

◼ Responsibility of Engineers and

Constructors for Implementing
Laws
◼ Safe design of structures
◼ Complete and accurate construction
documents
◼ Use of proper construction materials
and processes

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Thank You

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