Preface

• Author: Christian Turner
• Pages: ix-xv

ix

Preface

Property is an odd subject. Typically a first-year, foundational

course, it becomes apparent to beginning students rather quickly

that it differs greatly from Contracts, Torts, and Criminal

Law. Whereas those courses usually have a consistent rhythm, a

mutually reinforcing structure, Property seems to be a grab bag of

topics. Worse, the cases one studies are generally tort and contract

cases. Are there property cases? What is distinctive about them?

To understand what we're about to embark on, you must first

understand what is happening in your other courses. I will give a

very brief overview here of my conception of the structure of legal

systems. I find that thinking broadly at first helps to show how the

study of Property Law is different and also to explain the structure

of a typical first-year curriculum. A fuller explanation, intended for

non-experts, can be found in a short series of blog posts at

[http://hydratext.com/blog/category/laws-not-that-

hard](http://hydratext.com/blog/category/laws-not-that-hard).

An Atlas of Legal Systems

Contracts, Torts, and Criminal Law are substantive fields of the

law. By that, I mean that they are basic categories of causes of

action. They differ in the identity of the institution that controls

lawmaking and prosecution.

Contract Law is the set of laws that are created by private entities

(often, but not always, through bilateral agreement) and enforced

by private lawsuits. Tort Law is the set of laws that are created by

public entities (usually courts creating common law or legislatures)

and enforced by private lawsuits. Criminal Law is the set of laws

that are created by public entities and enforced by public lawsuits

(or prosecutions).