Introduction

Municipal law can be classified into Public law and Private law. Municipal law means the law
which is applicable within the territory of the state. It is territorial in nature. It has the application
only within the boundaries of the state. The municipal law can be divided further into Public law
and Private law.1

PUBLIC LAW: Public law is that part of law which governs relationships between individuals
and the government and those relationships between individuals which are of direct concern
to society. Public law comprises constitutional law, administrative law, tax law and criminal
law, as well as all procedural law In public law, mandatory rules prevail. Laws concerning
relationships between individuals belong to private law.

PRIVATE LAW: Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus
commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts
(as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligation (as it is called in civil legal
system).2

Meaning
PUBLIC LAW: law which regulates the relationship between the state and the citizen. It also
deals with structure, power and activities of the state. Public law can be further classified into the
following-
1. Constitutional Law – it is the basic law of the land. It consists of body of rules governing the
relation between the sovereign and his subjects and the different parts of the sovereign body. It
defines the form of government and its various constituent agencies. It also lay down the rights
and duties of the citizens and their relationship with the various agencies of the State.

2. Administrative law – it is another sub division of public law. It describes the manner in which
the government agencies will work in the state and how they will perform their functions as
prescribed by the constitution. It determines the powers and duties of the administrative
authorities. The difference between constitutional law and administrative law is that the former

1
Mayank tyagi, Public law and Private law (2018) (Unpublished dissertation, Maharaja agrasen school of law)
2
Public law, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_law (visited on september 29,2018)
gives a general outline, a framework for the working of the state while the latter fills in the
details of that framework. The former is law in rest while the latter is law in motion.

3. Criminal law – it defines the offences and prescribes the punishment for them. Its aim is the
prevention of and punishment for offences. The crime is considered to be a wrong not against an
individual only but against the whole society. It is for this reason state initiates the proceedings
against the offender, and thus it is always a party in criminal law.

PRIVATE LAW – law which regulates the relationship between individuals in their private
capacity. The state in private law through its judicial organ adjudicates the matters between the
individuals. Here the state is mere facilitator. It provides a platform for the individual to sort out
their disputes. Although it does not mean that state cannot become a party in the private law. It
stands on the same level as its subjects, and submits itself to the ordinary principles of private
law. These laws provide for rights and remedies of the private individuals. The major part of
municipal law consists of this branch of law. Here the sanctions are also usually in the form of
compensation to the injured party. Areas of private law are contract law, tort law, property law,
succession law, family law. 3

PUBLIC LAW VS PRIVATE LAW

Legal terms may appear complicated to common individuals, which is why confusion usually
occurs during legal procedures.

Public law is a theory of law that governs the relationship between the state and the individual,
who is considered to be either a company or a citizen. Public law covers three sub-divisions:
Constitutional, administrative and criminal law. Constitutional law covers the different branches
of the state: Executive, legislative and judiciary. Administrative law regulates international trade,
manufacturing, pollution, taxation, and the like. Criminal law involves state imposed sanctions
for individuals or companies in order to achieve justice and social order.

Private law is also known as civil law. It involves relationships between individuals, or private
relationships between citizens and companies. It covers the law of obligations and the law of
torts, which is defined as follows: Firstly, the Law of Obligation organizes and regulates legal
relations between individuals under contract. Secondly, the Law of Torts addresses and remedies
issues for civil wrongs, not arising from any contractual obligation.

They can be distinguished with the following points:

1. Public law governs the individual, citizen or corporation, and the state, while private law
applies to individuals.

2. Public law deals with a greater scope, while private law deals with a more specific scope.

3
Mayank tyagi, Public law and Private law (2018) (Unpublished dissertation, Maharaja agrasen school of law)
3. Public law deals more with issues that affect the general public or the state itself, whereas,
private law focuses more on issues affecting private individuals, or corporations4

Theoretical distinction between private and public law

In German-language legal literature, there is an extensive discussion on the precise nature of the
distinction between public law and private law. Several theories have evolved, which are neither
exhaustive, nor are they mutually exclusive or separate from each other.
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 that many issues of private law also affect the public interest. Also, what exactly is
this public interest?
The subjection theory focuses on explaining the distinction by emphasizing the subordination of
private persons to the state. Public law is supposed to govern this relationship, whereas private
law is considered to govern relationships where the parties involved meet on a level playing
field. This theory fails in areas commonly considered private law which also imply
subordination, such as employment law. Also, the modern state knows relationships in which it
appears as equal to a person.
The subject theory is concerned with the position of the subject of law in the legal relationship
in question. If it finds itself in a particular situation as a public person (due to membership in
some public body, such as a state or a municipality), public law applies, otherwise it is private
law.
A combination of the subjection theory and the subject theory arguably provides a workable
distinction. Under this approach, a field of law is considered public law where one actor is a
public authority endowed with the power to act unilaterally (imperium) and this actor uses
that imperium in the particular relationship. In other words, all depends whether the public
authority is acting as a public or a private entity, say when ordering office supplies. This latest
theory considers public law to be a special instance.
There are areas of law, which do not seem to fit into either public or private law, such
as employment law – parts of it look like private law (the employment contract), other parts like
public law (the activities of an employment inspectorate when investigating workplace safety).
The distinction between public and private law might seem to be a purely academic debate, but it
also affects legal practice. It has bearing on the delineation between competences of different
courts and administrative bodies. Under the Austrian constitution, for example, private law is
among the exclusive competences of federal legislation, whereas public law is partly a matter
of state legislation.
5

4
Private law vs Public law available at: https://img.gaodun.cn/uploads/201302/2.pdf (visited on september
29,2018)

5
Public law, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_law (visited on september 29,2018)
Importance
PUBLIC LAW-

Public law is important because of the unequal relationship between the government and the
public. The government is the only body that can make decisions on the rights of individuals and
they must act within the law. A citizen can ask for judicial review if they are unhappy with a
decision of an authoritative body.

Public law remedies are the means by which public authorities can be held to account. In the
absence of effective and accessible mechanisms of accountability, the exercise of power by
central and local government, and the many other public bodies, may go unchecked.6

PRIVATE LAW-

It governs the relationship between individuals, it regularize and control the behavior of
individuals when they meet with other individuals. It contains remedies like Suits, intention,
declaration. The aim is to end conflict between the individuals. It guides the behavior of the
people coming in contact with each other.

CONCLUSION
Public law deals with issues that affect the general public or state - society as a whole. Some of
the laws that its wide scope covers are:

 Administrative law - laws that govern government agencies, like the Department of
Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 Constitutional laws are laws that protect citizens' rights as afforded in the Constitution
 Criminal laws are laws that relate to crime

Private law affects the rights and obligations of individuals, families, businesses and small
groups and exists to assist citizens in disputes that involve private matters. Its scope is more
specific than public law and covers:

 Contract law - governs the rights and obligations of those entering into contracts

6
Public law, available at: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-distinctions-between-public-and-private-law
(visited on september 29,2018)
  Tort law - rights, obligation and remedies provided to someone who has been wronged
by another individual.
 Property law – governs forms of property ownership, transfers and tenant issues.
 Succession law – governs the transfer of an estate between parties.
 Family law – governs family related and domestic related issues.7

7
Public law vs private law :definitions available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/public-law-vs-private-law-
definitions-and-differences.html (visited on september 29,2018)