• Law can be classified in a variety of ways, but the following are the most common ones:-

1. Written Vs. Unwritten Law

Written Law:

• This is codified Law.
• These regulations have been reduced to formal documents such as the Kenyan Constitution, Acts of Parliament, Delegated Legislation, International Treaties, etc.
• With written laws, all requirements are written down and have been carefully considered, so they cannot be bent or changed based on the circumstances or emotions, ensuring consistency in judgments.
• In addition, written laws serve as a common reference point.
• Thus, there is an objective record of what a law is once it is written down.
• That is if you can read the law or have someone read the law for you.

Unwritten Law:

• Are legal rules that do not appear in any formal document.
• Examples include African customary law, Islamic law, common law, equity, and case law.
• The government has recognized and enforced unwritten law, which comprises customs, traditions, practices, usages, and other human conduct maxims.
• Unwritten law is most common in tribal societies where illiteracy is widespread.
• Because many people in such societies cannot read or write, enacting written laws to govern their behavior is pointless.
• Rather, in primitive communities, societal conflicts are settled informally by appealing to unwritten rules of justice or widely recognized norms of behavior.
• In such communities, litigants state their claims orally, and judges proclaim their rulings in the same way.
• The governing body usually enforces the useful traditions commonly practiced in the community, while novel or detrimental habits fall out of favor or are prohibited.

NB/The written law takes precedence over the unwritten law. 

2. National Vs. International Laws

National Laws:

• Refer to rules of Law that are applicable within a particular country or state.
• Also called state law.
• It governs citizens’ interactions with one another as well as citizens’ interactions with the government.
• It comes from the legislature, as well as customary and religious customs.
• National law is the country’s law; it is domestic law that controls the state’s subjects.
• It is often regional in character because it is used only within the country’s border.

It is separated into two categories:

1. Public law
2. Private law.

International Law:  

• Refers to rules that govern relationships between countries or states and other international entities.
• It is derived from international treaties or conventions, as well as general concepts and customary state practices.

 There are four types of international law: –

1. Treaty laws: Refers to norms established by agreements between two or more countries.
2. Public international law: The laws that govern the conduct and relations of a state with others
3. Private international law:  Is a set of rules and concepts that govern the resolution of situations involving foreign elements.

3. Public Vs. Private Law

Public Law:

• Comprises those areas or branches of law in which the state, as sovereign, has a direct interest.
•   It asserts the sovereignty of the state.
• The state’s activities are governed by public law.
• It determines and governs the state’s organization and functioning and the state’s relationship with its subjects.

The following are subcategories of public law: –

1. Constitutional Law: Is the body of law that establishes the nature of the state and the government’s organization. It has supremacy over the general law of the land. It explains the anatomy and function of the state’s three organs. The value of ordinary law is derived from constitutional law.
2. Administrative law: Refers to the body of legislation that permits the establishment of governmental regulatory agencies and encompasses all laws, court decisions, and rules. Administrative agencies produce this law to put their authorities and responsibilities into action through rules, regulations, orders, and judgments.
3. Criminal Law:  It is the body of legislation that defines criminal offenses, governs suspect cognizance, charges, and trials, and establishes the procedures of punishment and treatment for convicted offenders. Its goal is to deter crime and punish those who commit it.

Private Law:

• Comprises those fields of law in which the state/sovereign has no direct interests.
• Instead, it is concerned with the legal interactions between people in everyday transactions, such as contract, property, succession, and tort.
• Its the branch of law that deals with private people’s rights and responsibilities, as well as their interactions.
• Individuals, families, corporations, and small groups have rights and obligations under private law to aid residents in private law conflicts.

Private law is further divided into the following categories: –

1. Law of the person
2. The law of property
3. Liability laws and conflict laws

Liability law is separated into three categories: –

1. Contracts
2. Quasi-contract
3.  Torts

Difference between public and private laws

4. Substantive Vs. Procedural Law

Substantive Law:

• This law refers to a set of regulations that determines an individual’s or a group’s rights and responsibilities.
• It consists of the rules themselves rather than the mechanism for putting them into action.
• It specifies the parties’ rights and obligations, as well as the remedies available.

Substantive Law, for example, defines offenses and assigns punishments, such as: –

1. Tort law is a branch of law that deals with personal injuries. 
2. The Succession Law, 
3. The Contracts Law, 
4. Marriage legislation. 
5. The Penal Code is a set of laws that govern criminal behavior. 

Procedural Law:

• Procedural law sets the legal procedures that govern the creation, enforcement, and application of substantive law, particularly in a court of law.
• It is the adjectival Law of the steps, guiding concepts, or practice regulations that must be followed in administering justice or applying substantive law.
• Examples are:-

1. Civil Procedure Code
2. Criminal Procedure Code. 

NB: The Evidence Act is both substantive and procedural

5. Criminal Vs. Civil Laws

Criminal Law

• Is the Law of crimes.
• A crime is any act or omission that violates the law, such as murder.
• The legislature enacts all criminal laws through statutes.
• A person accused of committing a crime is referred to as a criminal.
• Following his capture, the suspect is charged and becomes the accused in a fair and independent court of law.
• The Attorney General’s office frequently prosecutes criminal cases.
• Therefore they’re labeled R (the State) Vs. Accused, as R v Otieno.
• If the accused pleads not guilty, the prosecution must establish its case against him by introducing evidence, i.e., the prosecution bears the burden of proof in criminal proceedings. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” should be the proof stand.
• Imprisonment, fines, probation, and community service are some of the penalties. 
• Even if the immediate victim is a person, criminal law deals with action recognized as a crime against the public, society, or state.

Examples under criminal law include:-

1. Murder,
2. Treason
3. Violence,
4. Theft, and
5. Drunk driving

Civil Law:

•  Is concerned with the rights and responsibilities of individuals and actions that harm an individual or another private party, such as a company.
• The following are some of the branches of civil law: –

1. Contract law is the law that governs contracts. 
2. Tort law is a branch of law that deals with wrongs
3. The property law 
4. Marriage legislation 
5. Inheritance law 

• A cause of action is created when a person’s civil or private rights are violated.
• Causes of action include: –

1. Contractual Breach 
2. Defamation Assault Negligence 

• Parliament uses trespassing on products and tutees and common law and equity to create causes of action.
• When a person’s civil rights are violated, a civil complaint or action is filed.
• Because the person who allegedly violated rights sues the accused offender, civil processes are structured as Plaintiff v Defendant.
• It is the plaintiff’s job to prove the defendant’s allegations.
• This means that the plaintiff is responsible for proving their case.
• The standard of proof in civil cases is based on a balance of probabilities or a weight of the evidence meaning that the defendant must convince the courts that the plaintiff’s claims are more likely than improbable to be true.
• If the plaintiff can prove his claims with evidence, he wins the lawsuit and receives a judgment, which could be in the form of:-

1. Damages (monetary compensation)  
2. Injunction 
3. Specific performance 
4. Dissolving a business 
5. Receiver’s appointment 

Differences between civil wrong and crime

 The Rule of Law 

• The rule of law is a legal maxim that suggests that no one is above the law and that government decisions must be based on well-established legal and moral principles.
• The Rule of Law limits the powers of government through the judicial defense of laws and the Constitution, which are based on internationally recognized basic legal values.
• The Rule of Law is intended to prevent dictatorship and defend people’s rights.
• In developing and transitional countries, the Rule of Law has a powerful impact on economic development.
• The concept of the Rule of Law is a framework developed by Dicey based on the English Legal system.
• It is also described as due process.

According to Dicey, the rule of law comprises three distinct conceptions, namely:-

1. Absolute supremacy or predominance of regular Law:  Law governs all acts of the State. 
2. Equality before the Law: this means equal subjection of all persons before the Law. It means that no person is exempted from obeying the Law. All persons are subjected to the same judicial process regardless of age, sex, creed, gender, or race.
3. The Law (Constitution) is a consequence and not the source of rights: Law manifests the people’s will.

Factors undermining the rule of law 

1. Excessive power of the Executive
2. Non – independent Judiciary
3. Corruption
4. Selective prosecution
5. Civil unrest
6. Ignorance of the Law