Private right

The difference within the legal system of rules of private law and public law was established in Roman law. Private law referred to private relationships between various parties, such as a sales contract.

The difference between the rules of public and private law was first established by the Roman jurist Ulpiano.

The difference remains in the study of the legal norms that govern a State, on the one hand, the norms that organize, supervise and regulate public organisms and, on the other, the norms that regulate the relations between private individuals.

Characteristics of private law

The main characteristics of private law are:

• They are rules that affect the private sphere of people.
• Autonomy of the will prevails. That is, there is freedom of agreement between the parties, although with the limit of not doing what is prohibited by law (a contract in which the murder of a person is agreed).
• It is not a right where peremptory norms prevail.
• The rules of private law are based on the equality of the parties. In public law the administration is in a position of power with respect to the individual.
• Civil law is the broadest manifestation of private law.
• The norms of private law are addressed to citizens and not to the public powers.
• Public powers can be affected by the regulation of private law when they act as a private person.
• It does not pursue the general interest but the interest of private individuals.

Types of private law

The modern rights that constitute private law are:

• Civil law.
• Commercial legislation.
• Labor law.

These rights contain norms that regulate private relationships such as:

• Work contracts .
• Regulation of marriage.
• Right of succession
• Regulation for sale
• Intellectual property .

Principles of private law

Private law is based on two fundamental principles:

• Autonomy of the will : It means the ability of the parties to govern their relationships in the private sphere without the need for prohibitive imperative rules. For example, in a sales contract between two private persons, they can stipulate the price that they agree to, as well as the form of payment. Individuals govern their own interests as long as it is not a matter contrary to imperative law or of impossible content.
• Equality of the parties : Private subjects start from a situation of equality where neither of them has supremacy, both are subject to the same legal framework.

Difference between public and private law

Here you can see the difference between public and private law: