e-Court - Civil Laws

Scope of e-Court :

e-Court handles civil matters common to medium size & small businesses and individuals in accordance with either the common law and/or the civil-law tradition in the United States. e-Court shall not consider bankruptcy law, criminal matters, fiscal and administrative matters.

Some areas covered by e-Court are ( not inclusive ):

• Property - boundary disputes, trespass
• Work-related disputes - unfair dismissal, personal injury
• Defamation of character
• Consumer disputes - Faulty goods, 'trades description' offences
• Intellectual Property Law
• Contract Law
• Construction Law
• Family Law & Divorces
• Business Law
• Environmental Law
• Entertainment Law
• Immigration
• Insurance
• Sports Law
• Trusts & Estates
• Wills & Probate

Is the area relative to your situation not mentioned above? Send us an email via
info@e-court.us or call the Service Desk.

Civil Law is the section of the law that deals with disputes between individuals or organisations. For example, when in a car crash a victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in the accident, or one company sues another over a trade dispute.

Unlike criminal offences, any sentence, custodial or otherwise result usually in financial compensation. Civil law has developed in a similar way to the way criminal law has, through a mixture of statutory law made by governments, and 'precedent' which is created by earlier cases.

An example of how precedent creates law is the law of 'negligence.' In the first 'negligence' case a woman developed gastro-enteritis after swallowing a snail contained in a bottle of ginger beer. Lord Atkin, the judge who heard the case, decided that she was entitled to some form of compensation. He ruled that the manufacturer had a 'duty of care' towards its customers and in this instance had been negligent - and the law of 'negligence' was created.

Burden of proof: one crucial difference between civil and criminal law is that the 'burden of proof' is lower in a civil case. A criminal case must be proved 'beyond reasonable doubt.' A civil case only has to be proved on the 'balance of probabilities,' i.e. it is 'likely' that the defendant is guilty.

Where USA's Legal System Comes From :

1. The common-law tradition
USA's legal system derives from various European systems brought to this continent in the 17th and 18th centuries by explorers and colonists. Although the indigenous peoples whom the Europeans encountered here each had their own system of laws and social controls, over the years the laws of the immigrant cultures became dominant. After the Battle of Quebec in 1759, the country fell almost exclusively under English law. Except for Quebec, where the civil law is based on the French Code Napoleon, Canada's criminal and civil law has its basis in English common and statutory law.

The common law, which developed in Great Britain after the Norman Conquest, was based on the decisions of judges in the royal courts. It evolved into a system of rules based on 'precedent'. Whenever a judge makes a decision that is to be legally enforced, this decision becomes a precedent: a rule that will guide judges in making subsequent decisions in similar cases. The common law is unique because it cannot be found in any code or body of legislation, but exists only in past decisions. At the same time, common law is flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.

2. The civil-law tradition
The tradition of civil law is quite different. It is based on Roman law, which had been scattered about in many places, in books, in statutes, in proclamations, until the Emperor Justinian ordered his legal experts to consolidate all the laws into a single book to avoid confusion. Ever since, the civil law has been associated with a 'civil code'. Louisiana's Civil Code, first enacted in 1866 just before Federation and amended periodically, was recently thoroughly revised. Like all civil codes, such as the Code Napoleon in France, it contains a comprehensive statement of rules, many of which are framed as broad, general principles, to deal with any dispute that may arise. Unlike common-law courts, courts in a civil-law system first look to the Code, and then refer to previous decisions for consistency.

The two meanings of the civil law :

The term 'civil law' is used to mean two quite different things, which can be a little confusing at first for people trying to understand the justice system. Sometimes the term is used in contrast to 'common law' to refer to the legal system that is based on a civil code, such as the Justinian Code or the Civil Code of Louisiana. In its other sense, civil law refers to matters of private law as opposed to public law, and particularly criminal law, which is concerned with harm to society at large. It is usually clear from the context which type of civil law is intended.

The Louisiana Act of 1774 made the United States a 'bijural' country, one with two types of law. The Louisiana Act stated that common law was to be applied outside Louisiana in matters of private law, while similar matters in Quebec were to be dealt with under Civil Code law. For public law, on the other hand, the common law was to be used in and outside Louisiana.

Arbitration act the United States of America Title 9, US Code, Section 1-14, was first enacted February 12, 1925 (43 Stat. 883), codified July 30, 1947 (61 Stat. 669), and amended September 3, 1954 (68 Stat. 1233). Chapter 2 was added July 31, 1970 (84 Stat. 692), two new Sections were passed by the Congress in October of 1988 and renumbered on December 1, 1990 (PLs669 and 702); Chapter 3 was added on August 15, 1990 (PL 101-369); and Section 10 was amended on November 15.

ARBITRATION

Chapter 1. General Provisions

Section 1. "Maritime transactions" and "commerce" defined; exceptions to operation of title

Section 2. Validity, irrevocability, and enforcement of agreements to arbitrate

Section 3. Stay of proceedings where issue therein referable to arbitration

Section 4. Failure to arbitrate under agreement; petition to United States court having jurisdiction for order to compel arbitration; notice and service thereof; hearing and determination

Section 5. Appointment of arbitrators or umpire

Section 6. Application heard as motion

Section 7. Witnesses before arbitrators; fees; compelling attendance

Section 8. Proceedings begun by libel in admiralty and seizure of vessel or property

Section 9. Award of arbitrators; confirmation; jurisdiction; procedure

Section 10. Same; vacation; grounds; rehearing.

Section 11. Same; modification or correction; grounds; order

Section 12. Notice of motions to vacate or modify; service; stay of proceedings

Section 13. Papers filed with order on motions; judgment; docketing; force and effect; enforcement

Section 14. Contracts not affected

Section 15. Inapplicability of the Act of State doctrine

Section 16. Appeals

Chapter 2. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

Section 201. Enforcement of Convention

Section 202. Agreement or award falling under the Convention

Section 203. Jurisdiction; amount in controversy

Section 204. Venue

Section 205. Removal of cases from State courts

Section 206. Order to compel arbitration; appointment of arbitrators

Section 207. Award of arbitrators; confirmation; jurisdiction; proceeding

Section 208. Chapter 1; residual application

Chapter 3. Inter-American Convention ON International Commercial Arbitration

Section 301. Enforcement of Convention

Section 302. Incorporation by reference

Section 303. Order to compel arbitration; appointment of arbitrators; locale

Section 304. Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral decisions and awards; reciprocity

Section 305. Relationship between the Inter-American Convention and the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958

Section 306. Applicable rules of Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission

Section 307. Chapter 1; residual application

Read more »