Private Law Definition:

Law which regulates the relationships between individuals.

The 2006 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Law:
"The part of the law that deals with such aspects of relationships between individuals that are of
no direct concern to the state. It includes the law of property and trust, family law, the law of
contract, mercantile law and the law of tort."
Similarly, Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law suggests that the term civil law is synonymous
with private law:
"Private or civil law deals with those relations between individuals with which the state is not
directly concerned: as in the relations between husband and wife, parent and child, and the
various kinds of property, contracts, torts, trusts, legacies, the right recognized by the rules of
admiralty, etc."
Private law is the counterpart to public law.
Private Law vs. Public Law
Diffen Legal

Private law applies to relationships between individuals in a legal system. e.g. contracts and
labor laws. Public law applies to the relationship between an individual and the government. e.g.
criminal law.

Comparison chart
Private Law versus Public Law comparison chart
Private Law

Public Law

Relationships between individuals, such as

Governs the the Law of Contracts and the Law of
Torts.

The relationship between

individuals and the state.

Subdivisi Civil law, labor law, commercial law,

ons
corporate law, competition law.

Constitutional,
administrative and criminal.

Other
terms

Common law (in Canada and much of the

US)

Contents: Private Law vs Public Law

1 Definition

None

2 Subdivisions

3 Example

4 References

Definition
Private law governs relationships between individuals, such as contracts and the law of
obligations. In countries where it is known as common law, it also includes contracts made
between governments and individuals.
Public law is law governing the relationship between individuals (such as citizens and
companies) and the state.

Subdivisions
Private law includes civil law (such as contract law, law of torts and property law), labor law,
commercial law, corporations law and competition law.
Public law includes constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law. Constitutional law
considers the relationship between the state and the individual and between different branches of
the state. Administrative law regulates bureaucratic managerial procedures and defines powers of
administrative agencies. Criminal law involves that state imposing sanctions for defined crimes.

Example
Smoking indoors is a classic example of public vs private law regulation. As a public law,
smoking indoors is prohibited is certain countries. However, people formed membership clubs
where the agreement between the member and the property owner is a private law which the
government has no regulation over. Covered by this private law, the members are then allowed to
smoke indoors.