Understanding the Legal System

Human Rights are a matter of law, to uphold your Human Rights you must first have a clear understanding ofwhatlaw is.

I. Fundamentals

A. Definition.

Because the definition of terms used in any field of endeavor is essential for enabling mutual understanding of whatever is being discussed, we begin by defining “law”:

“Law” consists of the set of rules within a given territory and sphere of functioning that defines who has what alleged authority for using deadly physical force against whom.

Examination of this definition requires understanding five (5) essential aspects/elements:

1. Law is a set of rules. These rules, within a finite sphere called a “set,” consist of abstract concepts expressed in symbols and words. Law, therefore, functions in the realm of abstraction, not reality. It is a product of, and used by, the human mind through man’s ability to create symbolic representations, i.e., “maps,” of reality, i.e., “territory.” The cardinal axiom of semantics pertains:

“The map is not the territory. The name is not the thing named.”

The bottom-line consequence of this is that law is a word game.

In the course of any legal process, at some point a conclusion is reached by some living being(s), based on whatever uses of words and concepts (speaking and writing) occurred in the proceeding (such as a prosecution, arrest, or trial), whereby a conclusory map (warrant, summons, indictment, complaint, ruling, order, judgment, etc.) is formulated for the purpose of being imposed back on the territory (reality, such as a living being). The vital importance of understanding concepts pertaining to law, and the definitions of the words used, is therefore obvious.

2. Concrete application of law occurs within the boundaries of a given territory—abstract or real. This realm of application, in law, is called “venue”—the situs wherein whatever law is operating is deemed to be allowed to operate.

3. The sphere of functioning of law, i.e., the locus of authority for dealing with it, is called “jurisdiction.” Another definition of jurisdiction is power and control, such as whether some policeman has a right to arrest you, or a judge of a particular court has the authority to try the matters alleged (subject matter jurisdiction) and impose them on the physical you (in personam jurisdiction).

4. The issue of authority is far-reaching and profound. From what source does anyone presume to derive his alleged authority for acting against anyone else? For innumerable millennia mankind on this planet has been implementing violence against members of his own species for a vast number of alleged reasons. The crucial issue is, what reasons will stand the light of day and in what context or from what vantage point be deemed legitimate? The vast majority of the people on the planet, it would seem, rely on the guns of the law to accomplish results, and mindlessly subscribe to the validity of such widespread practice, without questioning or challenging the fundamental soundness of either policing or being policed by others.

5. All of the foregoing revolves around the final, and most serious, element of our definition of law, which is force. It is the fact that law and all the other elements thereof discussed above resolve down to uses of deadly physical violence, that makes a study of the subject so important. “Law” is not simply another academic discipline or philosophical discourse. It is a matter of life and death—all hinging on the particular understanding of the parties involved concerning the first four (4) concepts.

B. Types of law.

There are fundamentally only two kinds of law in human society: “real law,” of which true common law is a particular cultural style and development, and “Roman Civil Law.” The latter is a perversion and usurpation of the former. Roughly speaking, the first kind refers to the means used by free people for interacting with each other in the complete absence of any governmental involvement, while the second is the law of governments whereby the locus of power and alleged sovereignty resides in the state vis-à-vis the people.

“Common law,” as the law of free, sovereign people, is independent of organized governments. While common law in general is the set of values and prevailing customs that arise organically out of a given culture or group of people, what is referred to as “English common law” is that system of principles and procedures for dealing with disputes that derives from the Anglo-Saxon culture prevailing in England before 1066. Such English common law is the law of the land, dealing with issues bearing on land (as opposed to the sea), e.g., ownership, boundaries, and produce of the land (including man, his labor, and such derivatives of the land as silver and gold). Adherence by the people to common law provided peace and stability to the social order for hundreds of years before the Norman Conquest, and, although progressively eroded and usurped by the Crown after 1066, for centuries thereafter. All writs are of common-law derivation, as are the jury system and countless other aspects of what constitutes law today. We largely take the vast heritage of common law for granted without being aware of the source of law we use. In common law a king has no access, without permission, to the meanest commoner’s hovel, which is the source of the phrase: “A man’s home is his castle.”

Roman Civil Law is the “law” of the state, i.e., rulers—kings, princes, emperors, dictators, etc. Over the centuries governments have usurped the forms, trappings, and genius of common law, transmuting them into operations of Roman Civil Law to use as tools of rulership. The spirit of truth, fairness, and justice of common law is thereby stifled and twisted, the forms of common law gutted of content and perverted from their just intent into means to implement tyranny.

The principles of both common law and Roman Civil Law are simple. Common law is expression of two fundamental precepts:

1) Every man has free will and is therefore sovereign over himself and his own domain. A man is fully entitled to do whatever he wishes with his life except transgress against the similar right of others. If one damages another he loses his sovereignty and rights to the degree necessary to provide rectitude and recompense to the one he wronged. In short: “Thou shalt not transgress against the rights of thy neighbor.”

2) All social intercourse is contract, whether express (written, bilateral) or implied (unwritten, ratified by acts not signature). Therefore, you are obligated to fulfill the terms and conditions of whatever contracts you enter into.

Roman Civil Law has but one principle:

The will of the ruler has the force and effect of law.

All human governments are necessarily some form of Roman Civil Law, because no basis in common law can exist for any “ruler” to “rule” (i.e., to usurp, enforced by force, the rights, options, or property of) another man. Also, the fact that all life is contract is the source of the timeless maxim of law: Contract makes the law. This maxim is found in virtually every culture, language, and legal system in the world. All law is inherently contract, whether express or implied. An express contract is formalized in writing, specifying the various rights and duties of the parties and all the terms and conditions to which the parties agree, with the voluntary consent of each party indicated by his signature. An implied contract is ratified by act instead of signature. An implied contract is formed, for instance, when one goes into a restaurant and orders a meal. Although no written contract is signed, a contract is formed nonetheless by the act of ordering and consuming the meal, on the basis of which one non-verbally consents to pay for it.

Roman Civil Law functions chiefly by implied contract, ratified by the presumed assent of the “ruled” through either not asserting and preserving their own rights and freedom vis-à-vis the ruler or, worse yet, accepting the “benefits” that the government offers and thereby incurring whatever obligations are contractually implied by the acceptance.

C. Law and contract.

All contracts, whether express or implied, are subject to the universal essentials of contract law, which pertain to fundamentals of the interaction between the parties. These fundamentals are well codified in many places, e.g. the California Civil Code, Sections 1549 et seq.: