Introduction au droit Practice Quiz (24 questions)

Explanation

Jusnaturalists are dualists: they recognize natural law as a superior order of justice and assess positive law against it. Positivists, by contrast, recognize human-enacted law as law without requiring conformity to an external ideal of justice.

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Legal positivism is monist: it recognizes humanly posited law and does not make its validity depend on an external ideal of justice. Jusnaturalism instead evaluates positive law against a superior order of justice.

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Kelsen explains legal validity through a hierarchy in which each norm is grounded in its conformity to the immediately superior norm. A norm’s moral or political desirability is not the basis of validity in this account.

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Objective law consists of rules of conduct imposed on members of society, with compliance enforceable through public authority. Personal claims describe subjective rights rather than objective law.

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A rule of law guides conduct, has general application, and can be enforced through sanctions for noncompliance. A decision directed to a named individual is particular rather than a generally applicable rule.

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A general and impersonal rule addresses a category of people in the same situation, rather than identifying individuals by name. A decision addressed to a named person is a distinct kind of particular measure.

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Moral rules engage individual conscience, whereas legal rules emanate from state authority and may be imposed through public force. A sacred text is associated with religious rules, not the source of moral constraint described here.

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The hierarchy places the Constitution at the top, followed by international treaties and European law, then statutes, and then regulations such as decrees and orders. Placing statutes above treaties and European law reverses the stated ordering.

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In the hierarchy associated with Kelsen, a lower norm must not contradict a higher one and may be annulled or set aside by a judge if it does. Repeated observance does not, by itself, allow a lower norm to override a superior norm.

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Subjective rights are individual prerogatives that objective law recognizes and that a person can invoke in relations with others. The body of general rules is objective law, not subjective rights.

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Patrimonial rights have pecuniary value and are generally transferable, transmissible, and available to creditors, unlike extra-patrimonial rights. The distinction is not based on whether a right arises from a contract or a legally significant event.

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A legal fact is an event, voluntary or involuntary, to which the law attaches effects, so accidental damage can qualify. A legal act, by contrast, is an intentional legal act such as entering into a contract.

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A legal act such as a contract should in principle be proved in writing. The rule allowing proof by any means generally applies to legal facts, not legal acts.

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Carbonnier's “non-law” describes social relations that escape law's influence because individuals voluntarily choose not to resort to it. It is not simply a gap caused by the absence of a legal rule.

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Duguit grounds law in social solidarity and concrete interdependence, with a rule being legal because it is seen as necessary for life in society. A rule's legal character does not rest simply on the sovereign state's will.

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The executive governs, the legislative power votes on laws, and the judicial power decides disputes; separating these functions aims to prevent arbitrariness. The legislature does not resolve disputes, and the judiciary does not vote on laws.

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Under the described procedure, the text may be adopted without a vote if no motion of censure is filed and passed within 24 hours. A passed motion of censure would instead prevent this outcome and can bring down the government.

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The National Assembly is elected by direct universal suffrage, whereas the Senate is elected indirectly by a college of electors composed mainly of local officials. The chambers therefore do not both use direct election.

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A regime of confusion of powers concentrates executive and legislative functions in one body, as in an assembly regime. Assigning the functions to independent bodies describes separation of powers instead.

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In the strict-separation model described here, the president cannot dissolve Congress, and Congress cannot remove the president through a vote of no confidence. Mutual accountability and dissolution powers instead characterize flexible separation in a parliamentary regime.

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Flexible separation in a parliamentary regime makes the executive responsible to the legislature while giving the executive a dissolution power in return. Mutual independence, rather than reciprocal political links, is characteristic of strict separation.

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The maxim means that where there is a society, there is law: human groups produce rules to organize themselves. The maxim does not specifically concern courts, constitutions, or contractual obligations.

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Positive law consists of the legal rules in force and applicable in a state at a given time. An ideal higher order of justice describes natural law, not positive law.

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The maxim places the burden of proof on the person demanding performance of an obligation. The person accused of non-performance does not bear that initial burden merely because the claim has been made.