Private Law

Private law governs relationships between individuals and entities — contract, tort, property, and obligations — rather than relations with the state.

Scope

It covers contract, tort, property, unjust enrichment, and the conceptual structure of private rights and duties.

Core questions

• How are private rights and duties structured?
• How are agreements (contracts) enforced?
• How is liability for harms (torts) allocated?
• How is property defined and protected?

Key concepts

• Contract
• Tort
• Property
• Rights and duties
• Jural relations
• Liability

Key theories

Fundamental legal conceptions

Hohfeld analysed jural relations (right/duty, privilege/no-right, power/liability) underlying private law.

Freedom of contract

Atiyah traced the rise and decline of freedom of contract and its social context.

History

Private-law scholarship combines doctrinal analysis with conceptual frameworks (Hohfeld) and historical and policy analysis of fields such as contract (Atiyah), alongside law-and-economics approaches.

Debates

Corrective justice versus efficiency

Whether private law aims at corrective justice between parties or at economic efficiency.

Key figures

• Wesley Hohfeld
• Patrick Atiyah

Seminal works

• hohfeld-1913
• atiyah-1979

Frequently asked questions

What is private law?

The branch of law governing relations between private parties — contracts, torts, property — as opposed to relations with the state (public law).