good of society as a whole, may fully justify the act and bring exemption from damages.

Sec. 11. THE LAW OF JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. The law of judicial procedure is the law that governs the presentation and trial of cases in the courts.

very important branch of the law is that law by which the prosecution and defense of cases in the courts is governed. This law, it will be noticed at once, differs from all of the other branches in a very basic way. It confers no rights, but only determines how the rights conferred by the other branches shall be asserted. It is sometimes called "adjective law," and the other branches of the law "substantive law."

The adjective law includes the law of pleading by which the written statement of the case and of the defense is governed. This law by the early common law courts was very technical and exact, so that frequently great injustice was done to litigants by the enforcement of the rules of pleading. The rules now are vastly more liberal, and pleadings are subject to ready amendment. It must always remain true, however, that in any system of judicial procedure there must be rules to govern the statement of the respective sides, and suitors must be required to conform to these rules. The decision of the case upon its merits should however, be the governing consideration, and all rules of pleading made subservient thereto.

The adjective law also includes all of the law of judicial procedure and practice governing the progress of the case in its trial, the rendition of the judgment, the right and manner of appeal to higher courts, and all of the steps that have to do with judicial determination of a

cause.

Sec. 12. THE OTHER BRANCHES OF THE MUNICIPAL LAW.

We have considered above the chief branches of the law which we will not consider elsewhere at length. The other branches are taken up at length in this volume and companion volumes.

CHAPTER 3.

FORM OF LAW.

Sec. 13. PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER.

In this chapter we propose to inquire into the form which the law takes in its expression. Where it is stated, so that we may read it? Who has authority to state it?

Sec. 14. WRITTEN LAW. Written law is the law prescribed by a body having law making power, and is so called because the permanent memorial of it is in writing.

Law, as we have noticed, is essential to government. Necessarily, then, there must be a law maker or a law making body. In England it is the Parliament, in the United States, the Congress, and in the various states, the State assemblies. As law when made by a law making body is in the form of a permanent written record, it has come to be called written law. Obviously, this term would include all state papers that have the force of law, treaties and constitutions as well as statutes and city ordinances. Let us briefly notice each of these.

Constitutions we have already considered.

Treaties are compacts between nations. In the United States they are in the nature of legislative acts and are expressly declared by the constitution to be with the constitution the "supreme law of the land." Accordingly, the state legislatures as well as Congress must observe them.

"Statutes" is a word sometimes used in a larger sense to include state papers of any sort, but as commonly employed and understood signifies the enactments of the law making body in the pursuance of its normal powers. In our discussion of constitutional law we have noted the power of the federal congress and the power of the state assemblies to enact statutes and that any attempted enactment that is contrary to or inhibited by the constitution is void and of no effect and the court will so declare it.

Sec. 15. CODES. A code is a statutory enactment which assumes to put the law of any particular subject in a complete written form, or which assumes to embody the entire law of the jurisdiction in orderly shape.

A form of statutory law is that of the code. A code is a textual embodiment of the law on a given subject or of all the law. The Code Napoleon is the first great example in history. In the United States there has been but little codification until the 3d quarter of the 1800's. Georgia, Iowa, Dakota and California were the first states to codify their entire law; about a dozen states now have such codes. The statutory law of the United States and of the several states has been enacted from time to time as need has required. But attempts have been made to codify on various subjects.

While there is much to be said in favor of codification, especially of the law of certain subjects, there are dangers that surround it. Unskilful codification is likely to twist and warp the law from the symmetrical growth which it would have with time by the enactment of statutes from time to time and the development of the common law.

For this reason codification more befits subjects of the law that are already fairly well developed.

Sec. 16. UNIFORM LAWS. A number of laws, chiefly on essentially commercial subjects, have been drafted by a commission, known as the Commissioners on Uniformity of Legislation, and adopted more or less widely by the various states for the purpose of establishing a uniformity on the subjects covered throughout the several states.

Το

As the federal constitution takes over into national domain only the powers specifically enumerated, and leaves to the state the great bulk and reserve of power over commercial and other questions we have the possibility of the law developing differently in different states. overcome this tendency, the different states have within. times fairly recent appointed commissioners upon uniformity of legislation who have drafted bills upon various subjects and proposed them for enactment to the several states of the union. Some of these acts have been quite widely adopted, while others have been slow of acceptance. The principal acts are as follows: (1) Negotiable Instruments Act.

(2) Sales Act.

(3) Bills of Lading Act."

(4) Warehouse Receipt Act."

(5) Partnership Act.s

(6) Limited Partnership Act.8

(7) Stock Transfer Act.9

Sec. 17. UNWRITTEN LAW. The unwritten or common law is the law declared by the judges in the decision of

6. See Volume on Negotiable Instruments in this series.

7. See Volume on Bailments, Carriers and Sales in this series. 8. See Volume on Partnerships in this series.

9. See Volume on Corporations in this series.