Part Ⅰ The World of Law

This country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast.

——Robert Bolt

A Man for All Seasons

The world of law is as vast，detailed and complicated as many other realms and disciplines.And we have to find it and understand it.

In seeking legal information and knowledge，it is not surprising that one resorts to the internet.There，we encounter a whole array of material，some reliable and some not，some digestible and others incomprehensible.What is important to know is that，legally，there are secondary sources and primary sources.Helpful as secondary sources may be，it is the primary sources — statute and case law — that are authoritative.Chapter 1 explains the distinctions as to the sources of law.

As one finds the law and tries to understand it，one is amazed by the sheer number of areas or types of law，much like how medicine，engineering and many other fields of study splinter into a myriad subdivisions.

Fortunately，for law，there is a fundamental core of three areas — crime，tort and contract — and this reasonably distinct subdivision helps greatly as one seeks to understand the law.Chapter 2 explains this categorisation of law.