The resulting increase in disputes would only further strain an already overburdened legal system. In light of this unpredictability, our legal system has evolved a structural framework of rules that govern relations among individuals and between individuals and the State. The resulting rules are either contained in the common law of the state, when they are based solely on the cumulative wisdom of judicial decisions, or they are contained in legislative enactments that often represent the codification of common law principles or ideas. The law has reacted differently to specific types of conduct. Modern jurisprudence has developed distinct bodies or categories of law that are associated with these different types of conduct.
Civil procedure regulates access to and behavior within the judicial system.
Contract law regulates the behavior of parties who have voluntarily entered into agreements to do or to refrain from doing something. Tort and criminal law set standards of conduct which are binding upon members of society. Tort law provides a means for parties injured by the conduct of fellow members of society to bring an action against the injuring party to personally compensate the injured party. Criminal law is analogous to tort law and often provides parallel actions. Criminal law, however, views certain types of conduct as an affront to society.