Overview

• Civil laws generally pertain to disputes (contracts, torts, property, family, etc) and are less serious than criminal laws. Cases can generally be settled outside of court.
• Much of the specifics around civil laws and how to resolve such conflicts will be decided upon by local communities.
  • A functioning legal system must never breach the Legal Principle, but will naturally be broader than it, according to the preferences of local communities.
  • The civil justice systems of countries like the UK or USA today generally function well, and serve as excellent blueprints for how a free society might structure many aspects of its jurisprudence.
    • Much of contract law, property law, tort law and trials, appeals and evidence law have been developed over centuries and are generally compatible with the Legal Principle. These dispute resolution procedures could be fine-tuned, but we inherit a foundation here that generally functions well.
• Some of the basic fundamental principles underlying civil law can be loosely be described with phrases like: “Do the Right Thing”, “Act Fairly”, “Act Reasonably”, “Keep Promises”, “Be Trustworthy” and “Be Responsible”.

Much of Civil Law already aligns with the Legal Principle, but some coercive elements must be removed

• Some coercive civil laws exist in employment, tax, worker’s compensation, social security, elder, and bankruptcy laws. These should be immediately abolished.
• However, the misalignment between our current legal system and the Legal Principle primarily stems from the substantive law, specifically: a) failure to prohibit aggressing and b) prohibition of non-aggressing behaviour:
  1. Failure to prohibit aggressing
     • Legalized coercion via contract enforcement (and obstruction of due process): The state enforces the illegitimate ‘social contract’, appropriating property from non-aggressors without consent or due process.
     • Corporate harm sanctioned by regulatory exemptions: the state grants legal immunity to corporations that breach the Legal Principle by damaging others’ property via certain types of pollution.
  2. Prohibition of non-aggressing behaviour
     • Government coercion through victimless "Crimes": the state aggresses against non-aggressors by enforcing prohibitions on consensual activities and valid contracts like drug use, prostitution, etc.