Public law regulates the relationship between the private sector and public organizations.
The branch of law that has the objective of regulating the links established between individuals and private entities with bodies related to public power is known as public law , provided that they act protected by their public powers. legitimate and based on what the law establishes.
In other words, public law can be presented as the legal system that allows regulating relations of subordination and superordination between the State and individuals. In the case of links between state bodies, the relationships can be subordination, superordination or coordination.
Public law vs. private law
It is important to keep in mind that, in practice, there are no sharp divisions between the different branches of law , but rather they are all interrelated . In any case, it is possible to establish several differences between public law and private law .
The differences between public and private law are not an issue debated only in these times in which we live, but have been present in the judicial field for a long time. Thus, for example, we know that already during the period of the Enlightenment, in the 18th century, a clear separation was established between them while the Right to Work was promoted due to the development of the Industrial Revolution.
In public law, the links are usually unequal.
The contributions of Von Ihering and Jellinek
In the 19th century, this clear separation was also continued. In this specific case, it is worth highlighting the role played by the German jurist Rudolf von Ihering. What this did was establish three clearly differentiated categories: public law that had public property as its object of work, private law that was responsible for regulating what is the property of individuals, and finally the collective right that had as its owner of a property to the entire community of citizens.
Contemporary with this author, we also find another German jurist named Georg Jellinek who made an approach that establishes to a certain extent the clear differentiation that we have today between the two types of law. Thus, he determined that what separates these are the relationships that govern them: inequality in the case of public law because there is a subject that acts with power, which would be the State, and equality in matters of private law because both participating parties agree. are at the same level.
In the first of the aforementioned branches, the norms are imperative ; On the other hand, in private law, the rules are dispositive and act when there is no prior agreement or contract between the parties.
On the other hand, the most common relationship in public law is one of inequality (the public power is in a sovereign position, what is known as imperium ), while, in private law, the relationships are one of equality .
Norms in public law
Finally, it should be noted that, in public law, the rules pursue the achievement of a public interest . In private law, rules tend to favor the particular interests of people.
Legal certainty in public law is given by the principle of legality , which implies that the exercise of powers must be based on legal norms determined by a competent body and by the matters that are under its jurisdiction.