The legal term used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and child, including e.g. the right of the parent to make decisions for the child and the duty to care for it.

A contract is any legally-enforceable promise or set of promises made by one party to another and, as such, reflects the policies represented by freedom of contract. In the civil law, contracts are considered to be part of the general law of obligations.

Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. The goal of this process is that of achieving criminal justice. The major objective of criminal law is deterrence and punishment.

A legal judgment that severs the marriage of two people and restores them to the status of single persons. Also call a dissolution of marriage.

Sometimes referred to as medical negligence, it applies to doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals. As with general negligence, it describes conduct that deviates from a reasonable standard of care. It is usually necessary to prove that deviation by the testimony of expert witnesses in the same field of practice in which the health care worker was engaged at the time of the incident.