breach of contract. Another illustration comes from Australian income tax law.
Stated in simplified form a person’s taxable income is largely determined by an
equation where the principal component is that income minus deductions
equals taxable income. Vast tracts of income tax legislation define types of
income and types of deductions.
Functional Relationships
General Position
There is a functional relationship between two rules when the consequences of
Rule A and the consequences of Rule B bear some relationship. We can
illustrate this by dividing these rules into elements and consequences:
Rule A
Rule B
Element A1
Element B1
Element A2
Element B2
Element An
Element Bn
Consequence A
?
Consequence B
Relationship
Figure 3.8 Functional Relationship
If Rule A is related to Rule B there is a relationship between the consequences
of Rule A and Rule B, that is, between Consequence A and Consequence B.
To find this relationship
it is necessary to examine the consequence of each
rule and ask yourself how the consequence of this rule
relates to the
consequence
of any other rule. In most cases with macro analysis the
relationships among the various rules are functional.
Special Case: Litigation
For using law, there is one special set of functional relationships that is worth
knowing. These do not neatly fit a recognised law subject. Instead they apply
to the activity of litigation, using the term ‘litigation’ to refer to any decision
making whether the decision be made by a court, a tribunal or an official.
There are four types of litigious law – action, establishment, jurisdictional and
procedural provisions. These types of law are related in the following way:
(1)
Action provisions are central because they create a cause of action.
They contain two specific types of provision, substantive and remedial.
Substantive provisions set out the elements of a cause of action. Substantive
provisions set out the elements of, and therefore define, the wrong for which
the plaintiff can sue. Remedial provisions indicate the consequences that
follow when the elements of the cause of action are satisfied. To do this they
define the remedy that seeks to right the wrong.
(2)
The other three provisions – establishment, jurisdictional and procedural
provisions – are ancillary because they provide for hearing the cause of action.
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