Government officials, notaries, lawyers, police, prosecutors, judges, and court
officers are all considered officers legally sworn to uphold the law (yes, even
lawyers, it’s part of their oath), and they are the point of contact between the
public and the institutions of law.
As with the framework earlier when we looked at Formal Law, Applied Law,
and Your Law, we can look at these offices with a Formal Description
of their functions, an Applied Description of how they function in practice,
and Your Description of how they might function in your case.
We will look at each of these groups separately:
- Officials of the government bureacracies responsible for issuing and keeping official
documents, including the private office of notaris responsible for witnessing
contracts;
- Law offices and lawyers who advise and represent clients in both civil and criminal
matters;
- Police and Prosecutors responsible for investigating crimes and bringing them to
trial;
- The courts responsible for issuing decisions in civil and criminal trials.