Federal Law (Russia)
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Federal law is the body of law created by the
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many powers to the central government while retaining or reserving other limited powers. As a result, two or more levels of government exist within an established geographic territory. The body of law of the common central government is the federal law. Examples of federal governments include those of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Pakistan,
Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Russia, the former Soviet Union and the United States.


Australia


Brazil


Canada


Germany


India


Malaysia


Pakistan


Russia


United States

The
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
established through the supremacy clause that the United States Constitution and federal law takes precedent over state law. These powers include the authority to govern international affairs, interstate commerce, the currency and national defense. After the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment applied the Constitution's Bill of Rights to state governments. Legislation passed by Congress, an Executive Order of the President, or a decision of
federal courts Federal court may refer to: United States * Federal judiciary of the United States ** United States district court, a particular federal court Elsewhere * Federal Court of Australia * Federal courts of Brazil * Federal Court (Canada) * Federal co ...
pursuant to the Constitution is federal law. Through the system of checks and balances, it is the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
that makes final decisions regarding
federal laws Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many pow ...
regarding specific cases brought before them. ''
McCulloch v. Maryland ''McCulloch v. Maryland'', 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that defined the scope of the U.S. Congress's legislative power and how it relates to the powers of American state legislatures. The dispute in ...
'' was a seminal case handed down by the Supreme Court in 1819 which prevented State legislatures from taxing federal institutions. This established the superior relationship that federal laws have with regards to conflicting State laws and was a critical moment for
federalism in the United States Federalism in the United States is the constitutional division of power between U.S. state governments and the federal government of the United States. Since the founding of the country, and particularly with the end of the American Civil War, ...
. federal laws are codified in the
United States Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...
.


Gravitational Force Theory

Professor Scott Dodson proposes a theory which argues that American federal law has some measurable effect on state law and compares this effect to a gravitational force that while not "inexorable", influences state actors to create legislature in accordance with or at least closely aligned with federal legislature. Dodson justifies the existence of this "pull" by arguing that state legislators and courts rarely exercise their constitutional power to deviate from Federal Law despite having the capability. He cited, among other supreme case decisions and legislative acts, the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enabling ...
as being responsible for ushering, "in a new era of federal procedural uniformity" in 1938.


Proposed Case Evidence

Dodson points to the 1957
Conley v. Gibson ''Conley v. Gibson'', 355 U.S. 41 (1957), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that provided a basis for a broad reading of the "short plain statement" requirement for pleading under Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil P ...
supreme court decision as additional contextualization for his argument. This case was brought as a class-action lawsuit by a group of African American rail workers to a Federal District Court in Texas and stating that “their collective bargaining agent be compelled to represent them fairly” in accordance with the Railway Labor Act. The suit was initially dismissed on the basis that the complaint did not follow the previously set federal precedence of requiring a complaint “to state a claim upon which relief could be given”. The supreme court later held that this decision was a mistake based on their subjective interpretation of the Federal Rules of Procedure. The Court prioritized Rule 8 while glossing over Rule 12 to establish to a fairly liberating set of standards for pleading procedures that was then adopted by many state legislatures.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Law Public law