ABSTRACT
The orthodox view used to be that public law did not exist in a common law system, but that view is now passé. The modern view is that public law encompasses such distinct components as constitutional and administrative law, criminal law and tax law. But a simple way of approaching public law for our purposes is to conceive of it as the body of law which deals with the powers and duties of government as such, but more particularly as the area of law which provides protection of the citizen against the enormous power of the State. This protection is offered by the courts using as their principal tool the power of judicial review.1
