Final answer:
Civil law is the branch of law that deals with disputes between private parties over personal and contractual rights, offering legal recourse in cases like breaches of contract.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of law that applies to conflicts between private parties concerning rights and obligations is known as civil law. Civil law involves disputes that are non-criminal and typically concern the contractual rights and personal rights of individuals or entities. These rights allow people to enter into agreements where they can make choices about their property, expecting the law to provide a recourse in cases of noncompliance. For example, an employment agreement between a skilled surgeon and a patient ensures that the surgeon operates in expectation of payment. Failure to pay can be seen as a theft of property—the surgeon's services—and the surgeon would have the right to seek payment through the legal system if the patient does not fulfill the contract. The enforcement of contracts is crucial to the rule of law, which supports clear, fair, and publicly knowable laws that protect individual rights to engage in business, ultimately supporting economic growth.