BUSINESS LAW

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BUSINESS LAW

• Chapter 1
• Introduction to the Law and Our Legal System

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Objectives

• Answer the question, What is Law?
• List the major sources of our legal system
• Identify the supreme law of the land
• Explain the difference between our legal system
  and the legal systems of other nations

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What is Law?

• Aristotle (Greek philosopher)
• a pledge that citizens of a state will do
  justice to one another
• Plato (Aristotles teacher)
• Form of social control
• Cicero (Roman philosopher)
• The agreement of reason and nature, the just and
  unjust

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What is Law?

• Sir William Blackstone (British jurist)
• a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the
  supreme power in a state, commanding what is
  right, and prohibiting what is wrong
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (American)
• A set of rules that allowed one to predict how a
  court would resolve a particular dispute

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What is Law?

• Law consists of enforceable rules governing
  relationships among individuals and between
  individuals and their society.

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Sources of American Law

• Common Law
• Constitutional Law
• Statutory Law
• Administrative Law

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Common Law

• Based on the English legal system
• A body of general rules that prescribed social
  conduct and was applied throughout the entire
  English realm.
• Precedent a court decision that serves as a
  guide for future decisions
• Stare Decisis to stand on decided cases

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Common Law

• Equity
• Branch of unwritten law that seeks a more
  equitable and adequate remedy than damages
  (money).
• Order a party to perform a promise
• Direct a party to do or not to do an act

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Common Law

• Case Law
• Rules of law announced in court decisions.
• Includes the cases that interpret judicial
  precedents, statutes, regulations, and
  constitutional provisions.

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Constitutional Law

• Constitutions set forth the general organization,
  powers and limits of their governments.
• U. S. Constitution is the supreme law of the
  land.
• Unless they conflict with the U. S. Constitution,
  state constitutions are supreme within their
  borders.

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Statutory Law

• Laws enacted by a legislative body
• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform
  State Laws (NCCUSL, 1892)
• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC, 1952)
• Facilitates commerce among the states

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Administrative Law

• Rules, orders, and decisions of administrative
  agencies
• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Federal Trade Commission
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

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Review

• What are the four sources of law?

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Answer

• Common law
• Constitutional law
• Statutory law
• Administrative law

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Civil Law

• The branch of law dealing with the definition and
  enforcement of all private or public rights.
• Duties that exist either between persons or
  between citizens and their governments.
• Make the other party comply with a duty or pay
  for damage caused by failure to comply.

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Criminal Law

• Law that governs and defines those actions that
  are crimes and that subject the convicted
  offender to punishment imposed by the government.
• A wrong committed against the public as a whole.
• The government seeks to impose a penalty upon an
  allegedly guilty person.

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Civil Law System

• From the Roman Empire, based on a code rather
  than case law.
• Judges are not bound by precedent.
• Doctrine of stare decisis does not apply.
• Followed in continental European countries, Latin
  American, African, Asian, Japan, and others.
  Louisiana has elements.

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International Law

• The law that governs relations among nations.
• International customs
• Treaties
• What happens if an international law is violated?

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Review

• What is the supreme law of the land?

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Answer

• United States Constitution