chapter1t
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter 1
Sources ofbusiness law and
the global legalenvironment
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Chapter Outline
The Nature Of Law
The Common Law Traditions
Sources Of Law
Classifications Of Law
The Constitution As It Affects Business
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The Nature Of Law
There have been and will continue to be
different definitions of law .
The Greek philosopher Aristotle
saw law as a : pledge that citizen of a
state will do justice to one another .
Aristotles mentor, Plato, believed that
law was a form ofsocial control .
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The Nature Of Law (contd)
o The Roman oratorandpolitician
Cicero contended that law was the
agreement of reason and nature, the
distinction between the just and theunjust.
o The Britishjurists Sir William
Blackstone described law as : a rule
of civil prescribed by the supreme
power in a state, commanding what
is right, and prohibiting what is
wrong .
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The Nature Of Law (contd)
Although these defections vary on
their particulars, they all are based on
the following general observations :
law consists of enforceable rules
governing relationships among
individuals and between individuals
and their society .
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The Common Law Traditions
Stare Decisis
The Practice of deciding new cases
by referring to former decision, or
precedents, eventually became a
cornerstone of the English and
American judicial systems.
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The Common Law Traditions(contd)
The Importance of Precedents in Judicial
Decision Making
The doctrine ofstare decisis means
that once a court has set forth a
principle of law as applicable to a
certain set of facts, that court and
courts of lower rank must adhere to
that principle and apply it in the future
cases involving similar facts patterns .
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Sources Of Law
* Primary sources of Law , or sources that
establish the law, include the following :
Sources Of Law
Constitutional
Law
Statutory Law
and Legislation
Case Law andCommon Law
Doctrines
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Sources Of Law (contd)
ConstitutionalLaw
The federal government and the state
have separate written constitutions that set
forth the general organizations, powers, and
limits of their respective governments.
Constitutional Law : is the law as
expressed in these constitutions .
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Sources Of Law (contd)
Statutory Law andLegislation
o Status enacted by legislative
bodies at any level of government
make up another source of law,
which is generally referred to as
statutory law .
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Sources Of Law (contd)
Case Law and CommonLaw Doctrines
The body of law that was first
developed in England and that is still
used today in the united states consists
of the rules of law announced in the
court decisions.These rules of law include interpretations of
constitutional provisions, of statues enacted by
legislatures, and of regulations created by
administrative agencies .
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Sources Of Law (contd)
Case Law and CommonLaw Doctrines
The common laws --- the doctrines andprinciples embodied in case law --- governs all
areas not covered by statuary law ( or agency
regulations issued to implement various
statues ) .
*EXAMPLE#6*EXAMPLE#6In disputes concerning contracts
for the sale of goods, the Uniform Commercial
Code (statuary law) applies when one of its
provisions supersedes the common law of
contracts .
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Classifications Of Law
The huge body of the law may be broken down
according to several classification systems .
For example, one classification systems
divides the law into :
Substantive Law
All laws that define,describe, regulateand create legal
rights andobligations
Procedural Law
All laws that establishthe methods of
enforcing the rightsestablished by
substantive law
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Other classification systems divide law into
federal law and state law
Private Law
Dealing withrelationshipsbetween persons
Public Law
Addressing the
relationshipbetween thepersons and their
government
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
One divides the law into criminal and civil
law; the other divides the law into national
and international law .
Civil Law And Criminal Law
Civil Law
Spells out the rights and
duties that exist betweenpersons and their
governments, and the reliefavailable when a persons
rights are violated
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Civil Law And Criminal Law
Typically, in a civil case, a private party
uses another private party ( although the
government can also sue a party for a
civil law violation ) to make that other
party comply with a duty or pay for the
damage caused by failure to comply with
a duty .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Civil Law And Criminal Law
*EXAMPLE#7*EXAMPLE#7if a seller fails toif a seller fails toperform a contract with a buyer, theperform a contract with a buyer, the
buyer may bring a lawsuit againstbuyer may bring a lawsuit against
the seller. The purpose of the lawsuitthe seller. The purpose of the lawsuit
is either to compel the seller tois either to compel the seller toperform as promised or, moreperform as promised or, more
commonly, to obtain moneycommonly, to obtain money
damages for the sellers failure todamages for the sellers failure to
perform .perform .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Civil Law And Criminal Law
CriminalLaw
Has to do with the wrongscommitted against societyfor which society demand
redress .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Civil Law And Criminal Law
Criminal defendants are thus prosecuted
by public officials, such as a districtattorney(D.A.) on behalf of the state, not by
their victims or other private parties .
Whereas in a civil case the object is to
obtain remedies to the injured party, in a
criminal case the object is to punish the
wrongdoers in an attempt to deter others
from similar actions .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
Civil Law And Criminal Law
Penalties for violations of criminal
statutes consists of fines and/or
imprisonment---and, in some cases,
death .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National Law
The law of particular nation is nationallaw .
National law, of course, varies from
country to country, because each nations
law reflects the interests, customs,activities, and values that are unique to its
particular culture .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
In contrast to the national law,international lawapplies to more than
one nation.
International lawcan be defined asa body of written and unwritten laws
observed by independent nations and
governing the acts of individuals as
well as governments .
International Law
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National And
International Laws
o The key difference between national
and international law is that thenational law can be enforced by
government authorities. If a nations
violates an international law, however,
the most that other countries or
international organizations can do is to
resort to coercive actions against the
violating nation .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National And
International Laws
Treaties
A treaty is an agreement between two
or more nations that creates rights and
duties binding on the parties to the
treaty, just as a private contract createsrights and duties binding on the parties
to the contract .
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National And
International Laws
Treaties
To give effect of a treaty, just a private
contact creates rights and duties binding on
the parties to the contract .
To give effect of a treaty, the supreme
power of each nation that is a party to the
treaty must ratify.
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National And
International Laws
International Organizations International organizations and conferences
also play an important role in the
international legal arena .
International organizations and conferences
adopt resolutions, declarations, and other
types of standards that often require a
particular behavior of nations.
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Classifications Of Law(contd)
National And
International Laws
International Organizations
The general Assembly of the United
Nations, for example, has adopted
numerous resolutions and declarations
that embody principles of international
law and has sponsored conferences that
have lead to the information of
international agreements .
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The Constitution As It
Affects Business
Each of the sources of law just
discussed helps to frame the legal
environment of business .
Because laws that govern business
have their origin in the lawmaking
authority granted by the U.S.Constitution.