Business Law: Understanding the Four Sources of Law and the Supreme Law of the Land, Slides of Commercial Law

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BUSINESS LAW

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Law and Our

Legal System

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

What is Law?

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

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

What is Law?

• Law consists of enforceable rules

governing relationships among

individuals and between individuals and

their society.

Sources of American Law

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

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”

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

Common Law

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

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.

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

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

Review

• What are the four

sources of law?

Answer

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

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.

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.

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.

International Law

• The law that governs relations among

nations.

• International customs
• Treaties
• What happens if an international law is

violated?

Review

• What is the supreme law of

the land?

Answer

• United States Constitution