Business Law Exam 1 Chapter 1 Separation of powers the U S Constitution establishes the Congress and its power to legislate or make law in certain areas provides for a chief executive the president whose function is to execute or enforce the laws and helps create a federal judiciary to interpret the laws Federalism recognizing the states power to make law in certain areas Statutes laws created by elected representatives in Congress or a state legislature interpretation is often difficult Uniform Acts model statutes drafted by private bodies of lawyers and or scholars do not become laws until a legislature enacts them aim is to produce state by state uniformity Common Law law made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law only exists at the state level uses precedents Precedent a past judicial decision relied on as authority in a present case Case Law Reasoning when courts make and apply common law rules Equity fairness and justice historically used when common law rules would produce unfair results Equitable Remedies Injunction a court order forbidding a party to do some act or commanding him tom perform some act Specific Performance when a party is ordered to perform according to the terms of her contract Reformation when the court rewrites the contract s terms to reflect the parties real intentions Rescission a cancellation of a contract in which the parties are returned to their precontractual position Administrative Agencies arose with the industrialization of the US to deal with social and economic problems of businesses obtain the ability to make law through a delegation of power from the legislature Two types of law made by administrative agencies Administrative Regulations appear in a precise form in one authoritative source made by a body that was not elected Agency Decisions the decisions made by the internal courtlike structure of the agency which hears cases arising under the statutes and regulations they enforce these decisions are legally binding Treaties the supreme law of the land invalidate inconsistent state and sometimes federal laws Ordinances enactments of subordinate units of a state such as counties Executive Orders the rare law that is issued by a president or a state s governor Priority Rules 1 Federal Supremacy federal law defeats conflicting state law 2 Constitutions defeat other types of laws within their domain 3 Treaty vs federal statute most recent measure prevails 4 Statutes defeat conflicting laws that depend on a legislative delegation for their validity 5 Statutes and laws derived from them defeat inconsistent common law rules Criminal Law the law under which the government prosecutes someone for committing a crime creates duties that are owed to the public as a whole Civil Law the law applied when one private party sues another mainly concerns obligations that private parties owe to each other Substantive Law sets the rights and duties of people as they act in society Procedural Law controls the behavior of government bodies mainly courts as they establish and enforce rules of substantive law Public Law concerns the powers of government and the relations between government and private parties ex criminal law Private Law establishes a framework of legal rules that enables parties to set the rights and duties they owe each other ex contracts Jurisprudence the philosophy of law a field that seeks to provide a description that captures the essence of law Legal Positivism a definition of law as the command of a recognized political authority excludes moral views defines the law as written Natural Law based on morality unjust laws are not valid not recognized in courts but judges may use natural law when interpreting the law American Legal Realism regards the law in the books as less important that the law in action the conduct of those who enforce and interpret the positive law law is the behavior of public officials mainly judges as they deal with matters before the legal system Sociological Jurisprudence a general label uniting several different approaches that examine law within its social context law depends on experience and context law is a process of social ordering reflecting society s dominant interests and values the law must change to meet changing social conditions and values Functions of Law Peacekeeping private disputes criminal law 1 2 Checking government power and promoting personal freedom constitutional restrictions Facilitating planning and the realization of reasonable expectations contract law 3 Promoting economic growth through free competition antitrust laws 4 Promoting social justice ex employer employee regulations 5 Protecting the environment 6 Case Law Reasoning using precedents to decide present cases with the exception of cases with a valid distinction from the prior case uses common law Statutory Interpretation using statutes to decide cases very difficult because of the language of statutes is very ambiguous Plain Meaning Rule the court applies the statute according to the usual meaning of its words Legislative History when a statutes language is ambiguous courts look at the legislative history to decipher the actual meaning General Public Purpose not based on the purpose underlying the statute but the widely accepted notions of public policy ex the Supreme court once used the public policy against racial discrimination in education to deny tax exempt status to a private university that discriminated based on race Prior Interpretations in order to promote stability and certainty courts sometimes follow prior cases and decisions in interpreting the statute regardless of the statute s plain meaning or legislative history Maxims general rules of thumbs employed in statutory interpretation ex ejusdem generis when general words follow words of a specific limited meaning the general language should be limited to things of the same class as those specifically stated Fair Housing Council v Roommate com Roommate was a website designed to match roommates Members had to create a profile listing sex sexual orientations children and preference for all of those things Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley sued Roommate because of the Fair Housing Act FHA which prohibits the discrimination on the basis of race religion sex familial status in the sale or rental of housing Courts dismissed Council s claim because of the Communications Decency Act CDA which says that the provider
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