BUSA2106 1st Edition Lecture 4 Outline of Last Lecture I Corporate Social Responsibility II Global Business Ethics III Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Outline of Current Lecture I Define and classify law II Identify sources of law Current Lecture What is law Law consists of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and their society Examples Click it or Ticket Primary Sources Law Federal State Constitution Statutory Law Administrativ e Law Case Law Local U S Constitution Constitutional law The body of law derived from the U S Constitution and the constitutions of the various states o Supremacy Clause This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land Translation The U S Constitution is the supreme law of the land As such it is the basis of all law in the United States A law in violation of the Constitution if challenged will be declared unconstitutional and will not be enforced no matter what its source All 50 states have a constitution Statutory law Statutes are laws passed by the federal U S Congress or the state legislatures Examples eliminating or creating government programs 1 U S Congress 50 state legislatures Uniform laws e g Uniform Commercial Code A model law created by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and or the American Law Institute for the states to consider adopting If a state adopts the law it becomes statutory law in that state Each state has the option of adopting or rejecting all or part of a uniform law Administrative law The body of law created by administrative agencies in the form of rules regulations orders and decisions in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities Fill in the blanks left in statutory law Example minimum wage Key terms Judge made law judicial decisions that are derived from the application of particular areas of law to the facts of individual cases Case law The rules of law announced in court decisions Case law includes the aggregate of reported cases that interpret judicial precedents statutes regulations and constitutional provision Common law The body of law developed from custom or judicial decisions in English and U S courts not attributable to a legislative Stare decisis A common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions Precedent A court decision that furnishes an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts Authority BINDING AUTHORITY Any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case Binding authorities include constitutions statutes and regulations that govern the issue being decided as well as court decisions that are controlling precedents within the jurisdiction PERSUASIVE AUTHORITY Any legal authority or source of law that a court may look to for guidance but on which it need not rely in making its decision Persuasive authorities include cases from other jurisdictions and secondary sources of law How case law works No statutory law in some areas e g torts contracts Common law developed over time through court decisions
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