Business Law

Business Law

Law can be defined as an organization of rules of action or demeanor prescribed by controlling authority and having obligatory legal force. The fundamental function of the American Legal System is to uphold peace, form moral standards and promote social justice among individuals in America. This is achieved through federal and state courts, tribunals and administrative organizations by effecting laws to cases between specific individuals and organizations. The prime sources of applicable law are federal and state constitutions, statutes and administrative regulations. Constitutions develop the configuration of the government, describe and limit its power and seek to protect individuals from irrational or illegal exercises of that power. Legislatures enact ruling of criminal laws that govern a wide variety of conduct. Administrative bodies propagate regulations to govern specific areas of business such as telecommunications and securities. Qualities of law are fairness, flexibility, and comprehensiveness (Cheeseman & Mc Donald, 2009). This is the reason as to why the American legal system is said to be one of the most comprehensive fair and democratic systems of law ever developed and enforced.

The US law can be said to be flexible for it progresses and changes along with the standards of society, technology and the growth and development of commerce in the United States and the world. Comprehensiveness of the American law is demonstrated by the fact that the law is broken into different categories. Courts apply the existing laws rather than creating new laws (Cheeseman, 2005). The legislatures and administrative bodies cannot always expect every probable set of situations, and laws do not always order a result in every case. At times, the law is deliberately indistinguishable giving the courts flexibility in the elucidation of cases. This serves as the general public policies rather than achieving certain results. Despite the fact that there may be vague laws, there are constitutional restrictions on how vague the law can be. Generally, law must impart individuals of behavior that it forbids or compels.

Practically, American courts make law when they decide cases. According to the doctrine of stare decisis, courts at the lower level in the judicial hierarchy must adhere to initial courts interpretation of law in succeeding cases with comparable facts. Higher courts may accept the lower courts case interpretation or invalidate it by taking the law in a different way. Courts in other states may depend on the first courts interpretation as influential authority concerning the application of similar laws in their states (Melone & Karnes). The convention of binding and influential authority was adopted from the American judicial systems origins in the common law system of England.

The American law can be said to be fair, comprehensive and democratic for it follows a process of specifying issues existing in a case, classifying the case and applicable law and then applying law to the information to come up with a finale that gives a solution to the presented case (Davidson &Robert, 1987). This is where in American law a procedure is followed from the lower courts to higher courts. The lower courts rely entirely on the ruling of the High courts but at times, the higher courts come into an agreement with the ruling of the lower courts. In addition, there is fairness in the American legal system for there are different types of laws such as criminal law. In this case, individuals are judged according to the crime they have committed. Democracy comes in where individuals are given the chance to plead guilty or not guilty. This is where people come with witnesses to justify themselves before the judges give their ruling.

In conclusion, the American legal system can be said to be one of the most comprehensive, fair and democratic systems. This is because of its judicial hierarchy and the existence of different types of rules governing the nation. The enforcement of these laws ensures that all Americans are protected from any harm, which may be inflicted on them by their fellow citizens. It also protects other citizens who might be taken to court having committed no crime.

Works Cited:

Cheeseman, Henry R, Essentials of business and online commerce law: legal, e-commerce, ethical, and global environments, Portage: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.

Cheeseman, Henry, and McDonald, Robert. The Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce. Portage: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.

Davidson, Daniel, and Jespersen, Robert. The American legal system. Richmond: Kent Pub. Co., 1987. Print

Melone, Albert, and Karnes, Allan. The American legal system: perspectives, politics, processes, and policies. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.