Introduction to Law. Initial Postings: Read and reflect on the assigned readings for the week. Then post what you thought was the most important concept(s), method(s), term(s), and/

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO LAW REFLECTION

The first chapter sets the ground for the course by introducing us to the legal, ethical, and global environment of doing business. There are numerous definitions of Law and here are a few ones. Aristotle defined law as ‘reason unaffected by desire’ (Jennings, 2021). According to Blackstone, law is defined as ‘that rule of action which is prescribed by some superior and which the inferior is bound to obey’ (Jennings, 2021). Law can be generally defined as ‘rules enacted by a government authority that govern individuals and relationships in society’ (Jennings, 2021). Law can be classified as public law, private law, criminal law, civil law, substantive law, procedural law, common law, and statutory law. Public law is enacted by authorized government body, whereas, a private law is enacted by private individuals. Another noteworthy distinction is between criminal law and civil law. Criminal laws are the wrongs against a society and civil laws are wrongs against individuals (Jennings, 2021). Substantive laws provides rights and responsibilities of the individuals, whereas procedural laws provide means to enforce the substantive laws. Statutory laws are passed by government bodies and are also called as Codified Law (Jennings, 2021). There are five main purposes of law. Laws are created to maintain order, influencing good conduct, honoring expectations from individuals, promoting equality among the individuals in a society, and finally to act like the great compromiser. There are three characteristics of law – flexibility, consistency, and pervasiveness.

In the US, the law has a set of sources and they have a hierarchical order. The sources, as per hierarchy are – U.S. Constitution, Federal Legislative Enactments, Federal Administrative Regulations, State Constitution, State Legislative Enactments, State Administrative Regulations, Countu Ordinances, City or Borough Ordinances, and finally Private Law (Jennings, 2021). Constitutional laws exists and operate at fedral and statem level and help in establishing government structure and rights of the individuals. Enactments of the Congress, Executive orders by the President, administrative regulations form statutory laws at Federal level. Similarly, state legislature enactments and state administrative agency regulations result in State Laws. Local laws are generally ordinances passes at the county or a city level. Private laws operate at individual/firm level and appear in the form of contracts, leases, and employer regulations.

Laws can also be applied internationally and are mostly custom in which they differe country by country. Treaties between two countries (bilateral) or three or more countries (multilateral) are part of international laws. Likewise, laws passed at internation conventions of countries are also part of international laws. Laws can also be set at a group level. For example – the laws of the European Union (EU). These laws are applicable over a group of countries in the Europe continent and are passed with the objective of carrying out trade without any barrier, having consistency, and having ease in transactions among the participating countries.

Graduate-level responses:

1. Franklin Felon shot and killed two people during a robbery.  Why was this act a violation of both criminal and civil law?

Criminal law deals with offenses against the public or the society, even if the direct victim of the offense were an individual. Whereas, civil law deals with offenses against individuals or private parties (like a company). Criminal cases are initiated only by the federal or state governments and civil cases can be initiated by private parties as well. In the above example, Franklin Felon shot and killed two individuals during a robbery. Since killing individuals goes against the laws established by the government for the individuals in the society, the crime commited by Franklin can be classified as a criminal law violation. At the same time, Franklin was also robbing an entity (probably a bank or other party). This crime, therefore falls under the civil law violations. Hence, the crime commited by Franklin Felon is a violation of both criminal and civil laws.

1. Explain the sources of each type of law and provide examples of each: constitutional law, statutory law, common law

Constitutional law is the law defined by the constitution. Constitutional law sets the rules and guidelines for how a government should function and how it needs to be organized in order to protect the rights of the individuals in that country. Constitutional law exists at fedral and state level. One example of constitutional law is that of equal protection which requires the government to treat all individuals equally.

Statutory laws are created by the state, federal and legislatures that is composed of the elected public representatives that form laws through the medium of bills. Enactments of Congress, Executive/Presidential Orders, Administrative agency regulations, enactments or state legislatures, and local laws (in the form of ordinances passed by couties or cities) form statutory laws. For example –  traffic laws formed and enacted by states are statutory laws. Common Law is the law that is used if there is no existing statute. These laws began in England in 1066. These are non-statutory in nature and exists in court decisions for unprecedented cases. One example of common law is the law for ‘outraging public decency’.

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Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO LAW REFLECTION

Question 1 (i) : Franklin Felon shot and killed two people during a robbery.  Why was this act a violation of both criminal and civil law?

Scenario: In the given scenario, an individual named Franklin Felon shot and killed two individuals in a robbery.

Violation of criminal law: Criminal law is said to be violated when an individual indulges himself in performing an act that is morally wrong. The main reason for implementing the criminal law was to prevent the occurrence of criminal activity as well as compel the perpetrator to pay recompense for the harm he has caused and to atone for his moral wrongdoing (Hernández, 2019).

Violation of Civil Law: Reimbursement for damages or losses, as well as the transfer of property and other issues, are common topics in civil cases. In most situations, a convicted accused faces imprisonment and/or penalties, as well as, in rare cases, the death sentence. Civil law is concerned with resolving conflicts between persons and preventing them from escalating into a violent clash. It promotes social cooperation while discouraging exploitative behavior and unethical economic activities (Scalia, 2018).

Several activities can be classified as both criminal and non-criminal. It is a criminal offense to commit robbery, and violence can be both a common and a criminal offense. Franklin Felon intentionally struck and injured two people at the same time, which is a violation of the Penal Code and a typical occurrence. On the other hand, a burglary case establishes your criminal case. He is in charge of both the law and infringement along these lines.

Question 1 (ii) : Explain the sources of each type of law and provide examples of each: constitutional law, statutory law, common law.

Constitutions: These are the established framework that defines how well the legislature should function and be organized, as well as how power and responsibilities should be distributed among them. They also serve to protect a country's citizens' rights to freedom. For example, in America's bureaucratic constitution, the first three articles layout and describe the government's structure and degree, while the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments, guarantee individual liberties. It serves as a guideline for the administration, stating that every action should be consistent with the constitution.

Statutes:  They are effectively formed by the sovereign, ministry, and adjacent lawmaking bodies, which are thus included the elected officials who possess the power to make national laws. The laws must be applied to the facts of the case by the judiciary. A statute can be dismissed or ignored by a court if all of the case's material law translations reveal that the rule is unconstitutional under the Constitution, rendering it irrelevant (Gaitánet al., 2018).

Common law: When there is no other option for resolving a matter, common law is used. It pertains to a law that is enacted or classed by an assembly but is implemented by the judiciary according to diverse customs and the legal history of the United States, as well as the periods of reverting back to England's legal construct. In this way, common law can be defined as a part of English law derived from legal precedent and custom rather than statutes.

References Gaitán, S., Herrera-Echeverri, H., & Pablo, E. (2018). How corporate governance affects productivity in civil-law business environments: Evidence from Latin America. Global Finance Journal, 37, 173-185.Retrieved from:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044028317302934[Retrieved on: 22.08.2021]

Hernández, T. K. (2019). Latin American racial equality law as criminal law. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 14(3), 348-358.Retrieved from:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17442222.2019.1661971 [Retrieved on: 22.08.2021]

Scalia, A. (2018). Common-law courts in a civil-law system: the role of united states federal courts in interpreting the constitution and laws (pp. 3-48). Princeton University Press.Retrieved from:  https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400882953-004/html[Retrieved on: 22.08.2021]

Sobol, N. L. (2017). Fighting Fines & Fees: Borrowing from Consumer Law to Combat Criminal Justice Debt Abuses. U. Colo. L. Rev., 88, 841.Retrieved from:  https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/ucollr88&section=29[Retrieved on: 22.08.2021]

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