Chapter 8
8.1
The legal environment is normally concerned with three aspects
Home country laws
o Important issues are conduct (gedrag) of the company in the domestic market and
trade with third countries
o Laws concerned are made to control the international activities of companies for the
sake of country
Host (gast) country laws
o Multinational enterprises must observe the laws of the host country
o Their activities are subject to the laws and regulations of the host country
Such as investment regulations
Tariffs and duties
Anti-dumping regulations
Protection of local industries
International laws
o A collection of treaties, conventions and agreements between nations which have
(the) force of law
o International laws are particularly related to areas as patents and trademark
protection, piracy laws code of conducts for multinationals
Legal systems of different countries are so disparate and complex to explore the laws of each
country individually. When you do business in another country it is wise to know what are the laws
and rules.
Civil or code law
Civil law = can be found mainly in law books and rules (Netherlands), this is often also called
professional judges law. Agreement between business partners is based on a system of written rules
of law
Common law (Anglo-American law)
o Countries with this law do not have written rules of laws
o Laws are shaped by the decisions of judges
o There is less legislation and many things are fixed in contracts
o Use a type of lay justice, such as trial by jury
o Under the common law system, the agreements made by trading partners are
generally set out in lengthy contracts.
o Under the common law system it is possible to specify in the consensus ad idem
phase that no obligation exists until both parties have signed the written agreement.
Socialist law
o Is the official name for the legal system in a communist state
o Based on the civil-law system
o Based on the premise that ‘’the government is always right’’
o Not developed a sophisticated framework of contracts or intellectual property
protection
o Mosely the Eastern Europe and Russia has this system
8.1
The legal environment is normally concerned with three aspects
Home country laws
o Important issues are conduct (gedrag) of the company in the domestic market and
trade with third countries
o Laws concerned are made to control the international activities of companies for the
sake of country
Host (gast) country laws
o Multinational enterprises must observe the laws of the host country
o Their activities are subject to the laws and regulations of the host country
Such as investment regulations
Tariffs and duties
Anti-dumping regulations
Protection of local industries
International laws
o A collection of treaties, conventions and agreements between nations which have
(the) force of law
o International laws are particularly related to areas as patents and trademark
protection, piracy laws code of conducts for multinationals
Legal systems of different countries are so disparate and complex to explore the laws of each
country individually. When you do business in another country it is wise to know what are the laws
and rules.
Civil or code law
Civil law = can be found mainly in law books and rules (Netherlands), this is often also called
professional judges law. Agreement between business partners is based on a system of written rules
of law
Common law (Anglo-American law)
o Countries with this law do not have written rules of laws
o Laws are shaped by the decisions of judges
o There is less legislation and many things are fixed in contracts
o Use a type of lay justice, such as trial by jury
o Under the common law system, the agreements made by trading partners are
generally set out in lengthy contracts.
o Under the common law system it is possible to specify in the consensus ad idem
phase that no obligation exists until both parties have signed the written agreement.
Socialist law
o Is the official name for the legal system in a communist state
o Based on the civil-law system
o Based on the premise that ‘’the government is always right’’
o Not developed a sophisticated framework of contracts or intellectual property
protection
o Mosely the Eastern Europe and Russia has this system
