Summary International Law and Business
Unit 1 - Introduction and methods:
The organization of just behavior:
Law organizes just behavior in a society using two types of legal rules:
o Substantive law is composed of legal rules that define the content of just behavior. These
rules are about the content of what people are supposed to do, or not to do.
o Formal law is composed of legal rules that maintain substantive law
The penal system includes formal rules in order to maintain the substantive rules.
Substantive and formal legal rules are necessary to regulate two types of relations:
o Public law is the law that regulates the relation between a government and its citizens.
Public law is equality (legal relationship between two citizens or a company and a citizen)
o Private law is the law that regulates the relation between citizen or who act as citizens.
Privat law is power (legal relationship between the government and citizen/government)
So, we need substantive law to defined the content of just behavior and formal law to maintain this
just behavior in society. Both are necessary in regulating the relation between a government and its
citizen (public law) and between citizens (private law).
We further subcategorize different legal branches:
o At international level: economic cooperation
o At national public law level: constitutional and administrative law and criminal law
o At national private law level: we categorize law that deals with contracts, liability, labour-
contracts, the legal form of a company, privacy and intellectual property
1. Contract law
2. Liability law
3. Labour law
4. Company law
5. The right to privacy and data processing
6. Intellectual property
, Summary International Law and Business
‘Just’ implies a balance between the values ‘justice’, ‘opportunities’ and ‘legal certainty’:
o Justice is moral conviction of a given society expressed in law
o Opportuness is the expression of effectiveness by a given society in law
o Legal certainty is the expression of legality in a given society
The origin of law:
There are two opposing views regarding the origin of law:
o In a natural law approach, it is assumed that law comes fort from nature
o In a positivist law approach, it is assumed that law comes forth from codification, this mean
that law is only law when it is written down first.
Natural and positivist law are two opposing extremes in elucidating the origin of law. See image:
The sources of law is a place where you can find legal rules.
The following sources generally used:
Legal law:
o Codified standards – are written rules produced by a legislator (can be never be fully
comprehensive and offer a clear solution to each individual legal conflict)
o The application of law
o Legal writings and teachings
Natural law:
o Religious writings and teachings
o Customary law
o Legal principles (is sometimes considered to be too vague and imprecise to apply to a real
case and in the eyes of a positivist may not be legitimately applied without the consent of
legislature)
Codified standards are written rules produces by a legislator:
At international level, written standards are usually created in the form of a contract between states:
o A bilateral treaty is a treaty to which two states are party
o A multilateral treaty is a treaty to which more than two states are party
A state expresses the will to be bound by a treaty by signing and ratifying the treaty:
o The signature of a treaty implies the consent of the responsible negotiator on behalf of the
state to the treaty
o The ratification of a treaty implies the consent of the responsible legislator on behalf of the
state to the treaty
, Summary International Law and Business
There are two approaches in how international written standards have effect in the domestic legal
order of state parties to a treaty:
o Monism is an approach in law in which it is assumed that the content of a signed and ratified
treaty is automatically part of the domestic legal order
o Dualism is an approach in law in which it is assumed that a signed and ratified treaty needs
to be transformed into domestic law first before it forms part of the domestic legal order
Law application is performed by courts and tribunals, the administration and the military:
Case law is a chain of authoritative rulings in which the same reasoning pattern of the court is applied
in similar cases. in some countries, the principle of stare decisis applies:
o Stare decisis is a legal principle in which courts have to follow the legal reasoning as applied
in previous cases.
The administration is the branch in the public sector that executes the law within the boundaries of its
competences:
o The margin of discretion is the room allowed to the administration to execute the law at
their own discretion
In some countries, the military is authorized to apply the law, or parts of the law.
Legal writings and teachings can be a legal source in its own
In some countries, religious writings and teachings are accepted as a source of law.
A non-secular state is a state in which government and religion are mixed
A secular state is a state in which government and religion are separated
A custom is an established and accepted legal practice
o A customary law is a legal practice
o A customary law must be an established practice
o A customary law must be an accepted practice by its users
A legal principle is a general value that applies in law:
o lus Cogens are universally binding legal principles.
Notes lessons:
Private law and contract:
You have the contract itself and the document with the general terms and conditions
Reason of the general terms and conditions is to limit the risk of liability of a seller.
In your general term and conditions you say; on this contract your payment is
applicable law.
Breach of contract (situation 1):
- Delivery/ payment
- Damages/ compensations
- Quit the contract
Breach of contract (situation 2):
Unit 1 - Introduction and methods:
The organization of just behavior:
Law organizes just behavior in a society using two types of legal rules:
o Substantive law is composed of legal rules that define the content of just behavior. These
rules are about the content of what people are supposed to do, or not to do.
o Formal law is composed of legal rules that maintain substantive law
The penal system includes formal rules in order to maintain the substantive rules.
Substantive and formal legal rules are necessary to regulate two types of relations:
o Public law is the law that regulates the relation between a government and its citizens.
Public law is equality (legal relationship between two citizens or a company and a citizen)
o Private law is the law that regulates the relation between citizen or who act as citizens.
Privat law is power (legal relationship between the government and citizen/government)
So, we need substantive law to defined the content of just behavior and formal law to maintain this
just behavior in society. Both are necessary in regulating the relation between a government and its
citizen (public law) and between citizens (private law).
We further subcategorize different legal branches:
o At international level: economic cooperation
o At national public law level: constitutional and administrative law and criminal law
o At national private law level: we categorize law that deals with contracts, liability, labour-
contracts, the legal form of a company, privacy and intellectual property
1. Contract law
2. Liability law
3. Labour law
4. Company law
5. The right to privacy and data processing
6. Intellectual property
, Summary International Law and Business
‘Just’ implies a balance between the values ‘justice’, ‘opportunities’ and ‘legal certainty’:
o Justice is moral conviction of a given society expressed in law
o Opportuness is the expression of effectiveness by a given society in law
o Legal certainty is the expression of legality in a given society
The origin of law:
There are two opposing views regarding the origin of law:
o In a natural law approach, it is assumed that law comes fort from nature
o In a positivist law approach, it is assumed that law comes forth from codification, this mean
that law is only law when it is written down first.
Natural and positivist law are two opposing extremes in elucidating the origin of law. See image:
The sources of law is a place where you can find legal rules.
The following sources generally used:
Legal law:
o Codified standards – are written rules produced by a legislator (can be never be fully
comprehensive and offer a clear solution to each individual legal conflict)
o The application of law
o Legal writings and teachings
Natural law:
o Religious writings and teachings
o Customary law
o Legal principles (is sometimes considered to be too vague and imprecise to apply to a real
case and in the eyes of a positivist may not be legitimately applied without the consent of
legislature)
Codified standards are written rules produces by a legislator:
At international level, written standards are usually created in the form of a contract between states:
o A bilateral treaty is a treaty to which two states are party
o A multilateral treaty is a treaty to which more than two states are party
A state expresses the will to be bound by a treaty by signing and ratifying the treaty:
o The signature of a treaty implies the consent of the responsible negotiator on behalf of the
state to the treaty
o The ratification of a treaty implies the consent of the responsible legislator on behalf of the
state to the treaty
, Summary International Law and Business
There are two approaches in how international written standards have effect in the domestic legal
order of state parties to a treaty:
o Monism is an approach in law in which it is assumed that the content of a signed and ratified
treaty is automatically part of the domestic legal order
o Dualism is an approach in law in which it is assumed that a signed and ratified treaty needs
to be transformed into domestic law first before it forms part of the domestic legal order
Law application is performed by courts and tribunals, the administration and the military:
Case law is a chain of authoritative rulings in which the same reasoning pattern of the court is applied
in similar cases. in some countries, the principle of stare decisis applies:
o Stare decisis is a legal principle in which courts have to follow the legal reasoning as applied
in previous cases.
The administration is the branch in the public sector that executes the law within the boundaries of its
competences:
o The margin of discretion is the room allowed to the administration to execute the law at
their own discretion
In some countries, the military is authorized to apply the law, or parts of the law.
Legal writings and teachings can be a legal source in its own
In some countries, religious writings and teachings are accepted as a source of law.
A non-secular state is a state in which government and religion are mixed
A secular state is a state in which government and religion are separated
A custom is an established and accepted legal practice
o A customary law is a legal practice
o A customary law must be an established practice
o A customary law must be an accepted practice by its users
A legal principle is a general value that applies in law:
o lus Cogens are universally binding legal principles.
Notes lessons:
Private law and contract:
You have the contract itself and the document with the general terms and conditions
Reason of the general terms and conditions is to limit the risk of liability of a seller.
In your general term and conditions you say; on this contract your payment is
applicable law.
Breach of contract (situation 1):
- Delivery/ payment
- Damages/ compensations
- Quit the contract
Breach of contract (situation 2):
