LEGAL AGREEMENTS AROUND THE WORLD

International legal systems and liability Property and contracts Resolving legal differences Legal Agreements Around the World

Legal Systems People involved in International Business are guided by principles of international law as well as by trade agreements Main legal systems around the world are civil law, common law, and statutory law Civil law, also called code law, - complete set of rules enacted as a single written system or code

Legal Systems (2) Common law - relies on the accumulation of decisions made in prior cases Statutory law: laws that have been enacted by a body of lawmakers

Liability Liability refers to almost every kind of responsibility, duty, or obligation. Can relate to debt, loss, or burden for injury

Liability (2) Product liability - specific responsibility that both manufacturers and sellers have for the safety of their products Negligence - failure of a responsible party to follow standards of due care Strict liability - imposes responsibility on a manufacturer or seller for intentionally or unintentionally causing injury to another

Property and Contracts Property - everything that can by owned Property law or property rights - exclusive rights to possess and use property and its profits, to exclude everyone else from interfering with it, and to dispose of it in any legal way Intellectual property - technical knowledge or creative work that an individual or company has developed

Property and Contracts (2) Patents - grant an exclusive right of an inventor to make, sell, and use a product or process Trademarks - distinctive name, symbol, word, picture, or combination of these used by a business to identify its services or products Copyrights - legal right that protects the original works of authors, music composers, playwrights, artists, and publishers

Contract Law Contract - a legally enforceable agreement between two or more persons either to do or not to do a certain things. Can be either implied or expressed Implied contract - is not explicitly agreed to by the parties but is inferred either from the parties’ conduct or from the law Express contract - terms are openly declared, either orally or in writing.

Contract law (2) Components of a contract – Capacity – identifies what is being agreed to – Mutual agreement – all parties will meet the terms – Consideration – what will happen if terms are not met – Legal purpose – binds all party to the terms Treaties and agreements impose a degree of stability and uniformity for trade

Resolving legal differences Mediation - dispute resolution method using a neutral third party, or mediator Arbitration - uses a neutral third party to make a binding decision Litigation - lawsuit to enforce the rights of a person or an organization or to seek a remedy to the violation of their rights.

International court of justice Settles disputes between nations when both nations requests. Advises the United Nations on matters of international law Provides guidelines for acceptable ways of doing business for governments and citizens of all countries

Main legal principles recognized in international law, : not required, but based chiefly on courtesy and respect Principle of Comity - when two nations share common public policy ideas, one of them submits to the laws and judicial decrees of the other. - Act of State Doctrine - a nation is sovereign in its own territory and its official domestic actions may not be questioned by the judicial bodies of another country. It dissuades courts from deciding cases that would interfere with a country’s foreign policy.

Main legal principles recognized in international law: (2) - Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity - actions brought in the court of one nation against another foreign nation and prevents the sovereign state from being tried in court without its consent. In the U.S., this is governed by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) of 1976.

Resources Video 1. l-law.html l-law.html 2. bigthink.com/ideas/internation al law bigthink.com/ideas/internation al law Print 1. l-law.html l-law.html 2. g/category/issues-in- depth/international-law/

HOMEWORK Due next class – make vocabulary cards!