Why study law?

and managing risks
being aware of the law and the legal

environment and how they impact on decision making
To become a more resourceful consumer
Everyone is presumed to know it, so it will be beneficial to know the basic concepts
The law is a reflection of community values (Do you agree?)
Law not only shapes the business environment, but is shaped by business

(i.e. a set of rules) through which society operates (i.e.

citizens must obey or suffer a penalty)
Law declares how we must behave and consists of those rules which are enforced through the legal system (particularly the courts)
The system is more complex in reality as the ‘rules’ are affected by social, economic, political and international considerations

(e.g. road rules)
Society’s values:
changing
competing
‘victimless’ crimes
Fair treatment
The rule of law

a state (i.e. a legally organised community)
Types of legal systems:
common

law legal systems
civil law legal systems
Religious law – e.g. Islamic legal system, Halakha in Judaism, Indigenous legal system

should be:
a body of laws
some source with the power necessary

to create and alter those laws
some institution or process with the authority to administer and enforce them

legal system of any state
‘[A constitution is] the system of

laws, customs and conventions which define the composition and powers of the organs of the state and regulate the relations of the various state organs to one another and to the private citizen.’


Professor Hood Phillips, Constitutional and Administrative Law, 5th ed, 1973

the world. It is also sometimes known as Continental European

law. Civil law systems mainly derive from the Roman Empire.
Civil law was also partly influenced by religious laws such as Canon law and Islamic law.

legal systems of Italy, France, Germany, Austria and other countries,

belongs to the Roman-German legal system.
As opposed to the Anglo-Saxon legal system (England, the USA), where judicial precedents are the main legal

of enacted law sources.

The Constitution has the highest juridical force

on the entire territory of Kazakhstan.
International treaties ratified by Kazakhstan have priority over its domestic laws .

are the decisions in cases by judges.
Common law developed in

England.
Almost every former colony of the British Empire has adopted it.
Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, USA and other places.

religious system, being used as a legal source.
The main kinds

of religious law are Sharia in Islam, Halakha in Judaism and Canon law in some Christian groups.
Religious law countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen.

the legal systems.
These countries are called pluralistic countries.
For example: Civil

law and religious law countries, Bahreyn, Indonesia etc.
Common law and religious law,
Nigeria, Malaysia etc.

use of a group of people over a long period

of time
Common law
The law developed by the courts
Legislation
The laws made by the body recognised by the legal system as having the supreme power and authority to make laws (usually the Parliament)

business lives should be able to:
form relationships with others
enter into

contracts, such as those relating to marriage and the acquisition and disposal of property
reasonably secure in their knowledge of what they are doing and their understanding of its effects

respond without undue delay to the challenge of change at

all levels of society

its acceptance by members of society and that will not

be available where a law is inequitable, unfair or unreasonable

of the law, either directly or through intermediaries
‘[T]o bind the

citizen by a law, the terms of which he has no means of knowledge, would be a mark of tyranny.’

Sir Garfield Barwick, Watson v Lee (1979) 144 CLR 374 at 379

the interaction of citizens with the state (e.g. criminal law, constitutional

law, administrative law)


Private law
regulates the relationship between individuals within a state (e.g. contract law, tort law, property law)

revenue law
trade practices law (some)

aims to punish


civil law
generally aims to compensate

a promise which the law enforces.
The first requisite of any

contract is an agreement.

or more parties.
The parties must be definite and ascertained when

the contract is made.
They must agree to enter into legal relations for a consideration, for money or something valuable.
The object and purpose of the arrangement must be lawful.
The parties must be competent to contract

to the law applicable to him, and of sound mind,

is competent to contract.
In Kazakhstan, the age of majority is 18.
A contract by a minor is void, and cannot be ratified by him.
If a person has entered into a contract with minor, he cannot recover the price from him.

proposal or offer.
The proposal or offer is accepted by the

person to whom it is made, who is called the promisee (offeree).
The acceptance is communicated to the promisor.
An agreement comes into existence.

one permits the other to do certain things, in accordance

with the directions of such person.
Example: Where a person who has built up a brand of fast foods, licenses it to another to sell such fast foods strictly in accordance with the instructions of the person who licenses him.

the licensor, he can expand his business without investing his

own capital and without the need to supervise several outlets closely.
It is beneficial to the licensee as he gets the advantages of the brand built up and being promoted by the licensor. A franchise can take many forms. It can be simply a licensee