BMGT 380 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Rescission, Specific Performance, Procedural Law
2 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Nature of law
1. Types (Sources) of Law
Constitutions
Constitutions, which exist at the state and federal levels, have two general functions.
- set up the structure of government for the political unit they control (a state or the federal
government).
- prevent other units of government from taking certain actions or passing certain laws
● separation of powers, the U.S. Constitution establishes the Congress and gives it
power to make law in certain areas, provides for a chief executive (the president) whose
function is to execute or enforce the laws, and helps create a federal judiciary to interpret
the laws
Legislation
1. Statutes: laws created by elected representatives in Congress or a state legislature.
- uniform acts: to produce state-by-state uniformity on the subjects they address
2. Ordinance: The enactments of counties and municipalities are called ordinances
Common Law
The common law (also called judge-made law or case law) is law made and applied by judges as they
decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law. Although common law exists only at the
state level, both state courts and federal courts become involved in applying it.
- judges began to follow the decisions of other judges in similar cases, called precedents. This
practice became formalized in the doctrine of stare decisis (let the decision stand)
Equity
- when common law rules would produce unfair results
- In these equity courts, procedures were flexible, and rigid rules of law were
deemphasized in favor of general moral maxims.
- several remedies not available in the common law courts ( equitable remedies)
● injunction, a court order forbidding a party to do some act or commanding him
to perform some act.
● specific performance (whereby a party is ordered to perform according to the
terms of her contract
● reformation (in which the court rewrites the contract’s terms to reflect the
parties’ real intentions
● rescission (a cancellation of a contract and a return of the parties to their pre
contractual position).
Administrative Regulations and Decisions
- administrative agencies established by Congress
- Because legislatures generally lacked the time and expertise to deal with these
problems on a continuing basis, the creation of specialized, expert agencies was almost
inevitable
- Administrative agencies obtain the ability to make law through a delegation (or grant) of
power from the legislature. Eg. Generally created by a statute
- Agencies normally are created by a statute that specifies the areas in which the agency
can make law and the scope of its power in each area
Document Summary
Nature of law: types (sources) of law. Legislation: statutes: laws created by elected representatives in congress or a state legislature. uniform acts: to produce state-by-state uniformity on the subjects they address, ordinance: the enactments of counties and municipalities are called ordinances. The common law (also called judge-made law or case law) is law made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law. Although common law exists only at the state level, both state courts and federal courts become involved in applying it. judges began to follow the decisions of other judges in similar cases, called precedents. This practice became formalized in the doctrine of stare decisis (let the decision stand) When common law rules would produce unfair results. Because legislatures generally lacked the time and expertise to deal with these problems on a continuing basis, the creation of specialized, expert agencies was almost inevitable.
