Chapter 1 – Laws & their Ethical Foundation

Lessons:1-1 Laws and Legal Systems1-2 Types of Laws1-3 Ethical Bases for Laws

Lesson 1-1 Laws & Legal SystemsGoals:• Explain the stages in the growth of law,• Describe the differences between common law & positive law,• Identify the origin of the U.S. legal system

WHAT IS LAW? - should be PREDICTABLE & FLEXIBLE

• Laws – enforceable rules of conduct in society, reflect …• Code – laws grouped in organized form;• Ex: Criminal Law, Property Law, Business Law, Personal Injury Law

Stages in the Growth of LawMost societies go through 4 stages in forming their legal systems:

• Individuals take revenge for wrongs done to them,• matters of personal revenge,• those wronged feel that justice can be done only through

personally punishing the wrongdoers• The resulting chaos often leads to….

• An individual acquires enough power to be able to force above to accept an Award of money or goods, bringing peace to the society,• Often called the Sovereign,

Stages in the Growth of Law, cont.• leader gives this power to a System of Courts,

• The sovereign becomes faced with more cases than one person can handle, so as a consequence,• The sovereign sets up a system of courts & gives them

powers to decide certain types of disputes, (Elders/Priests)

• Sovereign still presides over most important matters

• Leader/Central Authority acts to Prevent & Punish wrongs that provoke individuals to seek revenge.• tries to prevent breaches of the peace before they occur,• Does this by enforcing a set of laws & matching punishments

4 Stages Summed Up…

1. Take Revenge…

2. Awards are Substituted…

3. Court Systems are Formed…

4. C/A intervenes to Prevent & Punish Wrongs…

Common Law v. Positive Law

COMMON LAW –• based on current standards/customs of the people.• usually marked by judges in settling people’s

disputes, (Case Law – follows Precedent)

POSITIVE LAW –• Law dictated from above, set down by a

sovereign/central authority to prevent disputes/wrongs from occurring in first place.

What is the Origin of Our Legal System?

The world’s 2 great systems of law are the ENGLISH COMMON Law and the ROMAN CIVIL Law.

Roman Civil Law – organized, comprehensive sets of statutes in code form,• Typically only changed by the central government, not by judges

• Louisiana – only state in US that has law based on a civil law system.

ENGLISH COMMON LAW – U.S. is based on this…• Developed in England,• Barons acted as Judges within their territories• Disputes - settled on basis of local customs & enforced by Barons,

because of this, laws of England differed from region to region. • King’s/Queen’s Bench – “ride circuit” holding court, has Jurisdiction• Baron’s Court – heard local, minor cases• Jury – citizens of the region

Law Courts v. Equity CourtsLaw Courts – follow Precedent (prior cases) as a

guide for deciding similar new cases AFTER harm has actually occurred.• Limited to granting money damages

Equity (fairness) Courts – have the power to issue Injunctions or to Compel Specific Actions to PREVENT harm from being done.• No Jury,• Chancellor’s control

In most states in the U.S., law & equity courts are Merged. Exception… D/M/T

Lesson 1-2 Types of LawsGOALS:• Identify the sources of law

• Discuss how conflicts btween laws are resolved

• Compare and contrast criminal and civil law, and substantive and procedural

What Are The Sources Of Our Laws?

Laws in this country are created at all three levels of government… Federal, State, and Local

The forms that these laws can take include: constitutions, statutes,

ordinances, case law, and administrative law

Constitutions• Document that creates governmental framework &

its relationship to the people it governs.

• U.S. Constitution is superior to state constitution.

• Constitutional Law – made when constitutions are Adopted or Amended, or when Courts Interpret constitutions.

• Governed by Both Constitution of the US & state.• Federal & state constitutions are concerned primarily

w/ defining and allocating powers in our society.

The Supreme Court of the United States is the Final Interpreter of the federal Constitution.

Constitutions defining and allocating certain powers in our society

Between people & their governments,• Bill of Rights

Between state governments & federal, • Interstate v. Intrastate Commerce

Among branches of the government• Executive, Legislative, & Judicial

Statutes• Laws created by state or federal

legislatures (Congress). Composed of elected representatives of the people

Ordinance • Legislation at LOCAL LEVEL, legislation

created by a town, city, etc.http://ecode360.com/LO0679?needHash=truehttp://www.ecode360.com/UP1236http://ecode360.com/WO1349?needHash=truehttp://www.keystatepub.com/keystate-pdf/PA/Montgomery/Collegeville%20Borough/Title%20Page%20and%20Foreword.pdf

Case Law•Made after a Trial has Ended.

• Judicial branch Creates case law.

Effectiveness of case law ascends out of the doctrine of

Stare Decisis (to adhere to decided cases)

*Requires that lower courts must follow established case law in deciding similar cases.*

Administrative Law

• Laws created by Administrative Agencies.

• Administrative Agencies – governmental bodies formed to carry out particular laws.• Examples: SSA, DMV, EPA, CPA,• Controlled by Executive branch of gov’t,• Given Legislative power, few have judicial

What Happens When Laws Conflict?

Constitutions are the Highest Sources of Law, and the Federal Constitution is “the supreme law of the land”

which means that any federal, state, or local law is not valid if it conflicts with the federal Constitution.

When a law is invalid

because it conflicts with a constitution, it is

UNCONSTITUTIONAL

What are the Main Types of Laws?

•Criminal v. Civil Laws

•Procedural v. Substantive Laws

•Business Law

Criminal v. Civil LawsCIVIL Law – group of laws used to provide remedy for wrongs

against individuals. • Applies when one person has a right to SUE another person.• Police Do Not take action in civil conflicts.

CRIMINAL Law – group of laws that defines and sets punishments for offenses against society.

• Crime – an offense against society.• Conviction of a crime can result in a Fine, Imprisonment, & in

some states Execution.• A violation may be Both a Crime and a Civil Offense.

Procedural v. Substantive Laws

PROCEDURAL Law - deals with the methods of enforcing legal rights and duties.• Example:• Laws that specify how and when police can make

arrests and what methods can be used in a trial.• The doctrine of stare decisis is a procedural law.

SUBSTANTIVE Law – defines rights and duties.• Concerned with all rules of conduct except those

involved in enforcement.• Ex: defines offenses such as murder, theft, etc.

Business Law• Covers rules that apply to business situations &

transactions.• Most business transactions involve a merchant & a

consumer.• Largely concerned with Civil Law, especially Contracts.

• TORTS – private wrongs (civil offenses) against people or organizations.

• UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) – a widely adopted uniform business law,

• governs areas such as sales, & business forms.

Ex. of Business Related Crimes: Forgery, Embezzlement, Bribery, Computer Crime, False Pretenses, Evading Taxes, Fraud

Types of Law• Constitutional Law – based on constitutions,

• Statutory law – Enacted by legislative bodies,

• Administrative law – Rules & regulations made by admin. agencies,

• Civil law – addresses wrongs done to individuals,

• Criminal law – addresses wrongs done to society,

• Procedural law – deals with methods of enforcing legal rights & duties,

• Substantive law – defines legal rights and duties,

• Business law – rules that apply to business situations and transactions

GOALS:Define Ethics,

Compare and contrast consequences-based ethics with rule-based ethics,

Discuss ways in which ethics are reflected in laws

Lesson 1-3, Ethical Bases for Laws

Ethics – a collection of standards of conduct and moral judgment forming the basis for a reasoned, impartial decision as to what is right or wrong.

3 elements of ethics:1. A decision about a Right or Wrong Action,2. decision is Reasoned,3. decision is Impartial

Ethics Defined…

To involve ethics, a decision must AFFECT YOU or OTHERS in some

SIGNIFICANT way.

Many of our decisions have little effect on others or ourselves…

Decision About a Right or Wrong Action

To make ethical decisions, we must base our decisions on

Reason, not on emotion.

Refer to a written authority that provides consistency.

Reasoned Decisions

Impartiality – the idea that the same ethical standards are applied to everyone.

Does not value one person or group of people more than any other does.

Requires that in making ethical decisions, we balance our self-interest with the interest of others.

Behind all organizations there are many people…

Impartial Decisions

Why Ethics?? To prepare you to apply ethical concepts to business decision making.

Business Ethics – ethical principles used in making business decisions.

All too often, ethics are not considered when business decisions are made. The reason - Profit Maximization, optimize the income of business owners, but hurt the common good.

Ex – moving factories offshore, having skilled jobs done overseas instead of by American workers

NOTE – what is considered ethical behavior in one culture may not be acceptable behavior in another.

Business Ethics

CONSEQUENCES based – rightness or wrongness is based only on the Results of the Action.• An act that produces good consequences is Good.• Lying produced bad consequences, so lying is Bad.

These consequences are then evaluated to see whether action confers the “Greatest Good on the Greatest Number.”

MAJORITY – is chosen

RULE based – acts themselves are judged as right or wrong. • Telling the Truth is Right

• Standard for judging usually comes from:• A Recognized Authority, or • Human Reasoning (Universalizing - irrational, illogical, demeaning)

For almost all ethical decisions, these 2 forms reach same conclusion.

Basic Forms of Ethical Reasoning

In our elections, Majority Rule prevails, consequences-based ethics, using this system laws are judged to be right or good when they affect the

majority of the people positively.

Both forms of ethics conclude that we are obligated to obey the law:When the law is violated, many more people are injured than are benefited

Scofflaws – persons who do not respect the law. They assess the risk of being caught and punished. They lack personal integrity.

In contrast to the self-serving behavior, others are concerned for justice so much so that sometimes compels them to violate what they consider to be

an unjust law. Civil disobedience – open, peaceful, violation of a law to protest its supposed injustice. Goal – is to make legal system more just.

May be willing to be arrested in order to test the validity of the law in court.

Ethics Reflected in Our Laws…

Because ethical reasoning demands it, Because we have agreed to obey it,

& Because by obeying it we avoid

punishment.

Why Are We Obligated To Obey Laws?