Lecture

Introduction to the Legal System and Contracts

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In course

MGT-455: Practical business law

The course covers the fundamental concepts of business law from a practical standpoint, including contracts and company law, intellectual property, data protection and competition law, with a special focus on issues specific to start-up companies. ...

Description

This lecture covers the introduction to the legal system, including the international context and court enforcement, legal sources, theory of rights and obligations, and contract formation with topics such as freedom of contract and consent. Students will gain an understanding of the legal environment, contractual mechanisms, and company organization, enabling them to identify legal issues, understand associated risks, and raise red flags in specific situations. The course also delves into the main subdivisions of the legal system, sources of legislation, enforcement mechanisms, and the theory of rights and obligations in business law.

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Related concepts (32)

Contract

A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more mutually agreeing parties. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to transfer any of those at a future date. In the event of a breach of contract, the injured party may seek judicial remedies such as damages or rescission. A binding agreement between actors in international law is known as a treaty.

Law of obligations

The law of obligations is one branch of private law under the civil law legal system and so-called "mixed" legal systems. It is the body of rules that organizes and regulates the rights and duties arising between individuals. The specific rights and duties are referred to as obligations, and this area of law deals with their creation, effects and extinction. An obligation is a legal bond (vinculum iuris) by which one or more parties (obligants) are bound to act or refrain from acting.

Freedom of contract

Freedom of contract is the process in which individuals and groups form contracts without government restrictions. This is opposed to government regulations such as minimum-wage laws, competition laws, economic sanctions, restrictions on price fixing, or restrictions on contracting with undocumented workers. The freedom to contract is the underpinning of laissez-faire economics and is a cornerstone of free-market libertarianism.

Social contract

In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and usually, although not always, concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Social contract arguments typically are that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority (of the ruler, or to the decision of a majority) in exchange for protection of their remaining rights or maintenance of the social order.

Rights

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology. The history of social conflicts has often involved attempts to define and redefine rights.

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