Law/531 [ July 30, 2012 ]
The traditional legal system of utilizes law as it is foundation for all decisions. Laws in the United States have four sources; constitutional, statutes and ordinance, common law and administrative. The features of these four are: * Constitutional Law is based on a formal document that defines broad powers. Federal constitutional law originates from the U.S. constitution. State constitutional law originates from the individual state constitutions. * Statutes and Ordinances are legislation passed on the federal, state, or local levels. * Common Law is based on the concept of precedence - on how the courts have interpreted the law. Under common law, the facts of a particular case are determined and compared to previous cases having similar facts in order to reach a decision by analogy. Common law applies mostly at the state level. It originated in the 13th century when royal judges began recording their decisions and the reasoning behind the decisions. * Administrative Law - federal, state, and local level. Administrative law is made by administrative agencies that define the intent of the legislative body that passed the law.
These four steps are used to structure and interpret laws to remedy situations as they arise the enforcement occurs at three levels and they are called courts. The Supreme Court, Appellate courts and Trial courts, in the business environment the trial court is a popular choice because it handles the civil disputes and it is only when unique cases appear it is sent to be viewed by the Supreme Court for a ruling. Cases such as NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. (Supreme Court of the United States 2011) otherwise known as the healthcare law which mandates healthcare for all, when this kind of law is in place and it affects the citizens on a whole that decision must be
References: Supreme Court System, American Legal System; Quick MBA, Law and Business http://www.quickmba.com/law/sys/, viewed July 30th 2012. Healthcare Reform Ruling; NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL; http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf, viewed July 30th 2012. Definition of Tort; The Lectric Law Library LECLAW.com, http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/t032.htm, viewed July 30th 2012. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. A tort is an act that injures someone in some way, and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages. Legally, torts are called civil wrongs, as opposed to criminal ones. (Some acts like battery, however, may be both torts and crimes; the wrongdoer may face both civil and criminal penalties.)