Types of Law

Functions of Laws

People in society and business depend on the laws of the United States of America. Business depends on laws to run a profitable organization. Society depends on these laws for their ethical and social behavior. Laws for society and business are written to have checks and balances of rules and regulations. Business and organizations use these laws to enforce business practices, trades, and business use the law to settle disputes. Laws also help business to grow, and laws also protect the land. Society uses the laws to govern how they act in public, drive, and interact with one another. Without laws there would be chaos and people doing what they want. Business would be out of control, making their own rules and businesses would likely fail. There are different types of laws and each plays a role in business and society. Some of those laws are administrative, common, statutory, and constitutional law.

Administrative law is rules and regulations that allow the executive branch, and other independent government agencies to use their power and authority over businesses and society. Administrative agencies are in charge to carry out and apply the law of statutes and the Constitution. According to Melvin (2011), “these agencies are empowered to administer the details of federal statutes and have broad powers to impose regulations, make policy, and enforce the law in their designated area of jurisdiction.” ("Chapter 1, Administrative Law"). An example of one of these agencies is the Environmental Protection Agency. They are in charge of protecting the environment and the people who live in their communities. The Environmental Protection Agency investigates accidents involving chemicals. These chemicals are dangerous and when they come in contact with the land it can pose a threat to businesses and society.

Common law is a set of laws written from previous court rulings and hearings. According to Melvin (2011), “The notion of applying the law of previous cases to current cases with substantially similar circumstances is called precedent.” ("Chapter 1, Common Law"). The courts and not legislature pass these laws based on passed rulings with similar facts and fundamentals. Courts will use the common law between parties and will follow precedent when the same dispute between parties present themselves in court again.

The legislative body writes the laws of statutory, and these members are from the U.S. Congress. When the legislative body is creating a federal statute it is not a law, and is called a bill. When they are speaking of statutory law on the federal level the president has the capacity to vote a bill into law or he can veto it. Statutory law exists at the state level and also at the local level. State level statutory laws deals with organizations and business and the local level deals with businesses on zoning and health regulations and safety. Some examples of local laws that deal with businesses are food safety and handling. They check on restaurants for cleanliness and if they are cooking and storing food at proper temperatures and for the right amount of time. They also check on employees to make sure they are washing their hands properly and wearing hair restraints.

Constitutional law is the highest of all laws. Laws are written on the foundation of constitutional laws. Constitutional laws rule over laws, and it ranks number one over other laws like statutes. Constitutional law governs business by regulating interstate commerce, and it deals with copyrights from businesses. They also rule on how much the states can tax businesses and organizations. Constitutional laws are on a federal level and can override state laws, when this happens they call it preemption. According to Melvin (2011), “In order for preemption to occur, the federal law must be directly in conflict with state law to the point where the two laws cannot coexist.” ("Chapter 2, The Supremacy Clause and Preemption”).

The laws that function in my current job are present at levels, federal, state, and local. The organization deals with all types manufacturing, sales, transportation, employees, patens, and the list is too long to mention. Some of the basic laws the organization deals with are the protection of the consumer when concerning food safety. The USDA frequently visits stores to check on the compliance of COOL, which stands for country of origin labeling, and on nutritional labeling on packages of raw meat. The company deals with patent rights because manufacturing hundreds of items for sale are for consumption. It has a host of vendors and suppliers it deals with daily, scattered throughout the United States. By doing business with vendors from other states, makes the organization abide by laws that regulate Commerce. Laws designed to keep society functioning in an orderly manner, and allow business to be profitable by following rules and regulations. Without these rules in place society would cease to function and be out of control. Business would do what they wanted and not have any regard to society or the land.

In order for business to function in a normal and humane way business must follow the rules of its state and local jurisdictions. Businesses cannot make up the rules as they please, or when it deals favorable for them. If businesses made up their own rules, when people get hurt, they would not do anything to help them or change the way they do business. The Commerce clause was put into act to step in and regulate businesses when state laws are in conflict with federal laws. The Commerce clause is there to regulate businesses and tell them what to do when the safety of the public is an issue.

References
Melvin, S. P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.
Melvin, S. P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.
Melvin, S. P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.