Summary About Law: an Introduction, by Tony Honoré
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Course
Business Law
Institution
Universiteit Twente (UT)
Book
About Law
Summary on the book About Law by Tony Honoré. This summary covers the first seven chapters, except for chapter 2, so: Law, Government, Property, Contracts and Treaties, Crimes, and Torts.
Business Law - About Law: An Introduction (Honoré)
ABOUT LAW, AN INTRODUCTION” BY TONY HONORÉ
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Tony Honoré Daniek Scholte Lubberink HOLI
Business Law
Chapter 1 Law
Law has several aims.
• They are all concerned with making society more stable and enabling people to flourish.
• Provide facilities for people to make their own arrangements
• Settle disputes about what the law is and whether it has been broken
• Settle what the system of government is to be
All these aims promises to protect people’s interests and it threatens those who do what is forbidden
a state = A political unit with a territory that the international community treats as independent.
Each state has its own system of law.
Bodies/branches of the state:
- Legislature → makes the laws → statutes
- Executive government → puts laws into effect → regulations
- Judges → decides disputes about the law → case-law
Levels of law-making and enforcement:
National law Beyond national law
State law EU law (supranational)
(Municipal law) International law
Transnational law
International law is about the relations between independent states and serves the international
community. It aims for:
- Stability in international life
- Encouragement of trade and other contacts between states
Treaty = binding agreement
- Short term threat of punishment is effective
- Long run needs morality and self-interest
Laws claim to be morally sound → They are part of morality
Morality is incomplete without law and law can only be enforced where it is backed my morality and
self-interest.
Limits of law:
- Laws are expensive Because the state has to find and pay for ways of enforcing them
- Too many laws irritates people and in the long run brings law into disrespute → not everything
should be made morally right into a legal duty
Lawyers study the system of statutes, regulations and case-law. He needs to find the best solution to
a conflict that is consistent with the authority of the constitution
Legal persons → are capable of holding and exercising a legal power
→ are capable of having rights and obligations
1
, Tony Honoré Daniek Scholte Lubberink HOLI
Business Law
2 types of legal persons:
- Natural persons → you and I
- Juridical persons → companies, associations, foundations, sovereign states, international organizations
To find the right/best solution to an unsolved problem calls for:
- learning → the decision must be consistent with the history and traditions of society
- Wisdom → the solution must fit with the facts of the case and the interests of the
people concerned
- Restraint → the law must build on what already exists and it must appeal to what
people perceive as right/in their interest. Cannot leap from opinion
Secular law = the tool with which conflicts between people and ideas are dealt with.
There are three models of law, English, French and German
Common law Civil law
Case based, case-driven Statute-based, statute-driven
Valid legal sources: case law, treaties, statutes Valid legal sources: statutes, treaties
Common law system– English
Civil law system – French, German
A legal system consists of:
a) Constitutional or public law
Sets out the principles on which the society rests. Lays down how the power of the state is
divided between the legislators, government ministers, officials, judges and others.
Administrative law, which deals with the relations between officials and citizens and the way
in which people can object to official decisions
b) Criminal law
Crimes or offences wrongs that the state thinks it should take steps to prevent
Criminal law lays down how these offences are to be investigated, prosecuted and tried,
what sentences can be imposed on the guilty ones and how the sentences are to be carried out
c) Private law
Deals with the rights and duties of individuals towards each other.
Includes so called civil procedure: procedure for bringing a lawsuit to make good your rights or
claim compensation
Chapter 3 Government
One of the main functions of law is to limit the power of governments.
Democracy makes it more effective, because the rulers know that they will have to stand for re-
election
Rule of law = Exists when a government’s powers are limited by law and citizens have a core of rights
that the rulers are bound to uphold and actually do uphold
The rule of law is an attractive ideal, but to impose limits on government power is expensive.
If the limits are to be effective there must be independent bodies to see that they are respected. If
the powers of government are curbed, it takes longer to reach decisions. Government becomes more
complicated and in extreme case can grind to a halt.
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