Summary of all contents needed for the law part of the International Business Awareness Book.
Chapters 1, 5, 7 of A Basic guide to international business law, by H. Wevers.
Class slides are also added and some pages of the book Introduction to business law, by L. Jones
Contents
Summary law books ................................................................................................................................ 1
Chapter 1 Wevers – Introduction to International Private Law and European Law........................... 1
Chapter 5 Wevers – CISG .................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 7 Competition law ................................................................................................................. 5
Class slides (lecture week 3) ............................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 8 Jones................................................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 1 Wevers – Introduction to International Private Law and European Law
1.1 Introduction to International Private Law
International law is law agreed by two or more states and is applicable to those states
and in most cases their nationals. It is laid down in rules referred to as Treaties,
Conventions, Regulations and Declarations. If a state is signed up to these rules, each
state is being referred to as a Contracting State of this Treaty / Convention.
International law can be divided in…
International Public Law = enforceable by states only and deals with legal problems
of citizens domiciled in different states and involving the laws of different states.
- It is concerned with such issues as the set0up if international institutions (UN,
human right (European Convention on Human Rights) and the extradition of
nationals from another country to their home country.
International Private Law = deals with legal problems arising from legal relationships
between parties domiciled in different countries to which different legal systems apply.
- Every country has its own legal system and if there is business done between 2
countries, it involves two national legal systems. International Private Law
provides a set of rules either to decide the matter, or to refer the litigating parties
to a national legal system where the answer lies.
- Basically, every country has its own International Private Law. It deals with 3
main issues:
1. Jurisdiction in cases of litigation between two parties from different states
(including the possibility of executing the verdict given by the court of law
that has jurisdiction, in the countries of the litigating parties)
2. The law to be applied in cases of international litigation between 2 private
parties
3. Solutions to legal problems arising out of an international legal relationship.
Litigation = lawsuit
International Business Law (as part of International Private Law) = International
private law concerning the activities and organisation of multi-national businesses.
Rules of International Private Law are focused on aspects such as…
- The place of residence of the defendant
- The place where the employee usually works
- The place of business of the seller
- The nationality of one of the parties
, Three main issues of International Private Law are also the ‘three pillars’.
1.2 Introduction to European Law.
EU Law = the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and all legislation which is based on
it, binding for all Member States of the EU. It deals with several aspects of International
Private Law. Main differences with International Law:
- The EU law is based on one Treaty: the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union), instead of numerous Treaties on various subjects.
- Several institutions and types of legislations are based on this TSFEU (this is
unusual in the field of International Private Law).
The EU law does not cover every aspect of business competition between Member States
or between undertakings that are or are not of the same Member State (so other
national and international rules and regulations still have a role to play). For example,
every country has its own civil code (e.g. Dutch Burgerlijk Wetboek), there is no EU law
for this.
While doing business in EU, you always have to be aware of the rules of EU Law, and
operate within the legal bounds set by the TFEU. Competition law.
Main objective EU: achieve economic integration through the use of a common market
where goods, persons, capital and services can circulate freely. Important condition:
Member States should give up their sovereignty in those areas governed by the EU
Treaty. This way, EU becomes a Supranational organisation which has the authority
to make rules that bind the Member States of the EU, without their specific and prior
consent.
EU takes precedence (superiority) over national law and is thus applied uniformly
throughout the EU. You can distinguish:
- Directly applicable EU law: the provisions of EU law apply directly within the legal
systems of the Member States. The TFEU determines what EU law is to be directly
applicable. However, it has NO CONNECTION with the principle of direct effect.
- Directly effective EU law: gives rights to nationals of the EU who can rely on them
in a court in their own country (e.g. in a lawsuit against another person or their
own national government). The directly effective EU law is therefore only of
interest of nationals (it does not affect Member States).
Only the ECJ (European Court of Justice) decides if EU law has direct effect). If
the ECJ decides that a Treaty Article should have direct effect, then a national can
rely on this Article before a national court of law.
Article 112 TFEU prohibits Member States from introducing new taxes between Member
States.
ECJ listed the requirements a Treaty Article must meet in order to have direct effect:
1. The provision must be clear and unambiguous (depending on the interpretation of
the text of the provision)
2. The provision must be unconditional (there are no additional national measures
necessary in order for the provision to be effective).
3. The provision must take effect without further acts of the EU or Member States.
1.2.1 the Institutions of the EU:
They are unique, they do not correspond to any other institutions at (inter)national level,
they don’t have any connection with Treaties other than the TFEU. The institutions are:
1. European Parliament (Articles 223 – 234 TFEU). Members are directly elected by
European citizens. The nr. Of representatives per country depends on the size of
the country. Elected members take part in Parliamentary Committees dealing
with specific aspects of EU policy (e.g. international trade, agriculture).
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