GULF REGIONAL LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS

Introduction

The meaning of the term law can be explained as it is a body of rules of action or
conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force. That which
must be obeyed and followed by citizens subject to sanctions or legal consequences is
a law. (Davidson et al, 2004)The application of law in business is very much essential in
order to ensure that the business in the society is carried out in a harmonious manner
and that and disputes which are arising between the parties of the business are settled
in a equitable and just manner and this ensures that the business is carried out in the
society in a sustainable manner. (Davidson et al, 2004)

This report will highlight the importance of laws to the society, the different sources from
where law is sourced and finally the laws of tort will be applied to a case study.

Importance of Law to Society

Laws as discussed above are the set of rules and regulations that govern the society
that the people are living in. Law is very essential to the society to ensure that there is
peace and harmony in the society and this is mainly done by making some activities as
crimes which are punishable.(Jeffrey and Susan, 2010)

Further law also plays an active role in shaping the moral standards of a country by
discouraging those activities that are considered as immoral and at the same tie it helps
in ensuring that there is social justice in the country by the various provisions against
discrimination.(ibid)

Law is also a tool which is important to make changes inside the society that are said to
be good for the society as the people are formally bound to follow the law and if they
don’t then they can be punished and this helps to make them accept changes. (ibid)
Law helps the society to prevent and to regulate those activities that are considered as
being detrimental to the society such as the harmful substances like drugs, obscene
acts, use or arms and ammunition etc. (ibid)

Law also provides for the compromise between different parties that are aggrieved with
each other and it helps to make it sure that the scarce resources are safeguarded along
with the personal property of an individual. (ibid)

There are also different branches of law and this is important as it will enable the orderly
conduct of those activities such as there is business law which ensures that business is
moving smoothly, there is also laws like criminal law that imposes penalties for criminal
activities. (ibid)

In short law is needed to ensure that the society will live in harmony and will sustain
itself for a long period of time.

Sources of Law

The various sources of law are

Legislation: It is regarded as the frequent source of new laws which consists of

declaration of acts and legal rules put forth by competent authority. This also takes into
consideration the expressions of the will of the legislative body and every Act of
Parliament. The functions of the legislative body of a nation are stated in the term
legislation. (Cheeseman, 2001)

Custom : It is the common non-formal source of law. Although custom is found in all
the nations but its existence is overshadowed by other kinds of laws. Custom law
shows the transition between morality and law which is based on common mind of rules
of existence and overall acceptance proved by observance and is the oldest form of
law. (Jeffrey and Susan, 2010)

Treaties: An agreement which is entered into by nations or legal persons and which is
recognized by the international law is known as treaty. This can be bilateral which
involves two nations as contracting parties and multilateral if more than two nations or
legal persons are involved. The multilateral treaties impose norms which connect those
nations who have clearly approved and signed the treaty.

Constitution: It is the document comprising the system of laws, the customs and
conventions explaining the agreements, structure, powers, and the process of
maintaining the relations of the state organs with one another and with the citizens of
the nation. The constitution being the superior of all the laws regulates judicial,
executive, and legislative bodies of a nation. (Stone, 2007)

Justice, Equity, and Good Conscience: In a nation, for certain cases in the court
there arises situations creating a gap in a law then the principles of equity provides the
judges to implement terms like "good faith", "public policy" in the laws and make
judgments taking equitable considerations when such a law is not implemented in the
law of the country.(ibid)

Law from Religious Sources: these are laws that are based on the tenants that have
been stated in the religious materials and is used when the majority of the people in the
society are following the same religion and thus is acceptable to all people of the
society. (Cheeseman, 2001)

Tort of Law

The term tort can be defined as “a civil wrong or wrongful act, whether intentional or
accidental, from which injury occurs to another”. Torts can be classified in to
Negligence, Defamation, Nuisance, Statutory, Economic and Intentional. (Davidson et
al, 2004)

Negligence is that tort which is considered with the breaking of the duty of provision of
reasonable care to which such a duty may be owed. In order that it can be proved that
there was negligence and that the tort of negligence is applicable there are five
elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence: the existence of a
legal duty to exercise reasonable care; a failure to exercise reasonable care; cause in
fact of physical harm by the negligent conduct; physical harm in the form of actual
damages; and proximate cause, a showing that the harm is within the scope being
caused by the actions of the person. (Davidson et al, 2004)

In this case the plaintiff is Mr. Omar and the defendant is the building owner, Mr. Omar
is claiming that the building owner failed to fulfill the duty of reasonable care that the
owner is having towards the people who are staying in the building by not fixing the lock
on the door that is leading to the emergency staircase of the building and due to this
failure the son of Omar opened the door and fell down and later died due to injuries.
The Owner is claiming that the fixing the door is the responsibility of the maintenance
company and he is not responsible.

In the case that Mr. Omar is wanting to win the case then he will have to prove to the
court that there is evidence that the Tort of Negligence conditions can be applied to the
case. He can prove to the court that the owner is having duty of care as he is a legal
tenant, who is using property of the landlord, and hence landlord should make sure that
building is safe for living. He also needs to prove that the duty of care was not met by
the owner and this he can state from the many time that the people complain about the
lock but there is no action from owner of building. The condition that breach is
responsible is shown as, if the door is locked then the small child of one year will not
be able to open it and because the lock is broken the child opened the door and fell
down and this is the fifth condition can also be shown as from the fall the child got
injured and died of the injuries.

Yes, therefore Mr. Omar can win the case when he is able to prove the above five
conditions, but in the case that the owner of the building has already before made it
clear to tenants that the repairs of the building is the responsibility of the maintenance
company and there is some proof or contract then the court can reduce the liability on
the Owner as the owner can claim that there was contributory negligence by the
maintenance company and also from the father of the child or he can also claim that he
has informed the maintenance company to change many time but they have not acted
and that this is the case of comparative negligence by the other party. (Davidson et al,
2004)
Conclusion and Findings

To conclude, law is a set of rules that have been imposed on the society and also that
law is very important to the society as it plays a number of different roles in the society,
also that each society will have a different sources from wherein the laws will be
created, in the case study the conclusion is that the case can be won by Mr. Omar is he
proves the conditions of the tort of negligence but owner is having some remedies to
avoid entire liability for the death.

The findings are that the role of law is a large one in the smooth and harmonious
functioning of the society and that customs, precedents, treaties, religion are sources of
law, finally it has been found that there are many branches such as the Tort law which
aim to protect the individual from the harmful action taken by the other people and in the
case study Mr. Omar can win the case when he will prove the five conditions in the
market.

(WORD COUNT: 1550)

REFERENCES

Davidson, D., Knowles, B. and Forsythe, L. (2004) Business Law: Principles and Cases
in the Legal Environment, (8th Ed.), South-Western College.

Stone, R., (2007). The Modern Law of Contract: Seventh Edition. 7th Edition. UK:
Routledge-Cavendish

Cheeseman, H.R. (2001) Business law: ethical, international, & e-commerce

environment. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, p. 1200

Jeffrey, F., Susan, S. (2010) Business Law and the Legal Environment (Standard), (5 th
Ed.), Southwestern College/West

Beatty, F., and Samuelson, S., 2008. Business Law and the Legal Environment. 5th
Edition. US:South-Western College, pp 323.