Functions of Law in Business and Society

Part One

Define the functions and role of law in business and society. Discuss the functions and role of law in your past or present job or industry. Properly cite at least two references from your reading.

The term ‘law’ can be defined as the body of rules and standards issued by a government to a civilization that concerns the behavior and the consequences thereof. This can therefore mean that there are a set of rules that govern every endeavor in human life and also these set of rules determine the consequences of a person’s action depending on what the person has done.

Concurring with Reference.com (2007), law can be defines as defined as "rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct." Basically, law is the rules and regulations that facilitate in governance, handling of disputes, and dealing with criminal actions.

The law can fall into three classifications;

1. Civil and Criminal law – Criminal law provides guidelines on how crime committers are prosecuted whereas civil law is the law that dictates how private parties may sue one another for crimes committed against one another. For example

2. Substantive and Procedural Law – Substantive laws are the social rights and duties of people, and procedural law are rules through which courts, juries or other government bodies deal with breakage of Substantive law.

3. Public and Private Law – Public law is the set of guidelines that elaborate the relationship between the government and the people, and private law is the strategy through which persons or groups interact with one another. Private law covers areas such as contracts agreements, and also proprietorship.

The classifications above have influence on both business and society, and not only are they guidelines providing definition of what is and is not a crime, but also through protection for both, as well as providing justice for all parties in quarrel without being favoring either side.

All three categories of laws above are created in the best interests of the people they govern. In reference to the textbook, Business Law: The Ethical, Global, and E-commerce Environment, 13th Edition (Mallor, et al, 2004, p. 11), the most important social functions of law include the following:

1. Provision of rights to civilians as well as controlling the power of the Government- The law puts every citizen on an equal scale and ensure that all persons face the consequences for their action.

2. Peacekeeping- The law provides clear instructions on what to do in case of war or other dangerous situations that may be caused by citizens or non- citizens and also clearly states what should be done to those who cause disruption of peace.

3. Upholding social justice- The law embraces everyone in the community as they are and does not tolerate prejudice or discrimination.

4. Environmental Protection- The law has in place rules that do not at all tolerate the misuse of natural resources and also does state the repercussions of doing so to those who want to use the society’s resources for their own selfish gain.

Law also serves a huge role in business as it is only through this way that a country can have a stable economy and also attract foreign investors to the country. Also in the presence of a rule of law, employers understand how to correlate with their employees, and employees know how to relate with their employers therefore creating