Lecture 1 - Intake 64

INTRODUCTION TO LAW
NEU Faculty of Law

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1
Main contents
1. Nature of law
2. Law making
3. Dispute Settlement – Court system
4. Dispute Settlement – Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR)
5. Administrative Law
6. Criminal Law
7. Business Organisations
8. Business Transactions (Contract)
2
Definition of law
The law is a set of rules, enforceable by the

courts, which regulates the government of
the state and governs the relationship
between the state and its citizens and
between one citizen and another.
3
Classification of law
◦ Public and Private Law
◦ Criminal and Civil Law
◦ Common Law and Civil Law
4
Public law vs. Private law
◦ Public law is concerned with the relationship
between the state and its citizens.
◦ Private law is primarily concerned with the
rights and duties of individuals towards each
other.
5
Criminal v Civil
CRIMINAL LAW CIVIL LAW
◦ Defined: Offence against the ◦ Defined: disputes between

state private individuals
◦ Burden of Proof: lay at ◦ Burden of proof: party who

procurator (representative of requests (the claimant)
the State) should prove that his/her
request is reasonable
◦ Examples: Murder, theft, ◦ Examples: contract, tort,

trusts, property law
driving with excess alcohol,
engaging in an unfair
commercial practice.
Where does the law come
from?
In general, it could be said there are three
main sources of law:
1. Legislation
2. Case law
3. Customs
7
Sources of law (1)
◦ Legislation
- Constitution
- Statutes
- Subordinate legislation
- Administrative directives
◦ Case law
8
Constitution (1)
• is the fundamental law of a state
• defines the political, economic and cultural

mechanism
• establishes the governmental structure and

allocates power among the levels of government
• specifies the rights and liberties of the people
• The current Constitution of Vietnam is the

Constitution 2013
9
Constitution (2)
◦ Virtually all nations have a written constitution

which sets out the broad parameters for
government and social organisations.
◦ Only UK, New Zealand and Israel do not have

a written constitution.
10
Constitution 2013
◦ Is the current constitution in Vietnam
◦ The Constitution is the fundamental law of the State

having the highest legal effect.
◦ All legal documents promulgated must conform with the

Constitution and ensure the uniformity and the rank of its
legal effect in the legal system.
◦ All legal documents issued by a lower-level State agency

must conform with the legal documents of the higher-
level State agencies.
Statutes (1)
• enacted by legislative authority (Parliament)
• enjoy a superior legal status after Constitution
• designated as Codes if more important and

comprehensive such as Civil Code, Criminal
Code, Labour Code…
• Some important statutes in the area of business:

Law on Enterprises 2014, Law on Bankruptcy 2014,
Law on State Enterprises 2003, Law on Investment
2014 … 12
Statutes (2)
◦ Statutes cannot cover all possible outcomes or
eventualities;
◦ The statute provides a general framework to deal with

certain topics;
◦ Details which allow the statute to operate effectively

will often be found in delegated legislation;
◦ Delegated legislations, so-called subordinate

legislations, generally come into operation after their
publication in the Official Gazette
13
Examples of statutes
Factors that limit the legislative
powers of the NA
◦ The NA cannot take any action that is inconsistent
with the provisions of the Constitution.
◦ Article 146 of the Constitution states that the
Constitution is the ‘fundamental law of the State and
has supreme legal force’.
◦ The NA must not act in a manner that contravenes
the provisions of international treaties to which the
State has committed itself. However, Article 84 of the
Constitution empowers the NA to nullify international
treaties if appropriate.
Subordinate legislation
- issued by administrative authorities
- usually promulgated for the implementation
of statutes
- formed as Decrees of the government or
Circulars of Ministers
- play an important role in Vietnam,
especially in the field of business
16
Case law
◦ Plays an important role in the common law

system
◦ Made by a judge when deciding a case
◦ Serves as precedent and be relevant for

future disputes
◦ Recently recognised in Vietnam as a source

of law 17
Resolution 03/2015/NQ-HDTP
dated 28 October 2015
◦ For the first time, the Resolution officially
recognises case law as a source of law in
Vietnam.
◦ It is expected that the Vietnamese legal

system will be more consistent, and more
predictable.
◦ This resolution came into force on 16

December 2015. 18
Case study
◦ Mrs Donoghue was drinking a

bottle of ginger beer in a café in
Paisley when she found out a
dead snail in her bottle. She fell ill
and sued the ginger beer
manufacturer, Mr Stevenson.
◦ The House of Lords held that the
manufacturer owned a duty of
care to her, which was breached,
because it was reasonably
foreseeable that failure to ensure
the product’s safety would lead to
harm of consumers.
19
Legal systems in the world
◦ A legal system is the mechanism for creating,
interpreting and enforcing the laws in a given
jurisdiction.
◦ There are three major legal systems in the
world. They are:
◦ Common law (UK, USA, Australia…)
◦ Civil law (France, Germany, Italy,
Vietnam…)
◦ Muslim law (Iran, Libya, Pakistan…)
20
◦ is derived from the
Koran
Muslim law ◦ used in some Middle
Eastern nations such
as Iran and Saudi
Arabia.
21
Civil law
◦ Based upon Roman law
◦ Depends upon comprehensive legislative
enactments (called Codes)
◦ Prevails in most of Europe, Mexico, South
America, State of Louisiana (USA), Vietnam…
◦ Not recognises common law as a source of
law.
22
Sources of civil law
◦ Constitution
◦ EC law (EU countries only)
◦ Statutes
◦ Administrative regulations (Decrees of the
government)
◦ Customs (not important)
23
Common Law
◦ Common law was developed in England
following the Norman Conquest in 11th century.
◦ The courts in common law system have
developed a body of law that serves as
precedents for dealing with similar cases.
◦ Under common law system, two basic sources of
law are statute law and the common law itself.
◦ The common law system exists in UK, USA,
Australia and the Commonwealth community.
24
Sources of law in common
law
◦ Case law
◦ Statutes
◦ Custom
◦ EC law (UK only)
25
Case law
◦ Case law is law made by judges as a result of

the doctrine of judicial precedent. (stare
decisis)
◦ Case law contains common law and equity.
26
Role of judges in civil law and
common law
◦ In civil law: Judges simply apply the law –
they do not make law via judicial precedent.
◦ In common law: Judges play two roles in

building up - by setting and applying judicial
precedent, and interpreting statutes.
27
Questions: Civil or Criminal?
◦ Ann decides to divorce her husband, Barry, after 10
years of marriage.
◦ Colin is given a parking ticket by a traffic warden for
parking on double yellow lines.
◦ Diane returns a faulty steam iron to the shop where
she bought it, but the shop manager refuses to give
her a refund.
◦ Eamonn drives at 50mph on a stretch of road where
there is a 30mph limit. He fails to see Fiona, who is
crossing the road. She is knocked down and sustains
severe injuries.
28
Questions: Civil or Criminal?
◦ Graham takes a copy of Business Law from a
reference section of the library, with the intention of
returning it when he has finished his first assignment.
He finds the book so valuable that he decides to
keep it.
◦ Hazel returns to England after working abroad for
three years. While abroad, she rented her flat to Yan.
She now gives him notice to quit, but he refuses to
move out.
29
Examination case
◦ David, a farmer, supplies organic free range eggs on
a regular basis to the Peak Park Hotel and Country
Club. David’s hens, and the eggs they produce,
have become infected with salmonella. The hotel
uses the infected raw eggs to prepare a mayonnaise
for Ian and Janet’s wedding reception. Many of the
guests are taken ill after the reception and Sybil,
Janet’s 90-year-old grandmother, dies.
◦ Identify the different types of legal proceedings which
might arise from these facts.
◦ For each type of legal action you have identified in (a),
discuss the nature of the legal liability and the purpose
or objective of taking legal action.
30

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INTRODUCTION TO LAW

NEU Faculty of Law

The law is a set of rules, enforceable by the

◦ Defined: Offence against the ◦ Defined: disputes between

◦ Burden of Proof: lay at ◦ Burden of proof: party who

◦ Examples: Murder, theft, ◦ Examples: contract, tort,

• defines the political, economic and cultural

• establishes the governmental structure and

• specifies the rights and liberties of the people

• The current Constitution of Vietnam is the

◦ Virtually all nations have a written constitution

◦ Only UK, New Zealand and Israel do not have

◦ The Constitution is the fundamental law of the State

◦ All legal documents promulgated must conform with the

◦ All legal documents issued by a lower-level State agency

• enjoy a superior legal status after Constitution

• designated as Codes if more important and

• Some important statutes in the area of business:

◦ The statute provides a general framework to deal with

◦ Details which allow the statute to operate effectively

◦ Delegated legislations, so-called subordinate

◦ Plays an important role in the common law

◦ Made by a judge when deciding a case

◦ Serves as precedent and be relevant for

◦ Recently recognised in Vietnam as a source

◦ It is expected that the Vietnamese legal

◦ This resolution came into force on 16

◦ Mrs Donoghue was drinking a

◦ Case law is law made by judges as a result of

◦ Case law contains common law and equity.

◦ In common law: Judges play two roles in

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