COMM 315 Midterm Review 1 With Questions And Answers
Business Law And Ethics (Concordia University)
CH. 1 INTRODUCTION TO LAW
• What is law?
o A set of rules and guidelines by which a society has come to accept as a way of
living and conducting itself.
• Law & justice
o Justice: a process of applying law, the system where law is applied by law
enforcement & judges, in a fair manner to everyone (because we are a democracy)
• Law: created by law makers (government)
1. Law consists of words on paper written by lawmakers (no emotions or
feelings), but words have meaning.
2. Law is applied and enforced by judges. Judges are humans who go about their
daily lives like regular people. It is with this understanding, that they apply the
law.
3. The law is used as an instrument for enforcing standards of conduct and for
building a particular type of society.
• Law & ethics
o Ethics: set of principles or moral values of a society, distinguishing right from
wrong. (Laws also reflect these values)
o Laws could contradict ethical principles as well (manufacturing in
underdeveloped countries= cheaper yet more unethical because of exploitation)
• Private vs. public law
o Private: Rules that regulate the legal relationship and obligations between
individual citizens.
• Contract law
• Commercial law
• Property law
• Civil liability law
o Public: Governs the relationship between citizens and their state or nation or
country.
• Criminal law
• Taxation law
• Highway law
• Language laws
• Bankruptcy law
o Attempt to regulate behavior that affects the entire community and impose strict
punishment on those who break the law.
,• Civil vs. common law
o Civil: Private law that was used in France (Napoleonic code) that was placed in
Quebec and the British left it in place former Spanish states also have civil law
(California, Florida)
• Write down code & apply law
• If law is silent, see how judges apply it
• Look @ Law first, then judge/court application
o Common: British law
• First looks at how it’s applied (jurisprudence)
• Then go to see code/written law
• Look @ Application first, then look @ law
• Substantive vs. adjectival (procedural) law
o Substantive law: the law itself (civil code, QC code of human rights, Canadian
business act, Quebec business act, Income tax act), sets out rights and
responsibilities
o Procedural law: how to apply the law (ex: Civil procedure) Not touched in
COMM 315
• Law suit
o When you want to sue someone
o Debt can be monetary or moral (ex: slander someone) where you have 2 parties.
• Debtor vs. creditor
Debtor: obligation to pay back, get sued (defendant)
Creditor: right to enforce a claim, who takes the law suit (plaintiff)
• Class action
All have similar claim against one person/entity, multiple debtors
having a similar claim against the same creditor/plaintiff (Ex:
Volkswagen diesel case)
• Where to sue
Ex: Plaintiff is in MTL, Defendant is in Quebec city In general
we sue where the Defendant resides, sometimes it can be where the
contract was signed
Ex: Buyer is in MTL, Seller is in China Look @ contract to see
what jurisdiction’s law applies to it, if it’s silent on the issue,
generally you would have to sue in the domicile of the defendant
• Prescription
Limitation period in civil law, it’s generally 3 years in QC, Ex:
You sell something and the person’s check bounces, then you have
up to 3 years to sue
, Felonies have no prescription.
CH. 2 QUEBEC LEGAL SYSTEM
• Federal vs. Provincial authority
• Federal: Banking, tax, criminal, universities (federal government subsidizes each
university, except in QC where federal gives money to QC government and they
distribute it)
• Provincial: pre-university school, civil rights, property
• Branches of law
o Statute law: Deals only with one subject. It is usually interpreted more strictly
than a code and full intent of law makers must be found “within the 4 corners of
the Act”. Any unclear portion must be found by looking at the rest of the statute
(with similar wording) and seeing what it means.
• Taxation
• Insurance
• Bankruptcy
• I.e.: Quebec Charter of Human Rights
o Case law – jurisprudence: Judgements from previous cases are used and referred
to (when the case is similar).
o Doctrine: It is a form of written commentary on the law written by respected
lawyers and judges who have performed analyses of various subjects of Quebec
law.
• It is not uncommon that lawyers will cite these doctrines in court.
o Custom or Tradition (usage)
• commonly accepted ways of doing things in certain communities, no law
exists and no jurisprudence but everyone agrees on a method provided there is
no statue law.
• Quebec court system
o Trial court (Court of First Instance)
• First time the case will be heard.
• Plaintiff vs. defendant
Plaintiff: Person suing
Defendant: person getting sued.
• Court of Quebec: claim amount greater than $15,000 and less than
$85,000 (generally).
Small Claims Court: $15,000 or less, no appeal.
• (The people’s court) falls under the umbrella of the Court
of Quebec, there are no lawyers, so the judge acts as the
Business Law And Ethics (Concordia University)
CH. 1 INTRODUCTION TO LAW
• What is law?
o A set of rules and guidelines by which a society has come to accept as a way of
living and conducting itself.
• Law & justice
o Justice: a process of applying law, the system where law is applied by law
enforcement & judges, in a fair manner to everyone (because we are a democracy)
• Law: created by law makers (government)
1. Law consists of words on paper written by lawmakers (no emotions or
feelings), but words have meaning.
2. Law is applied and enforced by judges. Judges are humans who go about their
daily lives like regular people. It is with this understanding, that they apply the
law.
3. The law is used as an instrument for enforcing standards of conduct and for
building a particular type of society.
• Law & ethics
o Ethics: set of principles or moral values of a society, distinguishing right from
wrong. (Laws also reflect these values)
o Laws could contradict ethical principles as well (manufacturing in
underdeveloped countries= cheaper yet more unethical because of exploitation)
• Private vs. public law
o Private: Rules that regulate the legal relationship and obligations between
individual citizens.
• Contract law
• Commercial law
• Property law
• Civil liability law
o Public: Governs the relationship between citizens and their state or nation or
country.
• Criminal law
• Taxation law
• Highway law
• Language laws
• Bankruptcy law
o Attempt to regulate behavior that affects the entire community and impose strict
punishment on those who break the law.
,• Civil vs. common law
o Civil: Private law that was used in France (Napoleonic code) that was placed in
Quebec and the British left it in place former Spanish states also have civil law
(California, Florida)
• Write down code & apply law
• If law is silent, see how judges apply it
• Look @ Law first, then judge/court application
o Common: British law
• First looks at how it’s applied (jurisprudence)
• Then go to see code/written law
• Look @ Application first, then look @ law
• Substantive vs. adjectival (procedural) law
o Substantive law: the law itself (civil code, QC code of human rights, Canadian
business act, Quebec business act, Income tax act), sets out rights and
responsibilities
o Procedural law: how to apply the law (ex: Civil procedure) Not touched in
COMM 315
• Law suit
o When you want to sue someone
o Debt can be monetary or moral (ex: slander someone) where you have 2 parties.
• Debtor vs. creditor
Debtor: obligation to pay back, get sued (defendant)
Creditor: right to enforce a claim, who takes the law suit (plaintiff)
• Class action
All have similar claim against one person/entity, multiple debtors
having a similar claim against the same creditor/plaintiff (Ex:
Volkswagen diesel case)
• Where to sue
Ex: Plaintiff is in MTL, Defendant is in Quebec city In general
we sue where the Defendant resides, sometimes it can be where the
contract was signed
Ex: Buyer is in MTL, Seller is in China Look @ contract to see
what jurisdiction’s law applies to it, if it’s silent on the issue,
generally you would have to sue in the domicile of the defendant
• Prescription
Limitation period in civil law, it’s generally 3 years in QC, Ex:
You sell something and the person’s check bounces, then you have
up to 3 years to sue
, Felonies have no prescription.
CH. 2 QUEBEC LEGAL SYSTEM
• Federal vs. Provincial authority
• Federal: Banking, tax, criminal, universities (federal government subsidizes each
university, except in QC where federal gives money to QC government and they
distribute it)
• Provincial: pre-university school, civil rights, property
• Branches of law
o Statute law: Deals only with one subject. It is usually interpreted more strictly
than a code and full intent of law makers must be found “within the 4 corners of
the Act”. Any unclear portion must be found by looking at the rest of the statute
(with similar wording) and seeing what it means.
• Taxation
• Insurance
• Bankruptcy
• I.e.: Quebec Charter of Human Rights
o Case law – jurisprudence: Judgements from previous cases are used and referred
to (when the case is similar).
o Doctrine: It is a form of written commentary on the law written by respected
lawyers and judges who have performed analyses of various subjects of Quebec
law.
• It is not uncommon that lawyers will cite these doctrines in court.
o Custom or Tradition (usage)
• commonly accepted ways of doing things in certain communities, no law
exists and no jurisprudence but everyone agrees on a method provided there is
no statue law.
• Quebec court system
o Trial court (Court of First Instance)
• First time the case will be heard.
• Plaintiff vs. defendant
Plaintiff: Person suing
Defendant: person getting sued.
• Court of Quebec: claim amount greater than $15,000 and less than
$85,000 (generally).
Small Claims Court: $15,000 or less, no appeal.
• (The people’s court) falls under the umbrella of the Court
of Quebec, there are no lawyers, so the judge acts as the
