American Contract Law,Introduction,The American democracy is based on the following six essential principles: 1.the majority rules 2.protection of political rights of minorities 3.citizen agree to be ruled by a system of law 4.free exchange of ideas and opinions 5.equality of all citizens 6.goverment exists to serve the people,Sources of American law,There are four sources of American law: the constitution, statutory law, common law and equity. the constitution is the supreme law of the united states. it describes what powers the government has, as well as what rights us citizens have. All other laws must comply with the constitution. It has six basic principles.,Statutory law,Statutory law is written law that is passed by legislatures, congress, state legislatures, and local government all enact statues. While constitutional law is broad and leaves room for interpretation, statutory law is generally more detailed and precise. Regulations passed by agencies are even more specific than statutes.,Common law,the laws based on previous court ruling are called common law or case, law. This system date back to eleven century England where judges contemplating a case would refer to previous decision. When common law is in conflict with statutory law, the statutory law is upheld.,equity,Equity cases deal with the fairness or justice of a situation Judges decide the issues, and a jury is not present. The judges often order injunctions to prevent the unfair act from happening again.,Public law and Private law,Private laws deal mainly with disputes between individuals, businesses, or other organizations. The outcome of these disputes is usually a fine or award of money as opposed to a jail sentence. Private law encompasses property, contracts, family relation and tort.,Public law,Public law deal with the relationship between the government and its citizens. The four categories of public law are constitutional law, international law, criminal law and administrative law.,The Main sources for contract law,Common law Treatises Restatement of contract The uniform commercial code,treatises Every student comes across reference to Professor Willistons and Professor Corbins treatises.,Restatement of contract,The American Law Institute published the Restatement (first) of Contract in 1932. The Restatement set forth a series of black letter rules governing contract formation, operation, breach, etc., by restating the majority rules governing those principles adopted by courts throughout the country.,Uniform Commercial Code,The Uniform commercial Code is a set of statutes that govern commercial transactions throughout the United States. It is divided into nine substantive sections, called Articles.,The legislative branch,The legislative branch is a bicameral system, which means that it is composed of two houses, the Senate (参议院）and the House of Representatives(众议院）as outlined in the united States constitution. The U.S. Senate is made up of 100 members, two elected from each state .the House of Representatives is composed 435 members elected every two years from among the 50 states, apportioned to their total populations. These two houses together form the US Congress and mainly responsible for passing statutory, also known as legislative law.,Federal Court System,Supreme court,The supreme court is the highest court in the federal court system and was created by the constitution. Its decisions cannot be overturned. The supreme court consists of one chief justice and eight associates.,Court of appeals,If there is a question regarding the fairness of a trial, a case can be appealed to the court of appeals. Here, the case reviewed by a panel of judges who determine if the district court was correct. If they need clarification on a point, they can ask to hear oral statement. these courts are also known as circuit courts and they are arranged according to geography, with 12 circuits in all,US district courts,There 94 district courts. These courts have original jurisdiction over both criminal and civil federal laws. In criminal cases, a grand jury decides if there is enough evidence to try the case. A trial jury then determines if the person is guilty. In civil cases, can be used or can be waived if the both parties agree. In these cases, a federal judge makes the final decision.,Special courts,Congress has set up special courts to deal with specific problems. One of these courts is,American Contract Law,Chapter 1. Meaning Of Terms,The definition of contract,Restatement Definition A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty. (restatement first) In essence, under the Restatement, a contract is a promise or set of promises that are enforceable in the courts if one party fails to perform what he or she promised.,UCC Definition 1-201(12) of the UCC defines a contract as “the total legal obligation that result from the parties agreement”,