PART 2 (CHAPTER 1) Flashcards
Commercial Law
- a body of law that governs commercial legal relationships
- system of rules, concepts and legal principles that regulate commercial facts and legal relationships
Sources of Commercial Law
refers to the means by which laws specifically concerning trade or commercial matters are established and made known to people
Internal Sources
- Normative/legislative acts (statutes, decree-laws, and other normative acts)
- Usages and customs (traditional practices/behaviors in the commercial community that are widely accepted and followed)
- Jurisprudence/case law – the courts interpret and apply the Law.
- Doctrine (the writings of scholars) – only insofar as it is taken into consideration by
the legislator and the courts
International Sources
- International Conventions: the convention providing a uniform law for Bills of Exchange and Promissory
- EU Law: Treaties; regulations and directives (rule on competition)
- Jurisprudence/ case law from international courts
- Lex Mercatoria: set of international business rules, based on common practices, customs, and general legal principles used in commercial disputes. Used to govern transactions between private parties, as well as between private parties and States
Acts of Commerce
- all acts specifically regulated in the Commercial Code (leasing, factoring contracts, etc.) -> considered acts of commerce in an objective sense
- all contracts and obligations that involve business matters and isn’t solely about personal affairs -> considered acts of commerce in a subjective sense
Who can carry out acts of commerce
- The traders
- Individuals, with capacity to exercise, even if they are not traders
Simplification of formalities and means of proof
refers to the process of making legal procedures and methods of proving facts simpler and more accessible, this could be done by reducing the amount of paperwork…
Joint and several liability
Commercial debtors are jointly and individually liable (if the total debt amounts to 1000 euros, and there are 5 debtors, each debtor will pay 200 euros)
Time-barring
there is a limit on how long a person has to take legal action
Things subject to time-barring
the following are subject to a
time-barring period of 2 years:
- debts owed by traders for things they sold to non-traders or to traders who didnt use those things for business
- debts owed by people whose job involves industrial work for goods, services, or management, unless those goods or services were specifically for the debtor’s own business
Commercial interest for late payment
those due for the late payment of debts related to commercial contracts or other acts of commerce
What happens when debts are incurred jointly by both spouses or by one with the consent of the other?
both spouses are liable for the payment of the debt
What happens when the debt was incurred by one of the spouses?
except when otherwise provided by the Law, only the spouse that has incurred the debt is responsible for its payment
How can the non-trader spouse not incur the debt?
- prove that the debt was not incurred by the trader spouse in the exercise of his commerce (prove that the trader spouse is a trader and the debt is commercial)
- prove that the debt was not in common interest of the couple
Assumptions for commercial debts for spouses
- commercial debts incurred by a trader spouse are presumed to be incurred in the exercise of his commerce
- the debts incurred are assumed to be in the common interest of both spouses
