Business Law

 BUSINESS LAW

This book is designed for students studying Business

Law at a variety of levels as part of a Business course.

We have assumed that the reader has no previous

knowledge of English law; our starting point is basic

principles and, when specialist legal terms are used,

we have given clear ‘jargon free’ explanations. The book

is designed to give the reader an understanding of the

changing legal framework within which modern busi-

ness organisations must operate. The emphasis is on

law in its business context. Thus a range of business

documents has been included, enabling the reader to

relate the principles of business law to the real world of

business.

In this connection our thanks go to the Consumer

Credit Trade Association, the Road Haulage Association

and HMSO for giving us their kind permission to repro-

duce certain of these documents. The reader should

appreciate that the versions of these documents and

forms appearing in our text are reduced in size, and also

that copyright in them must be respected. This extends

also to any alterations or variations in them without the

authorisation of the owner of the copyright.

The teaching and learning strategies for higher level

courses stress the development of a variety of learning

activities, with students increasingly taking greater

responsibility for their own learning. At the end of each

chapter we have provided a selection of self-test ques-

tions and activities related specifically to the material

introduced in that chapter and a number of specimen

examination questions. There is a companion website for

the book at www.mylawchamber.co.uk/keenanriches,

which features regular updates on the law so that lec-

turers and students will remain up to date with new

legislative and case developments. The website also pro-

vides selected outline answers to the self-test questions

in the book. Lecturers who adopt the book can also

access masters of diagrams and forms in the book and

outline answers to the specimen examination questions.

The rate of legal change has continued apace since the

last edition. The text has been thoroughly updated to

incorporate changes in business law, especially the

following:

■ New developments in consumer protection law, in-

cluding the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading

Regulations 2008

■ Expansion of the treatment of the tort of negligence

to include the development of the law in relation liab-

ility for nervous shock

■ Companies Act 2006

■ The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006

Amendment Regulations 2008

We have used the terminology introduced by Lord

Woolf’s civil justice reforms throughout the text. For

example, we have used the term ‘claimant’ for all cases

to describe the person with a complaint, even though

the person was described as ‘plaintiff ’ before the changes

in civil procedure on 26 April 1999.

In December 2007 we were saddened to learn of the

death of Denis Keenan, who had co-authored Business

Law for eight editions over a 20 year period. Denis made

an enormous contribution to legal education. Genera-

tions of students are indebted to him for his clear ex-

position of complex legal ideas. We wish to thank Mary

Keenan for her generous support for the continued

publication of new editions of Business Law.

In conclusion, Sarah Riches extends her thanks to

Ciaran and Brian McCaughey and Vida Allen would like

to express sincere thanks to her family for their support.

Our thanks go to those who were closely involved

with this edition, in particular Zoë Botterill, Katherine

Cowdrey, Elizabeth Rix, Gail Capper and other mem-

bers of staff at Pearson Education. Our thanks also go to

those who set, printed and bound the book. For errors

and omissions we are, of course, solely responsible.

Sarah Riches

Vida Allen