H6005-Prelims 7/5/05 3:23 PM Page i Business Law in the Global Marketplace H6005-Prelims 7/5/05 3:23 PM Page ii H6005-Prelims 7/5/05 3:23 PM Page iii Business Law in the Global Marketplace Peter Nayler AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO H6005-Prelims 7/5/05 3:23 PM Page iv Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 30 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803 First published 2006 Copyright © 2006, Peter Nayler. All rights reserved The right of Peter Nayler to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: ( 44) 1865 843830, fax: ( 44) 1865 853333, e-mail:
[email protected] You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’ British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Control Number: 2005928726 ISBN 0 7506 6005 8 For information on all Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann publications visit our website at www.elsevier.com Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India www.integra-india.com Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Cornwall Working together to grow libraries in developing countries www.elsevier.com | www.bookaid.org | www.sabre.org H6005-Prelims 7/5/05 3:23 PM Page v Contents Chapter 1 The legal framework for international business Introduction So what is ‘law’? Chalk and cheese Family ties Civil law and common law Distinguishing feature