The Legal Environment and Business Decisions Essay

The Legal Environment and Business Decisions - Essay Example It is the costly nature, and the complexity of determining the cost of psychologically-related damages that has inspired the development of alternative ways of compensation. Modern Trends Modern tort law was repeatedly faulted, especially between 1970s throughout 1990s mainly in England and the United States as a slow and complex, and unreasonably expensive, process that is beneficial mainly to the legal representatives concerned (Sugarman, 1985). Whereas, the reservations were merited, the proposed options of direct compensation for injuries failed to win universal approval. In light of this, tort law, as a system of processes and regulations governing part of the implementation of remedies, moved into the current world in its original state. Its existence as a detailed structure of law cannot be linked exclusively to the lack of a strong alternative; rather its continued existence is also exhibited in the level at which the regulations, once projected for use in a fairly nascent so ciety, have translated into a more convenient legal system for a more complicated society. Differences in legal systems According to Best and Barnes (2007) different rules of compensation do not have precise alternatives in all legal systems, but similar issues tend to be considered when determining the eventual amount of damages. In a number of Western systems, such as France, the final figure of damages is considered as an issue of fact and the judges are obligated to offer a determination on it. In UK Law, since the closure of civil courts handling personal injury suits the country has achieved a significant standardization for particular headings of compensation. Common Law Sugarman (1985) indicated that under English Common law jurisdictions order lump sum compensation, whereas in Civil law litigations periodic compensations are preferred. In many cases the difference seems to be theoretical as opposed to practical measures (Sugarman, 1985). In light of this, even in cases wher e the damages are in order to be settled in instalments, courts prefer to order the expending of the damages at once, partly because the beneficiary-victims tend to favour this approach and partly in order to avoid any complications arising in the future. A third reason in support of lump sum damages in Civil Law settlements is that advocates can more easily determine their dues arising from legal representation services than from fairly small instalments, irrespective of its frequency. Best and Barnes (2007) indicated that in case of the death of the victim, all legal systems prefer his estate to lay claim for he or she could have during his lifetime. The circumstances for determining this case differ, however, English law provides for the determination of the compensation. The law also provides the deceased’s kin to seek legal redress. In the legal systems dealing with common law, this is clearly established by the wrongful death statutes. Common law systems also seem to va ry over the issue of who ought to be permitted to litigate under this heading. Edwards, Edwards and Wells (2011) indicated that Common law structures specifically elect the list of the eligible persons, maintaining that their actions are favoured by the victim upon his or her death or when