Langenham, Sabina --- "Gillies: Business Law" [2003] IntTBLawRw 19; (2003) 8 International Trade and Business Law Review 436

By Peter Gillies, Business Law, Federation Press, Sydney, 2001, ISBN 186 287 378X

What a relief! Here is a legal book which is clear in language and structure, breaks down complex legal matters and covers basic legal principles: the best proof that law need not be expressed in some ancient English language with strange grammatical and semantic constructions hard to explain even for the professionals. Peter Gillies fulfils his objective, as stated in his introduction to the first edition, 1988, ‘to improve the clarity of legal writing and to structure material in a logical way’.

The first four chapters give a broad overview of the Australian legal system: in the historical context, with its origin in the English system; and, within the Australian Constitution, the different sources of law (common law, equity, statute law) as well as the court/tribunal system. As a German lawyer, I found that this chapter gave me a useful introduction to the Australian legal system.

One important aspect of this book is the depth of analysis of contract law (Chapters 7–25). This can only be welcomed, as contract law is the basis of everyday dealings as well as business agreements. Basic requirements for the formation, terms and termination of a contract and, on the other hand, vitiating factors and remedies for breach of contract are fully discussed. In his discussion of contract law, Gillies refers to the leading cases and integrates useful quotations from decisions into the text. The reader who needs more information can utilise the text to undertake further research.

Later chapters refer to important aspects of business law. Chapters 26–29 examine agency, partnership and property law (real, personal and intellectual). The discussion of intellectual property is up-to-date in incorporating an analysis of the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 (Cth). The topics of trust, succession and bailment deal with matters that are relevant in business. The remaining chapters deal fully with specific legislation that is important for business: the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the Fair Trading Acts which concern consumer protection (Chapter 33), as well as regulating restrictive trade practices (Chapter 39). A useful table at the end of Chapter 33 refers to the provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) and the corresponding provisions in the Fair Trading Acts.

Business Law is also a practical reference for ‘Credit Law’ (Chapter 34) and ‘Insurance Law’ (Chapter 35). Chapter 36, ‘Bills of Exchange’, and Chapter 37, ‘Banks and Cheques’, offer a useful guide to the use of bills of exchange and cheques. Chapter 38, ‘Bankruptcy’, has a good discussion of the process of invoking the bankruptcy jurisdiction, and includes a useful discussion of non-bankruptcy remedies, for example, arrangement with creditors.

Gillies has updated the chapter on company law (Chapter 40) to include the changes brought in by the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 1999.

The final two chapters, ‘Employment’ (Chapter 41) and ‘Debt Collection’ (Chapter 42), are written by Tony Smith. They are equally clearly structured, containing easy-to-understand flow charts and tables. Debt collection was newly added to this edition and provides a lot of practical guidance for the procedure of recovery of debts.

The most compelling feature of this book is that it is well written and easy to understand. Each chapter contains a useful introduction that places the topic in context and often shows the development of the legal principles. The book includes a comprehensive table of statutes and cases. The index is excellent. Business Law is an ideal reference book about basic legal principles that relate to business and are also relevant to legal practice. The publishers should consider publishing this important work in hardcover, as it forms an important part of the libraries of many practitioners who use the work as a first reference.

Sabina Langenham