Business law, also called commercial law or mercantile law, the body of rules, whether by convention, agreement, or national or international legislation, governing the dealings between persons in commercial matters.

Business law falls into two distinctive areas: (1) the regulation of commercial entities by the laws of company, partnership, agency, and bankruptcy and (2) the regulation of commercial transactions by the laws of contract and related fields.

It is inevitable that in certain circumstances business entities might be unable to perform their financial obligations. With the development of the laws surrounding commercial enterprises, a body of rules developed relating to bankruptcy: when a person or company is insolvent (i.e., unable to pay debts as and when they fall due), either he or his creditors may petition the court to take over the administration of his estate and its distribution among creditors. Three principles emerge: to secure fair and equal distribution of available property among the creditors, to free the debtor from his debts, and to enquire into the reasons for his insolvency.

“Business law touches everyday lives through every contractual dealing undertaken. A contract, usually in the form of a commercial bargain involving some form of exchange of goods or services for a price, is a legally binding agreement made by two or more persons, enforceable by the courts. As such they may be written or oral, and to be binding the following must exist: an offer and unqualified acceptance thereof, intention to create legal relations, valuable consideration, and genuine consent (i.e., an absence of fraud). The terms must be legal, certain, and possible of performance.”

Contractual relations, as the cornerstone of all commercial transactions, have resulted in the development of specific bodies of law within the scope of business law regulating (1) sale of goods—i.e., implied terms and conditions, the effects of performance, and breach of such contracts and remedies available to the parties; (2) the carriage of goods, including both national and international rules governing insurance, bills of lading, charter parties, and arbitrations; (3) consumer creditagreements; and (4) labour relations determining contractual rights and obligations between employers and employees and the regulation of trade unions.