The beginnings of business law can be found in ancient civilizations. Currently, commercial law is part of the legal order of the Czech Republic; it is a sector of private law, which means that the principles of private law, such as the principle of equality of participants in commercial law relations and the principle of contractual freedom, will apply.

Commercial law is a set of legal norms that regulate the property status of entrepreneurs and the relationships that arise between them in connection with their business activities. Business is an activity performed by a businessman:

• Consistently
• Independently
• by own name
• At your own responsibility
• To make a profit

All these business characters must be fulfilled at the same time.

Businessman is a person:

• Registered in the Commercial Register (public list in which the statutory data on entrepreneurs are entered and is kept in electronic form)
• Who is doing business under a trade license
• Or who is doing business under a non-trade license
• Or who operates agricultural production and is registered in accordance with special regulations

Businessman shall identify himself / herself with the following particulars which he / she is required to state in the commercial documents:

• business name / name – the name under which the entrepreneur is entered in the Commercial Register and is the name under which the entrepreneur carries out legal acts in his / her business activity. This name serves to identify the entrepreneur, his products and services and distinguish it from other entrepreneurs. It also has a promotional function and guarantees consumers and business partners a certain quality of products and services. A person shall be entered in the Commercial Register under a commercial firm usually formed on his behalf. The business name can only be used by the entrepreneur who has his first name in the Commercial Register and the name must not be misleading.
• seat – place / address of the business entered in the business register
• the legal form of a legal entity
• identification number, if assigned

An enterprise is a summary of things, rights (receivables) and other (goodwill) that belong to the entrepreneur and serve for the operation of the enterprise.

According to most countries’ law, each business is its own legal entity; this means, there are thousands and thousands of legal entities in each country which need to be handled legally. It also means that each business has to be legally constituted in order to carry out its activities. All this leads to a need for the legal system to monitor these laws; and its inclusion inside Business Law.

Business Law is, as its name suggests, the combination of laws in charge of controlling the commercial dealings done among people, as well as the regulation of the formation and handling of an organisation. Each country has its own rules when it comes to legal types of businesses, how they have to be constituted and which things are necessary in the process. Even though there are certain types of businesses more or less general to all the EU (cooperatives, limited liability…) the fact that the same name is used does not mean the same rules apply.

In the following chapter, we will be able to see the peculiarities of Business law and how it is handled in the country.