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crime would spiral out of control
as members of the public decide to take 
what they want and the police would only tackle criminals if they felt like it. 
Businesses would not 
function 
and the financial markets could not operate.
As society developed from prehistoric tribes to the complex interrelationships we have today, rules 
regulating behaviour also had to evolve. This is because humans recognised the need for everyone to 
work together for the good of the group. 
1.1 Development of society 
Imagine a prehistoric tribe. They would have started as individuals, roaming for food and shelter to keep 
themselves alive. By working as a group, some could 
find shelter
, while others 
hunted 
for things to eat. 
It would be no good if the hunters ate all the food they found, and those who found shelter refused to let 
the hunters into the shelter. The shelter finders would 
starve 
to death while the hunters would 
freeze
. 
Humans have evolved from these tribes and have built a strong society that has revolutionised our 
planet. This has only been possible because 
individuals have worked together
, guided by rules. 
1.2 A need for rules 
Back in prehistoric times, there were no laws, no courts and no police. Rules would have 
developed 
through need
. The tribe would have a collective idea of what was 
right 
and 
wrong 
for the good of the 
group and would have 
punished 
a group member who stepped out of line, for example by taking food 
from others. 
Further rules developed as society grew and eventually the first 
laws 
were laid down to control the larger 
populations. 
Religion 
played a major role in developing the rules for the individual, and many of these 
rules are still in place today. 
Business law is relatively new, and has only developed over the last couple of hundred years with