Business Law Exam Paper for BSC (Hons) Business Management with Foundation

BSC (Hons) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH
FOUNDATION
SEMESTER 1, EXAMINATION 2021/22
BUSINESS LAW
MODULE NO: BMP4002
Exam Paper Release Date & Time: Saturday 13 August 2022 at 10:00am
Submission Cut-off Date & Time: Monday 15 August 2022 at 10:00am
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ANSWER BOOKLET
All the pages of the answer booklet should be submitted including blank ones.
Please type your answers in the spaces provided.
Insert additional pages where required.
Student Name
ID Number
[There are THREE questions. You are required to answer all THREE questions. For each
sub-questions, use heading such as “Answer to the Question no. 1(i)” or “Answer to the
Question no. 1(ii)” etc. Start writing you answer from this page (page 2).]
Question 1 – (i) Provide a clear definition of law within UK Context.
Law is a rule or set of rules passed by the parliament to enforce on the people of the country. To
pass a new law, all parts of parliament which are The House of Commons and the House of Lords
must agree with the new law. If they agree they must ask The Queen if the new law can be applied.

Parliament follows a specific procedure to pass a new law. These are made to make humans behave
properly and think twice before doing anything wrong (GOVERNORS, 2018). The law shapes
politics, economics, and society in different ways and works as a mediator of connections between
people.
Question 1 – (ii) Define and discuss the characteristics of the two main classifications of laws
in the UK.
Two main classifications of UK laws are as follow –
Civil Law – Civil law is also known as private law and it outlines the civil liabilities of a person.
Civil law covers the issues that have to do with contracts, negligence, family matters, probate, and
land law. This law assesses the relationship between a person or other legal entities. Private parties
file civil cases and these cases usually include payments and judgments associated with finance.
The person who files the case is called the claimant. Claimants are responsible for proving that the
other party has committed a crime as per civil law. If they win the case the judgment provides them
a recovery as compensation for damage caused by the other party (McEldowney, 2018). In this
system, judges have a limited role in making the law they follow statutes and codes.
 Criminal Law - Criminal law focuses on maintaining the safety of the state and society.
Criminal law sets the rules and procedures for criminal offenses. There are three types of
criminal offenses. Including summary offenses, either way, and indictable only offenses.
Summary only cases are of lower seriousness, It includes cases like driving offenses.
Indictable only offenses are the most severe cases and these cases include murders, rapes,
and manslaughter. Criminal law usually consists of harsh punishments like life
imprisonment. Persons involved in criminal offenses are restricted to limited boundaries.
This law is morally based, more or less every crime carries an element of immoral influence.
Question number 1 – (iii) Identify the three different Legal systems in the UK
The English legal system is divided into three main jurisdictions. The UK has three legal
systems for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland every jurisdiction has its
own system and laws. These legal systems are different due to their different cultures,
historic background, and different geographical boundaries. Laws that apply in one system
apply similarly in other systems also. Courts in each jurisdiction can decide cases differently
but the final appeal of every case goes to the Supreme Court. Some different rules and laws
apply in some parts of the UK and do not apply in other parts. Different legal systems in the
country are needed to enforce the law in different parts of the UK. The UK does not have a
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written constitution. Its constitution is to be found in the laws passed by the parliaments.
The result of our lack of a written constitution is that our institutions do not separate the
powers and functions of three branches of the state, the executive, the legislature, and the
judiciary.
Question number 2 – (i) Identify and briefly explain the hierarchy of the principal sources of
laws in the English Legal System
Sources of the English Legal System can be described as primary sources of law and secondary
sources of law. Primary sources of law include legislation and case law. The first hierarchy of
sources of law in the English legal system consists of the supreme authority which is the
constitution of the country. As the UK does not have any written constitution, Legislation or laws
passed by the parliaments are referred to be their constitution (Lupo, and Thiers, 2020). The first
hierarchy is followed by the case laws which are derived from precedent decisions. Decisions of
higher courts must be followed by less senior courts in order to maintain the hierarchy. Secondary
sources of law come lower in this hierarchy. Textbooks by legal writers or decisions by the courts
of a foreign jurisdiction are also considered as the source of law but it falls on the lowest level in
this hierarchy.
Question number 2 – (ii) Explain the characteristics of the sources of laws identified above
giving examples of each
The main sources of law are legislation, case laws, textbooks and commentaries by legal writers,
and customs. The characteristics of sources of law are as follows -
 Legislation - It is a set of laws that are passed by parliament and it is the main source of law
in the English legal system. It is a process of enrolling new law by a parliament. Before
becoming a law the item of legislation is known as a bill.
 Judicial Decision – Judicial decision is the decision made by the courts after looking at the
case, it interprets which law should be applied where. The decision made by the courts can
become the laws for the future, these decisions are regarded as the source of laws (Mulligan,
2022).
 Equity – It means serving justice to everyone. The purpose of equity is to provide a remedy
where the law is not pliable enough to give a fair result to the case.
 Customs – It is one of the most important sources of law. Customs were accepted and
followed by everyone in older times. If someone went against the will of custom would face
punishment. Later with time, these customs were converted into law by the political
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