Business Law Study: British Legal System and Legal Solutions for Business Problems

Explore the British legal system, sources of laws, impact on businesses, legal solutions to business problems, and the role of government in law-making. Case studies and alternative legal advice are analyzed.

Business Law

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1: Nature of legal systems..........................................................................................................4
a. Explain the structure of the English legal system and discuss the different sources of laws that
organisations must comply with (P1)..............................................................................................4
b. Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common law is applied
in the justice courts (P2)..................................................................................................................6
Figure 1- Law Making Process........................................................................................................7
LO2 Illustrate the potential impact of the law on a business...........................................................8
LO3 Suggest appropriate legal solutions to business problems....................................................11
LO4 Recommend appropriate legal solutions based upon alternative legal advice provided.......14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Reference List................................................................................................................................17

Introduction
British Law instils no codification and it generally involves both criminal and civil law. Supreme
Court is considered to be the highest body of power. All the subordinate courts do maintain a
clear relationship with the Supreme Court and follow Supreme Court’s decision as the ultimate
decision on anything. The business organisations are implementing the ADR to neglect long
litigation procedures and proper court settlements are required to overcome issues relating to the
jurisdiction of Great Britain
.

LO1: Nature of legal systems
a. Explain the structure of the English legal system and discuss the different sources of laws
that organisations must comply with (P1)
The British legal system is highly inspired from Rome and parts of Europe because of their deep
rooted connection in past. According to historical records Britain was an important part in
shaping the legal system and laws of the entire world and especially to European and Asian
countries which were once their colonies. However, the British legal system can be seen
influenced by the Roman laws because of Britain’s active role in being a part of the Roman
Empire long ago in history. It can be noted that the British law has bills that gets passed after teh
Queen agrees on the laws and its rules and regulations. Great Britain being such a powerful
democracy maintains this procedure of passing bills after they are agreed by the Queen.
Therefore, the queen is an active member of the parliament and plays a vital role in law making
processes.
Enforcing the Law
Law enforcement in Britain is conducted through various means and agencies which are listed
under the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. There are a couple of law
making agencies that are in charge of making laws and implementing them in the British society.
1. Territorial Police Forces- Agencies do involve the free police authorities who are specialised
in covering specific areas (Partington, 2016).
2. National law enforcement bodies- these bodies involve, British Transport Police National
Crime Agency and Special Forces of police (Hazell and Rawlings, 2015).
3. Miscellaneous police forces- These police forces attain their rights and place their foundation
in the previous legislations.

Constituents of Legal System
The British Legal system consists of the a court that is the highest court of justice in the entire
country. There are two types of courts, primarily, in the UK, “the civil court and Criminal court”.
A civil curt consists of the UK includes the court of appeal that is followed by high courts and
county courts. The criminal Court on the other hand includes the court of appeal, the crown court
and the magistrate’s court.
Supreme Court- this is considered to be the ultimate body that makes and enforces laws to the
society. The Supreme Court is the ultimate court of justice and decision making body (Barkan et
al., 2015).
The Court of Appeal- This particular looks after the ‘Criminal and civil cases’, both.
High Court- The high court functions in relation to the court of appeal that looks after the civil
matters. One can find primarily three departments of the high court: the Queen’s Bench, The
Chancery and the Family (Wood, 2015).
Crown Court- This court tackles criminal cases once they get handled by Britain’s magistrate
court.
County Court- This type of the court is of the most primary level handling civil and family
matters.
Magistrate Court- this type of court is similar to county court and also looks after the matters at
the primary level but only tackles the criminal cases (Wood, 2015).
Purpose, evolution and sources of laws
The actual purposes of the existence of laws are to provide proper security to the citizens and
create a free and liberal society (McKendrick, 2014). Laws make sure that fairness is maintained
in making decisions in relation to both business and individuals.
In understanding the evolution o f British Laws one must know that it has undergone many
stages with time. Firstly, a bill is passed to and the process of law making begins. The next step

involves the amendment and changing of the old laws that are not really applicable in the current
society. To properly organise and maintain a legal system one particular authority must work to
amend and make necessary decisions on changing laws and implementing them.
United Kingdom is a country that is known for its laws and the unique ways through which they
are fairly implemented on the citizens. In Great Britain there is an existence of a variety of
sources of laws such as “European Convention on Human Rights”, the “European Union Laws”,
the “Case Laws” and the “Statutory Laws and Legislations” (Wood, 2015).. Laws are formed
under the European Convention on Human Rights that argues in favour of providing equal rights
for human by allowing them to enjoy basic human rights. It is to be noted that Case laws are
those that are created by judged after specific cases of exceptional natures. The European Union
also forms several laws and serves as the source of laws regarding pay backs, workers rights, and
child labour. Legislations are common laws that are approved by the members of the House of
Commons and also wait to receive a legal approval from the Queen and the House of lords
(Berk-Seligson, 2017).
The Company Law and Contract Law
Company law is also termed as corporate law that can be referred to a set of different laws that
are applicable to the rights, helps in conducting relationship of people as well as business that are
involved in trading, merchandising, employing people and selling goods (Sandrini, 2017). On the
contary, a contract can be termed as an agreement that is signed between two or more people
who agree on one particular ground. One can also argue that the ‘contract laws’ can easily be
amended in the contract that are presented to parties.
b. Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common law is
applied in the justice courts (P2)
The government of the United Kingdom plays a significant role in law making processes. There
is a particular process through which laws are made in the United Kingdom and the government
tries to form nay law relating to the concern with statutory and common laws.

Relating to the government schedule
Deliberating an analysis of the issue
Discussions with Concerned Group
Agreeing on common terms to receive proposal from Cabinet Minister
Framing the proposal
Consideration of bill in the house of parliament
Figure 1- Law Making Process
(Source- created by author)

The British Government analyses the issues relating particularly to the House of Commons and
creates the legislations which are called the “statutory laws” (Wilson et al., 2014). Then the
House of Lords drafts a proposal that arrives at the house of the parliament for agreement by the
minister of the cabinet. To shape the laws and correcting them happens at this very stage. Lastly,
the queen plays a significant role in making the decision by either agreeing or disagreeing with
the proposed law.
The judges try to improve the common laws in the English Legal system in very traditional ways
(Wood, 2015). In the UK legal system, the common laws are applied for all the citizens. These
laws are implemented by various enforcing agencies and are judged by various courts at various
levels. Statutory laws on the contrary can be easily applied for any specific community in the
society.
LO2 Illustrate the potential impact of the law on a business
a) Briefly explain employers’ legal obligations in relation to
Employment can be elaborated by the relationship that is shared by both the parties based on
legal contracts that are signed. It is an agreement in which one employer is agreeing to appoint
another employee to perform certain tasks. However, the other party will be receiving the
monetary benefits from the employer.
The British government has executed the Data Protection Act in 1998. This particular law is
implemented to ensure proper protection of data. This particular law got issued to call the “Data
Protection Directive” which will be helping any individual’s personal data from all aspects. This
particular act defines equal eight data protection principles to make sure that the information is
processed in legal ways. As pert ‘the section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998’, if any data is
being earned illegally then i t is considered as a crime or offense as per the section 21(1). “The
data protection act” is even mentioned that any sensitive and personal data must be processed in
a stricter regime (Mikkelson, 2016). The cyber crime is considered to be of great risk which is
faced by business organisations in ensuring the information from the United Kingdom’s
government initiated and executed the “Data Protection Act, 1998” (Mikkelson, 2016).

Occupational Health and Safety
“The health and safety at work Act of 1974” is under the legislation that incoprporates the
health and safety in the United Kingdom. “The health and safety” executive with the local
authorities are considered as liable in executing some laws and acts. The health and safety
executive also plays an important role in providing the advice on health and safety issues (Wood,
2015). They are even responsible to give guidance on legislations. The executives, too, try to
conduct research in to the issue relating to health and safety. It is the basic duty of any employer
to enforce that act in the organisation and to ensure the health and safety at any workplace.
Worker’s Compensation
The British Constitution has introduced a law called “Workmen Compensation Act” to ensure
the adequate compensation to the employees who might face injuries at their respective
workplace while they conduct their respective jobs. It is also the responsibility of any company
to compensate any employee if any injury occurs while performing any job.
Harassment
The Harassment Act of 1997 is the act by the parliament of the United Kingdom. The actual
aim of the act is to protect the victims of harassments. This particular act covers the harassments
against racial harassments, antisocial behaviours and the tendency of stalking. The organisation
will be punished by the court if any kid of misconduct comes under the observation of t h
management of the company.
Equal Opportunities
The Equality Act was introduced during 2010 and it talks bout the protection of the people
against discrimination in their workplace. Before the particular law came into force, there were
many other pieces of legislations that are used to govern the acts. After the Equality Act came
into existence and active force, it did prohibit the discrimination of the employees. This
particular act is framed to provide proper justice to the employee on equal opportunities.
b. Case Study

In the mentioned content, a 16 year old girl is found who used to work in a fast food outlet.
During her working period she fell by tripping over the wet floor. This has caused her suffer
from severe injuries. When she was working in the kitchen there was no one, not any supervisor,
who could help and assist her. Most of the staff was busy managing the store due to the shortage
of staff on that particular day. The owner of that particular shop was not efficient and responsible
in providing a safe and secured environment to the employees. Here, comes the concept of the
validity of having a legal contract so that the employer must be bounded by the terms of the
contract. However, it was clearly mentioned in the contract that the security and concern towards
the workers will be taken in responsible hands. In the studied case the owner is found not
bothered to look after the girl and take proper care of her as an employee. Moreover, he was not
concerned to provide proper compensation to her as well. It was truly the liability of the owner of
the store to have a protection facility for all the workers. It was found that the girl was alone in
the kitchen when the mishap took place and none was there to help her.
There are certain legal remedies that are available for the girl. Some are listed below-
 According to the contract the owner do have some liabilities towards the workers and
must provide them a safe and secured working environment which, as observed, he has
failed to do. It is due to this that the girl has suffered.
 The girls’ parents can file a lawsuit against her employer in the court.
 The employer is legally responsible to provide a proper reimbursement top the girl to get
a proper treatment.
 As per the “Child and Young Person Act of 1993” the victim is required to take extra
care while she was working otherwise employer will have to face a strict action under the
law (Zander, 2015).
 As the girl has gained severe injuries the girl can also be provided with leaves from the
office under the law of “Family and Medical Leave Act 1993”.
 The person who is the victim has also the right to take three months leave.
 The local authority of the Health and Safety Department must notify the incident as a
serious matter due to the faults of the owner (Gibbons, 2014).
 The girl is also liable in getting the compensation provided by the provision of the act of
“Workmen Compensation Act of 1906” (Gibbons, 2014).

As the British government has implemented laws to secure and protect employee’s right and
health, the girl has full rights and liabilities to apply for a proper compensation and leave for her
treatment.
LO3 Suggest appropriate legal solutions to business problems (P3) (P4)
Case Study 1
The mentioned case talks about Calvin who Donna’s employee who was working as a designer
in the fashion store. Calvin is working with Donna for four years now. . Donna on a Monday first
hour found Calvin was behaving in strange ways. After some time she found out that 100 pounds
were missing from the cash drawer. Without any proper investigation, Donna has terminated
Calvin without making questions and investigations whereas there were four other workers in her
store. . Donna had sacked the guy without providing prior notice to him and also said that shwe
is not someone to tolerate theft in her workspace.
Facts on the analyzed case
This particular scenario is very similar to the case happened between “Algorax (pty) Ltd” and
“Chemical Industrial Workers Union and Another” (1995). As per the labour court employees
are responsible for the misconduct (Thompson, 2015). Hence, the employer is pretty much liable
to terminate the employee on suspicion, only if the suspicion is bona fide and valid. One can also
look up to the latest case of “Senzeni Mbanjwa v Shoprite Checkers” (Pty) Ltd and Others that
happened in 2013. This particular case has stated that suspicion is a strong reason to dismiss but
it does remain the suspicion and does not constitute misconduct. However, in this case the
employer is liable to perform an investigation before taking decisions on terminating the
employee. This will also result in providing legal documents and evidences that will help in
termination. The section 188 of the Labour Relation Act happens to look after the employee
dismissal and allows the employer to dismiss any misconduct. As per the “Section 94 (1)” of the
“Employment Right Act of 1996”, the rights of the employee are not to be underestimated
under unfairly grounds (Thompson, 2015).
Solution
The employer is allowed to easily terminate his or her employees only when they are proved

guilty of any illegal act. According to the “Employment Right Act, 1996”, the employees are
secured and protected from being terminated on unknown dismissal. In such situations the
employer is liable to provide compensation on the basis of the point that the employee has
worked for the company. in this particular case Donna has terminated Calvin without prior notice
and proper investigation which in not fair from legal perspective. Calvin has full rights to
complain about this situation in the legal forum against the business owner Donna. Calvin can
actually hire a legal advisor, a lawyer, who could advise him on certain rights that he is entitled
to. This also includes the right of getting compensation for getting terminated on illegal grounds.
Implementing the Employment Act Right of 1996 to this situation is well justified as Calvin will
be receiving proper compensation if the allegations are proved wrong. This act will help the
terminated employee to claim his rights and a fair judgment will be implemented considering all
the claims of Donna who is the owner of the fashion house.
Negative Aspects- Calling the disciplinary action that is set in against of the employer can also
charge him on the basis of the case of defamation. The employee is also liable to provide
sufficient compensation if the charges are provide incorrect against the employee.
Positive Aspects- In this particular case is that he can easily get back his post if the allegations
are found wrong. The basic duty and responsibility of a worker will be to assure that the
terminated employee is given proper rights when he comes back to work. The employer must
have a bona fide and must conduct proper investigation before claiming anything illegal.
Case Study 2
Advise for Dan
Dan, as studies in the provided content, is the owner of a small shop which was caught on fire
and got completely destroyed. The person has been successful in opening a new store and finally
has filed a complaint to the insurance company to get his compensation. The insurance company
provides help to the new business models but there also exists particular points that the parties
are not supposed to claim within a specific period of two long years. While formatting the
contract with the insurance company he might have missed to talk about the old points.
However, Dan’s new business has got destroyed due to fire. The insurance company has refused

to give him the amount he has asked for, as according to the policy of the company it was stated
that for claiming any monies the time period needs to pass two years.
Legal Facts of the Case-
This particular case is very similar to the case of “Royal Insurance (UK) Ltd” and “Yaqoob
& Anor (2006)”.
The legal solution
As per the “Insurance Act”, it is correct for the victim to receive proper monies from the
company and if the organization that provides help, by any chance, don’t want to pay the
compensation then necessary official steps can be taken against the insurance company. As per
the given case study Dan is needed to calculate the actual loss that is caused by the fire as Dan
needs to claim the amount of money as the monies to the insurance company. Dan is also
required to provide the details of the case so that it would be easier for the company to provide
him the compensation. The company may also need Dan to provide his evidences so that the
correct effects are measured and a proper insurance is provided to meet the loss.
Justification
The Insurance Act will be helping Dan in claiming his rights and would be a perfect choice to
justify this scenario as the insurance act will be performing a detailed analysis of the damaged
products and compensate according to the losses. This will be fair and easy for Dan to earn the
required amount of money to get back to his business.
Positive Aspect- The good things about this scenario is that Dan can build his business again
with the provided help and money. The loss can be recovered from the provided help by the
insurance company.
Negative Aspect- Negative impact of the case will be the time that will be involved to pay the
compensation. This process will be involving rules and regulations and they are many in number.
The insurance company will not be liable to compensate the entire money but will be only giving
the money that is highly required after calculating the damages.

LO4 Recommend appropriate legal solutions based upon alternative legal advice provided
a) Explain the concept and benefits of using Alternative Dispute Resolution process
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The ADR can be termed as a process that resolves the disputes between the two parties by not
going to the court (Hechter, 2017). This process of resolving issues are called the ‘out of court
settlement’ where the parties have an option of avoiding the lengthy and hectic court schedule
and according to mutual benefits the parties can resolve issues. The government encourages
these types of mechanisms as it helps in reducing the poressure from court and law making
bodies. ADR is the mechanism that was introduced under the “Legal Service Authorities Act
1987” (Rembar, 2015). The prime intention of using the mechanism is to create ahappy realtion
by agreement with the parties by not involving the court and juridical laws.. Both the parties are,
thus, suggested to arrive for the court system of justrice to sell the isuses. In Great Britain the
popular technique of using ADR is “Arbitration” and “Mediation”.
The merits of using ADR are-
 Court plays a role which has become limited as per its situation with the “Arbitration
Act 1996” as a technique of ADR. This is having gradual progress in the British Law
system (Thompson, 2015).
 The process of Arbitration involves tribunal that is not allowed in following any decision
by the precedent.
 “The Arbitration Act of 1996” was originated with the ambition of giving the resolutions
a predominantly less expensive cost.
 The Arbitration process is cost effective as the panel is cheaper as compared to hiring the
judges.
 This particular process is easy execute as the opportunities are minimum of
disagreements.
Different forms of ADR are mentioned below-

Arbitration- It is the technique of solving issues outside courts. It is the non-judicial procedure
to sell disputes. An Arbitrator is the third party who provides a fair judgment based on the facts
and evidences provided by the parties (Jamal, 2015).
Mediation- this involves the appointment of the mediator who resolve disputes between parties.
The Mediator also is responsible in taking charge of a process t hat invites a good
communication that can happen between the two people to resolve their issues. (Moses, 2017).
Negotiation- in this case both the parties come to a conclusion and not get into detailed
conversations. This involves appointing a lawyer who will help parties to negotiate.
b) Recommend alternative legal solutions to the following business problem. You can
consider another country’s legal system or a different legal framework.
This mentioned piece of study relates to some issues that happened to an owner of a particular
firm Mr Antwon and Mr. Tyrell who is the owner of software making organisation. There issues
continued for a long time which has resulted in creating disputes and also destroyed their
individual businesses. Both of them wanted to resolve their issues and they do not want to
destroy and demean their own businesses. Hence, it was their mutual deciosn to resolve issues
and start doing business together. Following are the techniques the parties are suggested to look
into-
Arbitration – it is the formal process than mediation (Bhatia and Candlin, 2017). By mutually
resolving the issues the arbitrator will have the power to create a decision that everyone must
respect and accept.
Mediation- on the other hand a third party can come into action and the two responsible parties
who are having issues can appoint one third person who can act as a mediator. This particular
person will help in resolving the issues and finally help in resolving the conflicts.
Both these people are responsible and free to appoint person who can act as the communicator
and resolve their conflict. They can mutually avoid the court cases and also avoid their business
to get hampered further.

Conclusion
British Legal system is renowned for its laws and the ways through which the country comes to
judgements. English law has no formal codification. The country has criminal and civil laws and
the Supreme Court is considered to be the ultimate body of law that makes decisions. The
common law is also known as the judge made law and got developed with the jurisdiction.
Business organisations implements the ADR to avoid long litigation procedures are what have
been observed as a part of the study. . In this research study various laws that are made by the
British Parliament has been analysed and examined in relation to the case studies. Proper ways of
implementation and effects are provided. This research study has been enriching much in
providing information on the how the British Government creates and implements laws of
various cases and kinds. For such a politically powerful country implementing laws are a big part
of running the constitution ad more research is due on that.

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