Business Law: Understanding Legal Systems and Solutions

Business Law
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Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4
Section 1 – Nature of legal systems and legislations impacting businesses....................5
LO1 Explain the basic nature of the legal system.........................................................5
P1 Discus the meaning of the statement ‘Parliament is sovereign’ and the various
sources of UK Laws..................................................................................................5
P2 Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common
law is applied in the justice courts.............................................................................6
M1 Explain the effectiveness of legal system in terms of recent reforms and
development............................................................................................................. 7
LO2 Illustrate the potential impact of the law on a business.........................................8
P3 Using specific examples illustrate how company, employment and contract law
has a potential impact upon business.......................................................................8
M2 Differentiate and analyse the potential impacts of regulations, legislation and
standards................................................................................................................ 10
D1 Provide a coherent and critical evaluation of the legal system and law, with
evidence drawn from a range of different relevant examples to support judgements.
................................................................................................................................ 11
Section 2 – Legal solutions to business problems.........................................................12
LO3 Suggest appropriate legal solutions to business problems.................................12
P4 Suggest appropriate legal solutions for a range of business problems.............12
P5 Provide justifications for the use of appropriate legal solutions.........................13
M3 Assess the positive and negative impacts of legal solutions to business
problems................................................................................................................. 14
L04 Recommend appropriate legal solutions based upon alternative legal advice
provided......................................................................................................................15
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P6 Recommend solutions based on a country’s legal system and /or a different
framework............................................................................................................... 16
M4 Compare and contrast the effectiveness of these solutions..............................17
D2 Critically review and evaluate the use of appropriate legal solutions in
alternative advice....................................................................................................18
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 19
References.....................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
Sources of law are the origins of law which enables governance of any territory by its
state. The sources of law may also be interpreted as the seat of power from which
validity of law is derived. This report is highlighting the sources from which English law
is created and further it is evaluating the role of government in law making. It has been
observed that the companies and other organizations must comply its legal obligations.
Therefore, in this report, the laws applicable on business have also been discussed.
The applicable laws have been discussed through different case scenarios and
application of laws in those scenarios.
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Section 1 – Nature of legal systems and legislations impacting businesses
LO1 Explain the basic nature of the legal system.
P1 Discus the meaning of the statement ‘Parliament is sovereign’ and the various
sources of UK Laws.
‘Parliament is sovereign’,
The meaning of this statement can be explained in light of following facts:
The term ‘Sovereign’ means a supreme ruler. The sovereignty of Parliament is a
principle of constitution of UK. It confines on the Parliament a supreme power and
authority to create or end laws. The sovereignty of Parliament entails three principle
aspects. These are:
 Parliament has supreme power to make or enact laws on any subject.
 Parliament shall not be bound by any predecessor or bind any successor.
 The court or any other person is not authorised to question the validity of law
(Law Teacher, 2013).
Sources of Law
The major sources of UK laws are discussed below:
 Legislation: It is the primary source of UK law. Legislations are the Act enacted
by Parliament. Parliament has the supreme authority to enact laws. These are
also called statutes.
 Precedents: The term ‘Precedents’ mean ‘what went before, let it stand.’
Precedents are a source of UK law and are also known as common law. The
judges for purposes of interpretation, consistency and fairness enact these laws
and these laws must be considered and complied with by junior courts in
deciding matters of similar nature in which such law was enacted (Arden, 2016).
 Customs: Customs are not formally written as laws but are considered as laws if
they are being practiced for a time immemorial. These customs become laws for
persons or group of persons when it is recognized as usage from a long time
such as easement.
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 European Union (EU): UK is a member of European Union and therefore the
laws of EU are applicable on UK. EU laws supersede UK’s domestic laws and in
case of any conflict between the applicability, EU laws shall be made applicable.
 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): UK became a signatory of
ECHR in 1951. This gave a right to citizens of UK of petition for exercise of their
rights to European Court of Human Rights under ECHR (Manthorpe, and
Moriarty, 2014). ECHR therefore became a part of UK domestic laws as it
defines freedom of citizens and their fundamental rights. Therefore, The Human
Rights Act, 1998 is applicable in UK.
Role of Barristers, Solicitors and Judges
Solicitors: They work in private practice with others and are generally the first place to
go for starting a legal proceeding and for legal advice. They are also employed in
commercial businesses and government departments and are represented by Law
Society.
Barrister: They do not deal with public directly in general but represent their client at
court taking advice from solicitors. They are represented by Bar Council.
Judges: These are the people who have practised as solicitors or barristers previously
and are appointed by the Crown on suggestion of Lord Chancellor for County Court.
Laws Applicable on Organizations
There are various laws applicable on an organization such as Companies Act, 2006,
Health and Safety at work etc Act, 1974, Finance Act and many more (Marmot,
2012). All the organizations must comply the provisions of these Act to avoid any legal
consequences.
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