Legal System for Business: Classifications of Law, Source of Law, and UK Law Making Process for Employment Law

This report discusses the legal system for business in the UK, covering classifications of law, source of law, and UK law making process for employment law. It defines civil and criminal law, explains the roles of high court and supreme court, and discusses case law, legislation process, delegated legislation, and employer duties and wrongful dismissal actions.

BMP4002 Business Law
Assessment 1
Legal System for Business
Law
1

Contents
Introduction 03
Part 1: Classifications of Law 03
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
03
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system 03
a) Civil Law 03
b) Criminal Law 04
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system 04
a) High Court 05
b) Supreme Court 05
Part 2: Source of law 06
Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws 06
Explanation of the process of making Legislation 06
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation 07
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law 07
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees 07
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Conclusion 08
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Introduction
Following report will be highlighting the legal areas of united kingdom. The
legal system of the country will be defined thoroughly which will be followed by
various classification of it. Civil laws and criminal laws will be the basis of the
classification of legal system. Role of supreme court and high court in the English
legal system will be mentioned in the report. Further on, sources of law, law making
process in context with employment law will be enlightened thoroughly.
Part 1: Classifications of Law
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
A set of rules and regulation within a specified boundary of the country which is
administered and maintained by the governmental or may be social authorities of the
specified region is termed as laws. Law is defined as science and art depicted by the values
of justice which is formulated to avoid misconduct, violent acts or contradictions between
the residents of the region.
English legal system refers to the set of rules and regulations implied by the
governance body in England and Whales. This legal system comprises 2 classified basis of
law that is criminal and civil law. Both of these branches of English legal system follows their
respective procedures in separate courts. Although, these laws are based on the common
values of the society that reflects harmonic behavior in every aspect of the region. Prime
source of law formation in English legal system is the statutory legislation of the country.
Common laws in the country is administered by the assigned judges of courts who keeps the
statutory legislative laws in consideration in the ongoing process of law making.
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system
a) Civil Law:
Rules and regulations for disputes between civilians of the country is termed
as civil laws or non-criminal laws. In civil courts a person may file plea demanding for
compensation that is mostly is monetary terms and in some cases in terms of mild
punishments. Laws revolving around the civil injustice or quasi-contracts are
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considered in the section of civil laws (Bibbings, 2018). Property disputes also falls in
the category of civil laws but not disputes that involves criminal acts such as
vandalism or theft. Civil law section is divided into 2 parts that is substantive law and
procedural law.
Substantive laws refers to the combination of rules which depicts the human
behavior that maintains positive environment and harmony in the society. The civil
law defines the responsibilities of both citizens and residents towards their
contribution in the society.
On the other hand, procedural law refers to the procedure of administrating
the civil laws and its implications. These laws are followed by the courts while
adjudicating lawsuits in the premises. This set of procedural law is being followed
while filling lawsuits or in the ongoing hearing of the case.
b) Criminal Law:
Set of rules and regulations that are being formulated to highlight the acts that
are considered highly wrongful is known as criminal law which is followed by the
punishment for abusers of these rules (Fudge, 2018). This classification of English
legal system is highly concerned with criminal offenses, prevention of such acts that
disrespects these laws and finally the consequences of such acts. Such acts are
considered disrespectful to the values of whole society or community instead of just
individual party. For the prevention of such criminal, state governance bodies also
works with distinct international bodies whose operation are directed towards the
same concern. The set of rules that is termed as criminal laws are referred by the
judges of court to give correct judgment for bringing the violators of the laws to
justice by punishing them. Punishment of such acts also falls under these set of rules
which mentions the consequences that has to be faced by the violators according to
their respective acts. Intensity of these punishments are directly relational and equal
to the intensity of wrongness in the act.
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system
a) High Court:
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High court of England is also commonly referred as her majesty's high court of
justice. This court is concerned with all the matters related top civil law and not to the
criminal laws. High court in the English legal system also supervise all the judicial
bodies falling in their respective administrative boundaries. There are many areas in
which the supervision of high court is not implied (Cupido, 2019). Although, these
exceptional areas are in debate that whether they should be effective to the
supervision of the high court or not. High court of England is basically classified into
three divisions that is queen's bench division, chancery division and family division.
In some of the cases their jurisdiction gets overlapped, in such cases the dispute in
being transferred to the most eligible among these three whose administration is
highly relative to the base of dispute. The difference of the procedures of different
types of case is the reason behind the classification of high court in the country. Most
high court hearings are proceeded by a single judge but in the exceptional cases it is
handed over to the divisional court which is directed by the bench of judges.
b) Supreme Court:
Supreme court is the final body of jurisdiction which releases final statements
on any civil or criminal laws and disputes related to it. Base country of the dispute
has to be one among England, wales or northern Ireland as these regions falls under
the jurisdiction of supreme court in English legal system (Shebaita, 2020). Supreme
court of the country is also concerned with public hearing on exceptional matters that
affect the whole population of UK. These matters are mostly related to the
constitutional importance. Supreme court of England has restricted powers in
comparison of other countries as the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty rigid the
authority of the court. The court has no authorized power to make changes or to
overturn the primary legislation that comprises various acts. Although, the court
exercise powers to make amendments in the secondary legislation comprising
various subordinate rules and regulations. Moreover, the court is authorized to
declare incompatibility of the legislation in relation to the human right convention.
This authorization of powers to the supreme court is assigned by the section 4 of
human right act of 1998.
Part 2: Source of law
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Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws
Case law refers to the set of rules and regulations which is determined by the
previous cases and their judgments in the respective aspects. The case law is also
referred as the common law as the basis of this law is on common values that are
depicted in the past historical cases instead of constitution or regulations determined
by the legal authorities. Detailed facts of previous judicial decisions is highly referred
from this source of law which highlight the wider areas and different situation related
to the law (Zhilinkov, 2019). Stare decisis a Latin phrase which means that let the
decision stand is the basic principle which is followed by the judges referring this
source of law for formation of new ones or to pass judgments on a dispute. This
principle respects the past decision taken by the respected judges by considering
their thinking and decision in the law formation or to make certain present decisions.
This source of law is the interpretation of past situations which is highly differentiated
from the other sources of law such as legislative bodies etc.
Explanation of the process of making Legislation
The process of making legislation in UK has various steps and levels which
are necessary for any bill to pass. In the legislative process a bill must go through
the stages of lords. The first step is the reading of bill where the bill name is being
read in the chamber. Further the main areas and concept of the bill is debated which
determines the need of changes in the bill (Scott-Patel, 2019). In the third step of
making legislation members of the parliament go through the whole bill and makes a
proper formation of the bill in terms of needed corrections. Voting may take place in
this stage to consider the need of amendments. Report stage provides a room for
further amendments in the bill through voting process. Third reading is a stage where
the bill is being tied up to pass. This is the final chance for expressing the needed
changes. In the consideration stage the amendments are finalized in lords and it is
sent to the house of commons for further procedure of acceptance or amendments.
The changes introduced by the commons are again sent to the lords for rechecking
and this continues until the bill is passes or is rejected by the authorities. The final
step is the affirmation from monarch which transforms the law into act of parliament.
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation
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In English legal system delegated legislation refers to the laws which are
administered by government authorities such as ministers instead of any legislative
bodies such as parliament. Although, the ministers formulating these delegated laws
are assigned the powers to do so by the acts parliaments only. One the most
frequently used option in delegated legislation is the statutory instruments. Almost
3000 of the delegated legislation are made each year. However, the mandatory
number for parliament to consider this legislation is only 1000 (Khan and et.al.,
2019). Delegated legislation is aimed for doing various minor and major amendment
in certain governmental process which considers every aspect of legal working which
cannot be done by the parliament. These delegations can be made for various
purpose such as increasing or decreasing the dues or charges of government
facilities. However, high amount of delegated legislation is issued without referring
the concerned parliamentary acts. For such issues the statutory instrument is used
to prevent the misuse of powers assigned to the ministers.
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees
There are various laws in the legal system of UK which directs the employers
their responsibilities towards the employees. It is the duty of employers to provide
safety, healthy environment and put efforts for the welfare of employees. The
assessment of risks in the workplace falls under the responsibility of employer which
has to be frequently achieved. The identification of activities or factors impacting
workers health should be followed by elimination of such things to maintain the
safety of the workforce (Bogg, 2020). Hazardous substances should be disposed in
a accurate process to maintain the safer environment. The risks of the workplace
has to be pre-informed to the employees to eliminate the chances of risks to their
health. Proper training of the employees regarding the work has to be assured by the
employer especially if any heath risks are involved. Many more responsibilities of
employers is being depicted through the employer laws which in-acts employee
rights.
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
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Dismissal of employees without a fair reason is considered as wrongful or
unfair termination. This is mostly done when the employer is biased or have any
grudges for the employee. There are several acts which gives employees right to
seek reason on their dismissal which has to be in accordance with the policies of the
company. If the employee is still not satisfies with the explanation on their dismissal
then they can file plea in court and seek justice for the same. According to the
employees rights, a person have a right to claim reasons for unfair dismissal if the
mandate period of 2 year has been served by the individual in the firm.
Conclusion
From the above report, various aspects of English legal system has been
concluded. Definition and classification of the legal system in UK has been discussed
thoroughly which has shown that respective system is classified on the basis of
criminal laws and civil laws which have their separate procedures and courts as well.
Source of law making that is case law has showed the role of historical decision of
judges in the current law formation process. The process of making legislation in UK
has been enlightened which was followed by the meaning of delegated legislation
and some examples of it. Employment law in UK has been discussed with the role of
employer and the situation where employee in wrongfully terminated.
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References
Bibbings, L., 2018. Section 5 (1) Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. In Women's
Legal Landmarks: Celebrating the history of women and law in the UK and
Ireland. Hart Publishing.
Bogg, A., 2020. " Labour Law Is a Subset of Employment Law" Revisited. Dalhousie
LJ. 43. p.479.
Cupido, M., 2019. Common Law and Civil Law Approaches to Excessive Group
Crimes. In The Common Law and the Civil Law Today: Convergence and
Divergence (pp. 289-316). Vernon Press.
Fudge, J., 2018. Illegal working, migrants and labour exploitation in the UK. Oxford
Journal of Legal Studies. 38(3). pp.557-584.
Khan, N. and et.al 2019. Diversity in the workplace: An overview of disability
employment disclosures among UK firms. Corporate Social Responsibility
and Environmental Management. 26(1). pp.170-185.
Scott-Patel, K., 2019. UK Employment Law-A Good Plan for Workers?. Int'l. In-
House Counsel J. 12. p.1.
Shebaita, M., 2020. The Notion of Administrative Contracts in Civil Law System vs
Common Law System. Available at SSRN 3706353.
Zhilinkov, V.V.V., 2019. FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF THE PROPERTY
RELATIONS’STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK. Редакційна
колегія. p.123.
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