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

This report examines the legal system for business, including the classifications of law and the role of different courts such as the High Court and Supreme Court. It also covers the sources of law, including case law and legislation, and the UK law making process for employment law. The report discusses the statutory duties of employers to their employees and the actions for wrongful and unfair dismissal. Course code: BMP4002.

Business Management
BMP4002 Business Law
Assessment 1
Legal System for Business
Law
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Contents
Introduction 2
Part 1: Classifications of Law p-p
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
p
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system p-p
a) Civil Law p
b) Criminal Law p
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system p-p
a) High Court p
b) Supreme Court p
Part 2: Source of law p-p
Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws p
Explanation of the process of making Legislation p
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation p
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law p-p
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees p
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Conclusion p
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Introduction
In the following report the classification of laws will be examined in
conjunction with role of different courts namely the high courts and the supreme court
moreover how a bill becomes a full fledged enactment and what stages in various
chamber of the house it has to go through to become a law different sources of laws
will be examined such as case laws and legislation which is delegated to the
executive and the reasons for such delegation and lastly the laws of Britain regarding
employment and the duties of employer towards employees and what is considered
to be dismissed wrongfully or unfairly will be examined in this report.
Part 1: Classifications of Law
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
In the United Kingdom a system of constitutional monarch is followed. The
state's head is the king or queen and not an elected president. The powers and
obligations of the monarch are conscripted by various conventions one of which is
that the monarch should not take sides when it comes to politics. Wales and England
are based upon common law system which entails creation of laws by democratically
elected government and rules gathered from different case laws which creates
precedents. The legislations are passed by the parliament which encompasses the
monarch, the house of lords and the house of commons. Among them the members
of house of commons is are elected directly by the citizens and the prime minister
conventionally is a elected member of the house. Separation of powers doctrine is
applied to keep the courts and the parliament within their respective confined sphere
of influence.
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system
a) Civil Law:
These types of legislation confine themselves with cases between people or
corporations the state isn't a party to the case unlike criminal law. Contravention of
civil law encompasses causing harm to a person , harming their rights, or harming
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their property or rights related to that property. Under civil law the person who sues
is the claimant or the plaintiff and the person being sued is the defendant. These
types of laws have a focal point of establishment of duty of care owed to the plaintiff.
In contrast to criminal law a person will not receive a sentence of imprisonment if
found to be in contravention to a particular law Instead these laws intend for
restitution of the harm to the time before the wrong was committed by way of
awarding damages and compensatory relief. (Hall, 2022.)
The burden of proof is less cumbersome compared to criminal cases and rest
on the person bringing the claim unlike criminal law where state must provide
evidence. Examples of civil law include laws related to employment encompassing
dismissal of unfair nature and prohibition of discrimination against people that are
protected under the law. Not fulfilling obligations of contract, cases related to injury in
case of accidents in the work space or negligence of medical institution and disputes
related to family matters such as separation or divorce or alimony or custody of
children and visitation rights.
b) Criminal Law:
When an harm is caused which is goes against the very foundation of
society as a whole and not just against one person or corporation it is punished
under criminal law. Like civil law they are enacted by the parliament and establish a
code of conduct.(Duff, 2018)If a person commits an act which is in contravention to
criminal law they would be put up for trial at the court in which state is a party namely
the crown prosecution service along with other authorities of state which may be
having stakes. If a person is convicted then they shall be imprisoned according to the
enactment and guidelines for sentencing which depends upon the gravity of crime.
(Rakoff and Goldstein, 2022)The burden of proof rests upon the state which must
prove that the person accused has perpetrated an act beyond all reasonable doubt
Examples include theft, arson, criminal damage, homicide, defrauding someone
laundering money, taking or giving bribes, dealing in controlled substances, rape
and domestic abuse.
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Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system
a) High Court:
It is the third highest court in the UK and comes after court of appeals above it
supreme court being the top most court. It deals with civil cases of pecuniary
jurisdiction and appeals from lower courts it is situated in London at royal courts
justice but has registries across England and wales.(Chandrachud, 2020) A jury is
only called upon in cases of imprisonment of false nature, prosecuting with malicious
intent and fraudulent cases.
b) Supreme Court:
Supreme court was established in 2009 replacing the house of lords appellate
committee as the highest court of appeal cases that are heard by the supreme court
are the one's which assume significant importance to the citizens.(Elliott, Williams
and Young 2018.) The cases that make it to the supreme court have huge array of
consequences for the government and the citizenry and the various authorities
established under the constitution of united kingdom. Supreme court is the final
interpreter of the the law of united kingdom however the powers in comparison to
other countries are still constricted when it comes to the legislation enacted by the
parliament they can't be held void by the supreme court due to the parliament being
the supreme body in the united kingdom which entails it with unlimited power to
enact or roll back any law without the interference of the judiciary. It may issue a
declaration of incompatibility which connotes that a law is in contravention to human
rights however no obligation is created upon the parliament to repeal the law in
contrast to the supreme court of united states which can declare any law null and
void due to being in contravention to the constitution.(Ford, 2018)
Part 2: Source of law
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Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws
Case laws are the decisions of courts which are reported and publicized as
law reports they are considered as the primary source of laws in the United
Kingdom. These are the principle of legality which are used while making a decision
or passing a judgment. The are governed by the doctrine of juridical precedents
which bind any future judgments which are on similar issues or facts judges are not
bound by the decisions of inferior courts but are bound by those of superior courts.
(Andreescu, 2019.)
In order for them to be applied or implemented they need to be accurately
depicted in the the publications and should encompass the particular facts, related
issues and the judgment passed together with the principles that were applied while
rendering the judgment.
Explanation of the process of making Legislation
There are three parts to UK parliament the house of commons where the bill
is introduced then by the elected representatives whether in power or not if the bill is
introduced by majority then its a governments bill if it is introduced by other member
it is called private member's bill when it is introduced for the first time it is the first
reading of the law at then comes the second stage in which the bill is explained and
debated upon by the members after which it reaches a committee which suggest
amendments if necessary to the bill after which it is reported back to the house and
it is voted upon if the majority is in favor then the bill is passed. Which takes the bill
to the second house which is the house of lords which again vote the bill and
perform an analysis whether passing of that law will be beneficial to the general
public the third and final stage is when it reaches the head of state or the monarch
who grants the royal assent upon which the bill becomes a law.(Torney, 2019.)
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation
delegation of legislation is necessitated when firstly the parliament has other
pressing issues to deal with and does not have any time secondly the technical
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knowledge of every aspect of the law can't be expected from the legislators who are
rather old and lack the knowledge of modern times thirdly to not have to continuously
amend and reintroduce the bill delegated legislation is required. And finally when
some specific issues need to be dealt with.(Hasson, 2019.)
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees
Employers in the United Kingdom have to by the authority of law
Pay the decided national minimum wage applicable to the employees. Give their
staff a payslip which should contain all of the details regarding salary and
deductions. Maintain an safe working space, provide for provision for resting in
between work hours. Working hours are capped at 48 hours on average in a
week .give notice prior to dismissal which can range between one week to 2 months
depending upon the length of service in the company. Employers need to keep
provision for holidays in which employees are still paid. They need to keep
provisions regarding leaves for when their employees are sick or pregnant or have
to adopt or need to take leaves in order to fulfill their parental obligations. (Teague,
and Donaghey, 2018.)
Regarding health and safety they need to conduct assessment for potential
risks and rectify, proper training of employees need to be completed in order to
achieve a risk free environment and the workforce needs to be consulted and their
suggestion need to be taken into account for safety assessment and rectification.
Further under equality law of 2010 the employee can't discriminate unless its
positive in nature and designed to uplift certain members on the basis of Age, sex,
sexual orientation, being married, getting pregnant, race or nationality religious belief
or if someone gets their gender reassigned.
Also those employees who complain of such discrimination can't be victimized and
those who are associated with the people which are mentioned above can't be
discriminated as well.
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Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Dismissal can be considered to be wrongful if the contract of employment is
contravened while the employee is terminated it is dependent upon the contract law.
If someone is terminated wrongfully they may file for damages for all the loss of pay
which otherwise might have accrued to them if they were not wrongfully terminated
and the terms of contract were to be complied with it may be that they would have to
be paid for severance or they should have received a notice for termination and
some time period before termination and the resultant pay or it may be that they
could not be fired till the contract came to an end.
Unfair dismissal:
unfair dismissal is not dependent upon breach of contract and all employees can
bring a claim for unfair dismissal under section 94 of employment rights act 1996 it
needs to be established by the person claiming unfair dismissal that he was
terminated and not for a fair reason in the eyes of law however in general after 2010
this right only arises if a person has been employed at that company for more than
two years. Those which can be considered fair reasons are that employee has
reached retirement age or is made redundant due to certain exigencies or is not
capable enough to handle the job or his his conduct is of such nature which
warranted their termination.
Unfair reasons include leave for adopting or for pregnancy or for paternal
responsibility or for attending family emergencies, or for assertion of a right provided
for in the statutes or for giving evidence in case of employer showing discriminatory
behavior or for blowing whistle on illegal activities.( Andelman, 2021.)
Taking, or seeking to take, leave for family reasons including pregnancy, maternity
leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, childbirth and parental leave or for asking
minimum standard of wage which is set by the government or for leave for going to
be part of a jury or for creating a trade union or being part of trade union or when
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employees want flexible working hours or for partaking in act of union which is
protected under the law of England.(Neugebauer, 2021)
Conclusion
In the above report laws of England are discussed as to their sources where the laws
are derived from in addition to how they get through the parliament and become a
law all of the stake holders in the passing of a certain law in addition to how laws
differ in their nature or what they target like difference that exist between criminal and
civil law and the hierarchy of courts is briefly discussed with specific regard to
supreme court and the high court and lastly an detailed account of employment laws
and how the employees are protected is provided.
REFRENCES
BOOKS AND JOURNALS
Andelman, L., 2021. Employment law: Beyond the bounds of Uber: Implications for
Australia. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal, (76), pp.74-76.
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Andreescu, M., 2019. Case Law Contributions to the Development of the Constitutionality
Control of Laws in Romania. Pandectele Romane, p.225.
Chandrachud, A., 2020. The informal constitution: Unwritten criteria in selecting judges for
the Supreme Court of India. Oxford University Press.
Duff, R.A., 2018. The realm of criminal law. Oxford University Press.
Elliott, M., Williams, J. and Young, A.L. eds., 2018. The UK Constitution after Miller: Brexit
and Beyond. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ford, M., 2018. Employment tribunal fees and the rule of law: R (Unison) v Lord Chancellor
in the Supreme Court. Industrial Law Journal, 47(1), pp.1-45.
Hall, D.E., 2022. Criminal law and procedure. Cengage Learning.
Hasson, V., 2019. Establishing a legislative scrutiny framework: The case of delegated
legislation in the Parliament of South Africa. Eur. JL Reform, 21, p.189.
Neugebauer, M., 2021. Socio-legal perspectives on agency work: Liminal employment,
innovation and the crisis of UK labour law (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent).
Rakoff, J.S. and Goldstein, H.W., 2022. RICO: Civil and Criminal Law and Strategy. Law
Journal Press.
Teague, P. and Donaghey, J., 2018. Brexit: EU social policy and the UK employment
model. Industrial Relations Journal, 49(5-6), pp.512-533.
Torney, D., 2019. Climate laws in small European states: symbolic legislation and limits of
diffusion in Ireland and Finland. Environmental Politics.
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