BMP4002 - UK Business Law: A Report on the Legal System & Sources

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the UK legal system for a multilingual organization looking to establish a business in the UK. It defines law within the UK context, discusses the classifications of laws (public and private, civil and criminal), and identifies the three different legal systems in the UK (England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). The report also explains the hierarchy of the principal sources of laws in the English Legal System, including primary sources like legislation and case laws, and secondary sources like books and journals. Furthermore, it discusses the impact of these laws on multilingual organizations and provides examples of how the UK law-making process, particularly employment law, directly impacts commercial organizations, highlighting key legislation such as the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010. Desklib provides more resources for students, including past papers and solved assignments.

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BSc (HONS) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH
FOUNDATION
SEMESTER ONE EXAMINATION 2021/2022
BUSINESS LAW
MODULE NO: BMP4002
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:There are THREE questions in this paper,
answer ALL THREE questions.

In your role as a legal adviser, you have been approached by a multilingual
organisation who are looking to establish part of their business in the UK. They are
mindful that the legal framework in the UK is very different to the other countries they
currently operate in and have asked you to write them a report focusing on the
system and principles of laws in the UK.
They have asked that your report should answer the following:
1.0 The UK Classifications of Laws (Total 30 Marks)
(I) Provide a clear definition of law within UK Context
Answer(i) Laws are the set of rules which are enforceable by the courts and regulating by
the government of a state. Laws regulates the behaviour of the humans and show them a legal
path to live their life. There is no legal definition of law in any statute but it was recognised
by many jurist and the scholars. The laws provide the environment which is safe for all
individual bodies and the properties of an individuals. According to the Salmond “ law is the
principles which recognised and got applied for the effective administration of justice. Laws
are for the benefits of the humans and all persons are bound to follow all the laws (Parveen,
2018). The authority of law making in the United kingdom is on the parliament which consist
of two houses i.e. House of commons and House of Lords. These two houses discuss the bills
and send it to the Monarch fro the Royal assent.
(ii) Define and discuss the characteristics of the two main classifications of laws in UK
Answer (ii) The laws of the United Kingdom were classified in to two broad categories i.e.
Public law and the Private law. Public laws are the one which governs the relationship
between the individual and citizen and also between the state. On the other hand the private
laws govern the relation of an individual and the private organization. In the legal language
the laws are classified into Civil laws and the Criminal laws.
Civil Laws- these are the private laws and it covers those matters which is related individual
with another individual or the organisation. In the civil laws there is no provisions of sending
the person to jail who breach the law but, they have to pay the compensation to the party
against whom or the part who suffered the damages. There are some laws upon which the
civil laws apply such as; the matter of family disputes, breaching of the contract, employment
act property law etc.
Criminal law- These laws covers those acts which affected the whole society and it would be
done against the state. The criminal laws are the part of public laws, and it applies on that
activities of the offender which put adverse affect on the society. There are several acts on

which the criminal law works such as; sexual assault, murder, rape, money laundering etc.
These are the acts which not only done against the individual but it affects the whole society.
Under criminal laws, committing the crime provides serious punishment to the offender.
Once the charge has been put on the person and he proved guilty then as per the discretionary
power of judges, person can be put in the prison for several years as per the seriousness of
crime.
(iii) Identify the three different Legal systems in UK
Answer (iii) The United Kingdom has three different legal systems one each for the England
& Wales, Scotland and for the Northern Island. All three jurisdictions have their own legal
systems, courts, judges. But, there is only one final appealable court for all the three different
jurisdictions, there is Supreme Court which is in England (Smith, 2022). The justice of the
UK has three branches of the state and other two branches are the executive and the
legislature which consist of two houses of the parliament. These three branches have their
own functions to perform which makes them different from each other and it is known as
separation of powers. The constitution of the UK is unwritten and it got found in the statutes
passed by the parliament and through common law.
2.0 The UK Source of law
Identify and briefly explain the hierarchy of the principal sources of laws in the English
Legal System
Answer(i) Laws are defined as the rules which govern the behaviour of the human beings in
a civilized society. Unlike the scientific laws the legal laws are decided by the and made by
the human beings and also got amended by the humans. There two main sources of laws
which are Primary source and the secondary source.
In the primary source of law, there is legislation which is the only governmental body who ha
sthe power to make laws for the whole state. Another which comes in the category of primary
source of law is Case laws. The only law making authority in UK is the parliament which
conssit of two houses i.e. House of Commons and the House of Lords. These two houses
deals with every bill which come to become the law. The bill got introduced firstly at house
of common and there the members find the error and send it to the House of Lords. After
verifying and find some more error by the House of Lords if required send it again to House
of Common. After the bill gt verified and no error has been found then, the bill will send for

the Royal assent to Monarch who id the Queen of the United Kingdom. Without the Royal
assent bill not been converted into law.
Case laws are those source of laws which are the judgements of the Supreme Court of the
High Court which acts like the laws for the subordinate courts . There is a doctrine of
precedents which describe the uses of case laws (Vogenauer, 2019). These are the
judgement's of the High Court and the supreme Court which binds all the subordinates courts
to follow the judgments but only in those matter which are similar in nature.
The secondary source of laws are; books, journals, opinions of the legal experts. These are
not the perfect laws and can't be applied directly in the case. The judges havce the
discretionary power to use these sources in the difficult time of providing justice.
(ii)Explain the characteristics of the sources of laws identified above giving examples of
each
Answer (ii): The different sources of law such as primary law includes legislation,
Convention, statutes whereas secondary sources includes journals, articles, encyclopedia etc.
are played significant role in the development of UK legal system.
Characteristics of various Sources of law includes:
 It provides detailed legislation and statutory framework to secure the general interest
of the citizens.
 It maintains law and order in the society and bring harmony among the people.
 It protects the legal, human and fundamental right of the individual.
 It influence the human behaviour, conduct and value that are important in existing
society.
 It provide legal remedy to the citizens through enforcement bodies (Gealfow, 2018) .
 The common law of UK gives fair, just and equal treatment to its individual so that
their trust over the judiciary remains secured and protected.
 It promotes social, cultural and political development fo the nation to enhance the
growth of the economy.

(iii) Discuss the impact of the respective laws on the multilingual organisation
Answer(iii) The UK legal system provides the comprehensive framework to the
multilingual organisation in order to promote diversity in their work culture. The difference
in tradition, language culture, behaviour and views among the employees and employers
requires effective legislation to facilitate effective communication among the people. It
encourage positive interaction among them and create healthy environment where they can
work freely without any stress and fear. The multilingual organisation focuses on the growth
of the individual and brings positive attitude among them. The purpose of multilingual
organisation is to promote diverse nature of work environment in order to bring satisfaction
among the employees and employer and prevent conflicts and misunderstanding among
them. An organisation consists of different individuals who have different prospective,
language, culture and tradition and it may create certain barriers in performing their job role
but such organisation overcome these challenges and directs the employees towards the
desired goal of an organisation. It direct them towards the organisational goal and able to
achieve long term success in the business.
3.0 Give examples of how the UK law making process have a direct impact on
commercial organisations focusing on ONE of the below list:
Explain and give the features of one of the following laws:
Answer 3. Employment law: The UK employment law is complex and covers range of
protection that are crucial for the right of the employees and employers. It provides effective
statutory mechanism that are important for establishing safe and healthy working condition
within an organisation. It improves interaction among the employees and enhance their
overall performance to sustain continuos organisational goal (Hodak, 2021). The right of the
employees are important to satisfy them at place of employment in order to reduce
employment turnover and retain them for a long time. They must be equally treated at place
of employment and should not be discriminated on the basis of their caste, sex, sexual
orientation etc. The satisfied employees are the asset of an organisation and contribute
towards the success of an organisation. The employment law is binding upon the contractual
obligation over the employees and employers through written agreement that defines the
rights and responsibilities over each other. The contract of employment are binding and

enforceable against each other as it specified the terms and condition of parties. If any of the
party fails to legally comply with the terms of the contract then other party can claim their
right for breach of contract (Jardine, 2021). The equality among the employees are the
paramount objective of employment law and involves human right of the individual as per the
Universal declaration of Human right. The equality in regards to holidays, paternity leave,
salary, dismissal notice etc. are equally applicable on the employees and must not
discriminated on any of the ground as laid down under the employment law. It provides rules,
regulations and standards that are binding upon all the members of the organisation.
There are certain piece of employment legislation that are discussed below in detail:
 Employment Rights Act, 1996: It facilitates rights of employees in regards to their
dismissal, unfair dismissal, paternity and maternity leave etc. It aims to secure the
rights of the employees that are important for their safety and protection. This Act
consolidated the rights of employees and ensue them effective mechanism to bring
satisfaction at workplace.
 Employment Relation Act, 1999: This Act aims to bring relation among the
individual so that their efforts can be easily identified. It protects the number of rights
of the employees that are involved at workplace.
 Equality Act, 2010: The main objective of common law is to promote equality and
fair treatment to an individual. It safeguards the rights of the individual and give them
equal protection that are important for their survival in h place of employment
(Mercescu, 2022). It gives wider protection to them and effectively tackles the dispute
that take place among the employees and employers.
 The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulation of 1999: It is a statutory
obligation that puts over the organisation to governs the rights of the employees
during their parental and maternal hood in order to provide them effective medical
care.
Therefore, the English legal system is derived through various sources of law and has greater
contribution in the development of nation (Narula, 2022). The employment law is a collection
of statutes that create minimum requirements for employees so that no one can violate others
rights. It is equally important for both the employees and the company as successful

employees contribute their efforts towards the success of an organisation and resulted into
brand value in the market.
REFERENCES
Gealfow, J.A., 2018. Case Law and its Binding Effect in the System of Formal Sources of
Law. The Journal of the University of Latvia (Juridiskā zinātne/Law), (1).
Hodak, I., 2021. Posljedice Brexita na odnose između UK i EU (Doctoral dissertation, Josip
Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek. Faculty of Law Osijek. Chair of Constitutional and
European Law).
Jardine, G., 2021. Costs in employment law cases: An overview. Precedent (Sydney, NSW),
(164), pp.30-33.
Mercescu, A., 2022. Non-binding sources in law: On their merits (and their
limits). International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique
juridique, 35(1), pp.153-177.
Narula, M., 2022. Employment Law Violations. Am. Crim. L. Rev., 59, p.667.
Parveen, R., 2018. Religious-Only Marriages in the UK: Legal Positionings and Muslim
Women’s Experiences. Sociology of Islam, 6(3), pp.316-337.
Smith, A.M., 2022. An empirical study of the effects of regulatory systems on the collection of
late payment of commercial debts owed to micro and small businesses in the UK (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Plymouth).
Vogenauer, S., 2019. Sources of law and legal method in comparative law. Max Planck
Institute for European Legal History Research Paper Series, (2020-04), pp.878-901.
(Parveen, 2018) (Smith, 2022) (Vogenauer, 2019)