BMP4002 Business Law: Analysis of UK Legal System and its Sources

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the UK legal system, including classifications of law (public vs. private, civil vs. criminal, common vs. equity), sources of law (legislation, case law, custom), and the impact of these laws on multilingual and commercial organizations. It delves into the hierarchy of legal sources within the English legal system, highlighting characteristics and providing examples. Special attention is given to UK employment law and its effect on commercial organizations, referencing key legislation such as the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Legislation of 2010. The essay emphasizes the importance of these laws in fostering fair and productive working environments.

BSC (Hons) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WITH
FOUNDATION
SEMESTER 1, EXAMINATION 2021/22
BUSINESS LAW
MODULE NO: BMP4002
Exam Paper Release Date & Time: Saturday 11 June 2022 at 10:00am
Submission Cut-off Date & Time: Monday 13 June 2022 at 10:00am
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ANSWER BOOKLET
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[Start writing you answer from this page. There are THREE questions. You are required to
answer all THREE questions. For each sub-questions, use heading such as “Answer to
the Question no. 1(i)” or “Answer to the Question no. 1(ii)” etc]
Answer to Question no. 1. The UK Classifications of Laws
The UK legal system is based on the common law that are further classified into various types
of laws to govern the society. The classification of laws are categorised into various types
according to their nature and application. The classification of laws includes private and public law;
civil and criminal law; common and equity law.
Answer (I) Provide a clear definition of law within UK Context
Law is defined as the rules and regulation that are necessary to govern the conduct of the human in
the society. It guides the human behaviour and ensure safety of the individual. The enforcement
body is responsible to maintain peace and security in the country. It is wider term that is evolved
on the basis of nature, custom, religion, International Convention etc., promotes justice in the
society (Boreham, Marlow and Gilchrist, 2019). It is required in civilized society to influence the
human behaviour and avoid the discrimination among the individual. Law is enacted to ensure
safety and security of the individual.
Law has no exact definition under any law and developed according the conduct of the human
that push the legislative body to govern the act of the individual to apply the principle of natural
justice. According to the famous Jurists , several legal definition has been made to define the law
and they has cover all the aspect of law to ensure better understanding in the society.
According to the Aristotle: According to him, Law is known as perfect law and have inherent
nature , universally applicable on all the citizens. It allows an individual to exercise their natural
right .
According to Austin: According to him, Law is the command given by the sovereign to laid down
the rules and regulation in the independent society.
According to Salmond: According to Salmond, law is the body of principles that are required for
the better administration of justice in the society.
Therefore, the law signifies the action of an individual towards other civilians.
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Answer (ii) The characteristics of the two main classifications of laws in UK
In order to make proper understanding of law, it is necessary to classified the law into different
class according to their legal structure and application in the society. Primarily, it is divided into
two classes are discussed below:
 International law: It is the body of rules and principles that are formed with the help of
International Convention, treaties and agreement and are binding upon the member state. It
originates form the customary law and are binding upon the state to enforce such laws on the
nation.
It is further divided into following parts:
 Public International Law: It shows the relation between the state and the individual. It
aims to govern the conduct and human behaviour in the society (Capps, 2020). The public
International Law covers wide range of rights available to the member states. For Example:
Extradition treaty between the states to bring back the accused of the offence.
 Private International Law: It refers to the relation between the two individual. The rights
and obligation is generally arises with the help of legal agreement that bind the parties with
the term and condition of the contractual agreement. In this, foreign elements are involved
that burden the court to decide the matter according to their law. For example: Family Law,
Law of Tort etc.
 National Law: It is the set of rules and regulation that are binding within the territory or
particular region.
It is further divided into following parts includes:
 Public Law: It refers to legal action and organized form of government that are
responsible for determining the relation of the state with its citizens. The public law
includes:
Administrative Law: It deals with the power , duties and function of the government that are
required to control and enforce the right of the individual.
Constitutional Law: It is known as the supreme law of land ( Galanter, 2021) . It describes the
fundamental right of the individual , function of the government and duties of the government
towards the state.
Criminal Law: it describes the offence and penalities committed by the criminal . It allows the
government to take legal action against the person who are infringing the legal right of the other
individual . The criminal law aims to ensure safety and security in the society.
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(iii) The three different Legal systems in UK
The common law is applied according to the geographical boundary of the territory .
According to their jurisdiction , the UK legal system is divided into three parts:
 England & Wales
 Scotland
 Northern Ireland
This shows that UK legal system does not have single legal system but it is divided into three
parts according to their jurisdictional powers. These jurisdiction are different in itself and exercise
their power according to this geographical limit to ensure justice to its citizens. The statute are also
applicable in parts where some part of legal statute applied on Scotland , another part on England
and Wales and the remaining part is applying to Northern Ireland .
The major source of these laws are legal precedent , case law etc. that are used to decide the
cases. The UK legal justice system is based on judge made law and monarchy, the head of the state
the supreme authority of the nation.
Answer to Question no. 2 The UK Source of law
The sources of law refers to human conduct and behaviour that give rise to the enforcement of
legal solution that aims to applies principle of justice , fair and reasonable procedure. The major
sources of law are International Convention, Treaties, agreement , custom and usage of long
practices.
Answer 2.1 Hierarchy of the principal sources of laws in the English Legal System
The hierarchy of sources of law contributes in developing legal remedies for the society to
maintain peace and harmony . Legislation is identified as the main source of law and also known as
law making body that enact the law to influence the human conduct and behaviour towards each
other. The case laws are considered as the legal precedent that are decided by the higher court and
use by the inferior court to decide the matter (Hameed, 2022) . The hierarchy of source of law is
mainly followed by the Constitution applicable on Central and State government to enforce the
rules and regulation in the society. These principal sources of law has greater contribution in the
UK legal justice system. The head of the state are the legislative body that are law making body
and helps in imparting justice to its citizens.
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Answer 2.2 The characteristics of the sources of laws identified above giving examples of each
The basic characteristics of the sources of laws are based on custom, legislation and legal
precedent that made the UK legal system unique and complex . It includes:
 The law of the nation are dynamic and varied that represent the growth of the country.
 The complexity of procedure increase the legal formalities on the individual .
 It build strong relation between the state and the individual to govern the human conduct
and behaviour of the citizen.
 The law making body identifies the custom and usage of the citizen to allows them to
profess their natural right.
 It is based on the law of equity to apply the principle of natural justice while deciding the
case.
 It aims to maintain security and safety of the society, avoid illegal act and discrimination
among the individual. It aims to ensure gender equality and avoid discrimination on the basis of caste, gender,
religion and colour etc.
Answer (iii) The impact of the respective laws on the multilingual organisation
The multilingual organisation deals with the diversification of language and culture to frame
policy and important decision for the citizen. The UK legal justice system aims to aware the people
with different culture and language to bring unity and harmony in the thoughts of the people and
build strong relation between them (McFarlane, 2018) . The usage and practice of multilingual
organisation brings authenticity in the behaviour of people and ensure importance to other culture .
The various law has been made in relation to multilingual organisation to obliged the organisation
to exercise the right to use different language for better understanding of thoughts and expression of
people . It is the best form of conveying message and opinions to bring authenticity of culture and
tradition. The UK is the social and diversified country which is unique in itself. It has been
positively impact the multilingual organisation and enforcement of such laws helps in the growth
and development of th nation .
Answer to Question No. 3 The UK law making process have a direct impact on commercial
organisations
Employment Law
The UK employment law deals with the wide range of protection to the employer and employees
to protect their rights. The general legislation has been made to secure the right of the employees in
order to avoid conflict and dispute in the organisation. It aims to build strong relation between the
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employer and employees. The employment contract is made that defines the rights and obligation of
the employer and employees and bind the parties to exercise the right against each other. The
employment law provides fair and reasonable procedure within the work place to contribute in the
growth and success of the organisation (Rist, 2022) . The law has been introduced to avoid
discrimination against the employees in terms of salary, working hours, holiday, redundancy ,
parental leave etc. It provides proper mechanism for securing the general interest of the employees.
There are several legislation that promotes better understanding between the employer and
employees. It avoids unfavourable behaviour of the employers on its employees and provides legal
remedy to secure their legal rights. It prohibits harassment, bullying, discrimination on the basis of
race, caste, religion etc. to bring positivity in the working environment.
The UK legal system is based on the common law which means principle of equity is the
paramount importance of the UK to provide equal protection of law and equal treatment of
employee in an organisation. The employment contract defines the rights and responsibilities of all
the employees that are binding upon the parties to comply with such procedure. The contract has
been changed according to the business environment and prior notice has been given to the
employees with the amendments provision.
There are some important legislation that are defined under employment law are discussed below:
 Employment Rights Act, 1996
 National Minimum Wages Law of 1998
 The Equality Legislation of 2010.
 Employment Relation Legislation 1999
 Agency Worker Regulation of 2010.
Therefore, the employment law outlines the fair protection to the employees to avoid
miscommunication and dispute within the organisation (Schomburg and Oehmichen, 2021).. The
employment law aims to ensure benefit to the workforce. It positively affects the performance of the
employees ,ensure growth and maximise profit.
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REFERENCES
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what I interpreted love would feel like..” Lived experience of excessive alcohol use and
care proceedings by mothers in the family justice system in the UK. Addictive behaviors,
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Capps, M.A., 2020. Determann's Field Guide to Data Privacy Law: International Corporate
Compliance. Lothar Determann. Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2020, Pp. v, 212. ISBN: 9781789906202, US $89.95. International Journal of
Legal Information,48(2), pp.86-87.
Galanter, M., 2021. The Assault on Civil Justice: The Anti-Lawyer Dimension 1. In Legal Culture
and the Legal Profession (pp. 79-118). Routledge.
Hameed, A., 2022. UK Withdrawal from the EU: Supremacy, Indirect Effect and Retained EU
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Hodgson, J., 2022. Girls and Youth Justice. In Gender, Power and Restorative Justice (pp. 21-43).
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McFarlane, K., 2018. Care-criminalisation: The involvement of children in out-of-home care in the
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Palmer, Q.C., 2022. Does the UK need a Modern Bill of Rights? Or is it a Policy in Search of
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Rist, R., 2022. Greed v. Need: Does the Sentencing of Tax and Benefit Fraud at the Crown Court in
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Schomburg, W. and Oehmichen, A., 2021. Brexit: First observations on the EU–UK Trade and
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The End
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