Business Law and Ethics Report: University of Suffolk, Level 4

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of business law and ethics, covering key aspects of the English legal system, contract law, and employment law. It begins with an introduction to business ethics and business law, followed by an exploration of the three organs of government in the English legal system: the legislature, executive, and judiciary. The report then delves into contract law, focusing on remedies such as specific performance. It examines the distinction between general partnerships and limited liability partnerships, as well as the concept of separate legal entities. Finally, the report discusses the ethical considerations surrounding the dismissal of employees in the United Kingdom, including fair, wrongful, unfair, and constructive dismissal. The report concludes by summarizing the main points and emphasizing the importance of understanding business law and ethics in the modern business environment.

Business Law and
Ethics

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics are considered as the relevant conduct which every business is expected
to carry. The ethics originates from the organizational statement, individuals and the legal
system. It consists of values, norms, ethical practices which guide the working of corporations.
Business law is the set of rules which every business is obliged to follow otherwise it may lead to
legal penalties and punishments. This law is a vast field which comprises of various legislation
such as contract, employment, company law, etc. which governs the operations of companies
(Clarkson and Miller, 2020). This essay shall cover the role of different organs of government,
remedy of specific performance of contract, distinction between general partnership and limited
liable and separate entity and lastly the dismissal of employee on ethical perspective in united
Kingdom.
MAIN BODY
The English legal system is built on the three foundations which are known as organs of
government. They have their own roles and powers under the doctrine of separation of power
and include the principle of checks and balances so that no one exercises power beyond their
limits (Bassey, 2020).
The first organ of government is legislature which mainly comprise of two houses which
are House of Lords and Commons. They have the most important role to play which is to make
laws as they have the supreme authority to enact laws which are called statutory legislations.
They have power to delegate their authority to others to make subordinate legislations.
Second organ is executive which consist of Crown of UK and the government which
comprises of Prime Minister and other cabinet minister. They have a role to ensure enforcement
of the laws in the country. They take care of the administration of country and is responsible for
the governance of state.
The third organ of government is judiciary who comprise o judges and other officers of
the court and tribunals. They have an important role to interpret the laws made by legislature and

enact common law through cases. The judiciary has to make sure that it punishes the wrongdoer
and provide justice to the victim (Burton and Murphy, 2020).
The contract law governs the contract which is being made between the parties. There are
essentials of the contract which includes offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations and
the value of consideration. If these essential elements are fulfilled, it is a valid contract. The law
provides for many remedies to the aggrieved party if there is breach o contract by other. These
remedies include damages, rescission, repudiation, specific performance and injunction.
The remedy of specific performance of contract is referred to as the fulfillment of the
promise which is made under the contract. It is an order of court whereby the court compels the
party to perform its contractual obligation. This remedy is available for the breach of contract
although this remedy can be sought even before the breach of contract has occurred. It may be
ordered instead of or in addition of the damages. The limitation of his remedy is that it is not
available when the damages can be adequate remedy. It is available where the subject matter of
contract is unique as well as the injured party is not able to obtain replacement or substitute item.
In the case of Cohen v. Roche, the claimant entered into contract to buy hepplewhite chairs in
order to sell it in its furniture shop. The defendant breached the contract and refused delivery of
the same. The court held that specific performance cannot be granted as damages can adequately
compensate the claimant as these chairs are ordinary articles which can be purchased elsewhere.
The general rule provides that the remedy of specific performance cannot be ordered if
there is constant supervision required by the court over a time period or if the obligations of the
contract are not defined clearly. This remedy is not available for the contract which is made for
personal service such as employment contract as this order may restrict the freedom of other
individual. Another limitation for which this remedy cannot be ordered is that if any of the party
is at hardship due to its specific performance. In the case of Patel v. Ali, Mr. and Mrs. Patel has
contract with Ali to sell their house but this was delayed due to bankruptcy of Mr. Patel. Then
when they agreed for sale, Mrs. Patel was diagnosed with bone cancer due to which she was
dependent upon her friends and neighbors. So court held that the specific performance cannot b
order in such circumstances as it would cause hardship on Mrs. Patel as she will be required to
move out. Goulding J ruled that this will constitute hardship which amounts to injustice of this
remedy are ordered (Bag, 2018).

There are different types of business organizations which are classified on the basis of
their scope which includes firstly the sole proprietorship which involves single owner and
personal liability of owner. Second is partnership which involves two or more persons who
mutually decide to open a firm. This is mainly of two types, first is general partnership wherein
the partners mutually decide their share of profit, loss, capital and decision making and partners
are held personally liable for the debts and liabilities of firm. Second is limited liability
partnership which has slight difference with general partnership that is it has limited liability of
partners unless the partners have agreed specifically for personal liability. Third is a company
which is a separate legal entity distinct from its members wherein it can be sued or may sue
anyone and is the artificial personality with its own common seal.
The main difference between the partnership and company lies on the basis of two factors
which is firstly the limited liability wherein in general partnership, the partners are held
personally liable for the debt of firm, that too unlimited while in a company, the members or
owners have limited liability to the extent of their capital contribution. Second factor for their
distinction is separate legal personality in which in general partnership, the partners are not
distinct from their firm, rather they are personally liable for the debt of firm but on contrary in
company, it is a separate legal personality as it can sue and be sued due to its artificial
personality (Betta, 2019).
The employment law is also a part of business law which is aimed to protect the rights of
employees from exploitation. It consists of various legislations which provide rights to the
employees such as right to not get unfairly dismissed. Dismissal is referred to as the act wherein
the employee’s employment contract is terminated by breach of contract. There are many types
of dismissal which includes firstly the fair dismissal which is done when the employer has fair
reason to dismiss and has followed the fair and reasonable procedure in dismissing the
employees. These reasons include redundancy, inadequate qualification and capability to
perform job, misconduct by employees, breach of statutory duty and other substantial reason.
The employer must serve the notice before terminating the employment contract. The statutory
notice period is 1 week, if employee has been employed for more than 1 month to 2 years of
employment and 1 week of notice for each year of employment but maximum up to 12 weeks.

Another type of dismissal is wrongful dismissal when the contractual term is breached
during the process of dismissal or during any process which have led to dismissal. For instance,
if the employer does not serve notice to employee. Third is unfair dismissal which includes the
situation in which employee is not being informed of the reason for dismissal. Fourth is
constructive dismissal wherein the conduct of employer has forced the worker to leave the job
(Aylott, 2018).
The ethical perspective for the dismissal of employee may be that the employer must
have fair reason to dismiss the worker such as any misconduct or gross misconduct committed
by the employee which have led employer to terminate its job. This is ethical dismissal.

CONCLUSION
It is summarized from the above essay that business law is a vast field which comprises
of many statutes that regulates the working of businesses. The English legal system consists of
three branches which are executive, judiciary and legislature. Each has their own separate roles
to play under the doctrine of separation of power. There are many remedies under the contract
law which includes damages, specific performance of contract, injunction, rescission and
repudiation. The specific performance of contract is equitable remedy which is ordered only on
discretion of judge. There are different business organizations and each is distinct from each
other. The general partnership and companies are distinct organization on the basis of their
limited liability d separate legal entity characteristics. Further it is concluded that the employee
can be dismissed by the employer when it has fair reason to do so. Other types of dismissal
include the wrongful, unfair and constructive dismissal.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aylott, E., 2018. Employment Law: A Practical Introduction. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bag, S., 2018. Economic Analysis of Contract Law: Incomplete Contracts and Asymmetric
Information. Springer.
Bassey, J.R., 2020. The Indigenous Knowledge of Law in Pre-colonial Akwa Ibom Area: A
Comparative Study of the Similarities and Differences Between the English and the African
Legal System. In Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Development in Africa (pp. 207-230).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Betta, M., 2019. Business, organization theory, and the current challenge of
neocharisma. Business and Society Review. 124(2). pp.261-281.
Burton, F. and Murphy, R., 2020. English Legal System. Routledge.
Clarkson, K.W. and Miller, R.L., 2020. Business law: Text and cases. Cengage Learning.