Business Law: Legal Systems, Business Impacts, and Solutions

This business law assignment provides an overview of the English legal system and its impact on businesses. Section one explains the sources of law, the role of government in law-making, and evaluates the effectiveness of the legal system, including recent reforms and developments. It covers le...Read More

Business law
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Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Section 1– Nature of legal systems and legislations impacting businesses.....................4
LO1 Explain the basic nature of the legal system.............................................................4
P1 Explain different sources of law and laws that organizations must comply with......4
P2 Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common law
is applied in the justice courts........................................................................................6
M1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system in terms of recent reforms and
developments.................................................................................................................7
LO2 Illustrate the potential impact of the law on a business.............................................8
P3 Using specific examples illustrate how company, employment and contract law
has a potential impact upon business............................................................................8
M2 Differentiate and analyze the potential impacts of regulations, legislation and
standards......................................................................................................................10
D1 Provide a coherent and critical evaluation of the legal system and law, with
evidence drawn from a range of different relevant examples to support judgments...11
Section 2- Legal solutions to business problems............................................................12
LO3 Suggest appropriate legal solutions to business problems.....................................12
P4 Suggest appropriate legal solutions for a range of business problems e.g.
termination of contract, rescue from insolvency and liquidation..................................12
P5 Provide justifications for the use of appropriate legal solutions.............................14
M3 Assess the positive and negative impacts of legal solutions to business problems.
.....................................................................................................................................15
LO4 Recommend appropriate legal solutions based upon alternative legal advice
provided...........................................................................................................................16
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P6 Recommend legal solutions based upon a different country’s legal system and/or
a different legal framework...........................................................................................16
M4 Compare and contrast the effectiveness of these recommendations...................18
D2 critically review and evaluate the use of appropriate legal solutions in comparison
with alternative legal advice.........................................................................................19
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................20
References.......................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
In this assignment of business law, the provisions and statues of corporations and
business law are considered. The report is divided into two sections, section one
describes the nature of English system and legislation which are regulated on business
organizations of the country. It also describes the sources of law from where the laws
arrived and role of Government in lawmaking. There are certain reforms and
developments takes place in the country for the effectiveness of companies. In section
two the laws of insolvency and Employment regulations are discussed as per the case
scenario and provisions are applied to employers and officers of the company. The
alternative dispute resolution process is also the good method to solve the dispute
between the parties.
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Section 1– Nature of legal systems and legislation impacting businesses
LO1 Explain the basic nature of the legal system
P1 Explain different sources of law and laws that organizations must comply with.
The sovereignty of Parliament is the supreme high authority of the United Kingdom. In
an older time, in country Parliament is not the subject matter of legal limitation and
courts of country have no power to declare the laws. In the words of Dicey, Parliament
has complete power and it has certain factors such as:
 Parliament has power to pass laws on any matter
 The laws of parliament can regulate the functions and operations of anywhere,
anyone.
 Laws developed by Parliament cannot be overruled by the courts.
 Parliament does not bind its successors in the manner and content with
subsequent legislation.
Sources of law:
English legal system is developed in four manners named as legislation, Human rights
law, European law and common law. The fifth method is custom but it is not discussed
since legislation and case law have incorporated custom It is considered that Parliament
has the power of lawmaking.
 Legislation: This is the primary sources of law that consists of the legal
regulation by competent authority. It has several purposes to authorize, to
regulate, to enable, to prescribe, to sanction, to restrict and to declare. The
legislation of parliament developed new laws known as Acts of Parliament that
repeals and amends old laws. The legislature also delegates the power of
lawmaking to other lower level bodies (Hart, And Green, 2012).
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 Case law: Judicial Precedent is depended on the doctrine of stare decisis and
related to jurisdictions on the common law. Precedents are the combined
principle of law originated from the decisions laid down in earlier. Judgments and
decision passed by the judges are important and considered as the source of
law.
 Customs: A general custom is not made in written form but when a practice is
shown and it exists for a long time period then it becomes the source of law.
 International court: It is also called as world court and it is the principal organ of
the United Nations. The court settles the matter between states and members
and provides advice to authorized organs and agencies. It alsoconsistsof 15
panels of judges who are appointed by the Security Council and General
assembly for a period of nine years (Anderson, 2016)
 European court: It is the supreme court of European Union for the matter
related to European Union law. As a portion of the Justice court of the European
Union, it is related with interpretation of European law and ensure equal
application of laws in all states of Europe.
Role of Barristers; Solicitors; Judges:
Barristers: The person who speaks in court and gives the case to Jury and Judge. In
some legal system, he receives more training in ethics, evidence law, and procedure
and court practice. They are selected by the Solicitors to present the case in front of the
court.
Solicitors: The person gives assistance and advice on commercial and legal matters to
clients. The working of solicitors is different on the basis of law and its related area.
They have direct contact with Barristers and clients also (Hoffman, et. al., 2014).
Judges: Judges plays several roles, they assess the provided evidence, interpret the
statutes, and control on trials and hearings in courtrooms. They are impartial on making
the decision in the pursuance of justice.
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P2 Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common
law is applied in the justice courts
Government plays an important role in making the laws. Before framing the law, certain
stages and procedure of law making are followed in Parliament. The approval of House
of Lords is required to develop the laws. All laws of the country commence with the bill,
which is given by an interested person in green paper. There are several types of bills
such as private members bills, Public bills and private bills. The white paper is the
further step to make the law which includes various reform plans.
First reading: The bill is read in house of common at the beginning
Second reading: The debate is made over on proposal of bill.
Committee stage: The full scrutiny of the bill is takes place by a number of experts of
the House of Commons.
Report stage: The debate is made over on amendments present by members.
Third reading: The bill is re-proposed where members vote and debate on allow or
ignore the legislation to remains in real form. After the decision passed on legislation
then bill goes to the House of Lords.
Royal assent: It is the last stage where the bill becomes and Law or statue. The
consent of Queen is required to create the law.
Common law: It is frequent reforming structure, and its principles are made under court
judges. The judgments are passed by judges as per the similar actions taken on earlier
cases. The case laws are common in nature and structure in all jurisdictions such as
Wales and England. In criminal cases, the criminal division court and House of Lords
decide the matter as per the intensity of crime (Anderson, 2016)
Statutory law: The laws are made in written format and mentioned in various regulatory
bodies. The structure of law varies from common and administrative law according to
the decision of the court. Private and public Acts of different parts of the country are
involved in the law framework. This is applied in justice courts as the primary structure
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of system and it’s also applied to regulating the society and community for future cases
(Partington, 2016).
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M1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system in terms of recent reforms and
developments
There are several changes are developed in the English legal system of the country in
coalition administration provided by David Cameron. For example, development of
Supreme Court by the replacement of House of Lords, development of Tribunal service
with the merger of Court service and creation of Judicial Appointments commission etc.
The other reforms are developed for the effectiveness of a business organization is
information technology, Equality Act, Environment Protection etc. the nature of society
is very dynamic and there is need of new laws and certain amendments in the country.
The aim behind Equality Act is to treat all employees and labor in the business
organization must be treated equally with due respect. The employees are protected
from discrimination, victimization, and harassment spread in the organization. The
environment protection laws regulate that no any business organization spread
hazardous substances beyond the limit prescribed in regulation (Partington, 2016).
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LO2 Illustrate the potential impact of the law on a business
P3 Using specific examples illustrate how company, employment,and contract
law has a potential impact on business
Responsibilities and duties of the Directors as per Companies Act 2006:
o Directors act in accordance with the powers laid down by the authority and Act.
o Director has a duty to promote the success and development of company
o Directors of the company provide independent judgment to the make the
decisions
o To act in accordance with reasonable care, diligence, and skill.
o Directors must avoid the situation where conflicts are raised.
o Directors are not responsible to accept the profits from third parties
Health and Safety Regulations: The provisions of Health and Safety at Work Act
1974, provides that in every business organization employer of the company is
responsible to provide better facilities to employees related to their health, welfare, and
safety of employees at workplace. Employees play an important role and coordinate
with employer to protect own and others in operations of the organization. If any
accident takes place at employment during the work then employer is responsible for it.
In the given case, JPM Publishing is responsible to protect the health and safety of
employees when duties are increased due to shift of public limited company. Employees
are assets of the company so their better protection is an important concern (Davies, et.
al., 2016).
Equal opportunity regulations: As per the Equality Act 2010 provides that
discrimination is prohibited that is conducted in employment, training level, education
system, in terms of the gender, age, disability, civil partnership, marriage, maternity
leave, race, rituals etc. All employees, staff members, students at every level of the
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organizations are must be treated in an equal manner without any discrimination. The
employer is liable guilty when there is any harassment, victimizations, direct and indirect
discrimination, and much other wrongful acts. In the given case, with the expansion of
business structure the number of employees is also increased then it is necessary to
treat all employees equally at employment workplace (Gowland, 2013).
General and data regulations: It is the regulation developed by European law on the
data protection and security for all people within the European Economic area and
European Union The objective of this regulation is to protect the data and information
of residents of a country and at their national and international level. As per the
European Commission, the personal and professional information are protected. In this
case, as the company is growing large with public limited company so information is
must protect in a confidential manner. The information of employees, directors and all
other level staff members are protected from any unauthorized access and fraudulent
access (Translegal, 2017).
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M2 Differentiate and analyze the potential impacts of regulations, legislation, and
standards
The above-mentionedlegislation of the Equality Act 2010, Health and safety at work
act 1974 and General Data Protection Regulations provides various rules for the
business organization and its better functioning. The potential impact of following such
standards and regulations of such provision is very effective for future growth and
development. The relationship between employers and employees become more strong
due to equal treatment is given to them with due respect. The employers provide better
facilities for the health, safety, and welfare of employees during the time of employment
level. With the development of data protection regulations, the personal and
professional information of the all directors, employees, staff members is kept secure
from any unauthorized access (Summers, 2013).
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D1 Provide a coherent and critical evaluation of the legal system and law, with
evidence drawn from a range of different relevant examples to support judgments
The legal system of the country is very complicated and sometimes very flexible for the
corporations and business organizations. The statues and law are based on the
Parliament legislation made by the Government, the judiciary, and the crown. The
Supreme Court is final and that is to be compiled by all the other lower court of the
country. The case laws, landmarks cases, precedent cases play an important role in
pronouncing the final judgments of the judges. There are several benefits and
drawbacks to such laws is it provides a high restriction on companies. The poor rulings
and same issues repetition are faced by the judges on new cases when fewer chances
to solve the matter (Rasch And Tsebelis, 2013).
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Section 2- Legal solutions to business problems
LO3 Suggest appropriate legal solutions to business problems.
P4 Suggest appropriate legal solutions for a range of business problems e.g.
termination of contract, rescue from insolvency and liquidation
Case 1
Champion ltdis running its business in London and had been paid to transfer its place
of business to North London to construct the new stadium for a club of premierleague.
The company is not able to make the liabilities and payment to creditors and other
financial institutions and banks.
As per the Insolvency Act 1986, company who owes more than £750 and not capable
to make the payment, then creditor has right to produce a demand notice to company to
receive the payment on time. After serving the notice company entered into the
particular agreement for doing the payment. There are two kinds of winding up process
such as:
 Compulsory winding up In this winding up the order of court is required and
there are certain situations where it is followed.
 Voluntary winding up It is of two types, in member’s voluntary winding up
process the director of the company declares in the meeting that company is
going out for liquidation. The other one is creditors voluntary winding up where
the company is insolvent and creditors gave right to protect their interest (Rasch
And Tsebelis, 2013).
It is analyzed that company can enter into the agreement and made the payment to
liabilities and debts after the notice has been served to company. The compulsory
winding up and creditor’s voluntary winding up can be adopted by the company. The
other option is alternative dispute resolution process to solve the issue (Johns, 2017).
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Case 2
Mr. Anderson was the CFO of Amber ltd and he signed the employment contract. As
per the contract 12 months, prior notice must be serviced to the company before leaving
the company. He joined the Beta ltd be not producing the notice
As per the provision of Employment Rights Act 1996, states that it is mandatory to
serve the notice before the termination of company as per employment contract. When
a person is hired for more than a period of 1 month and less than 2 years, then notice
must be served before a week. When a person is hired for 2 years and more but less
than a period of 12 years then a notice is served for more than a week. When a person
is appointed for more than 12 years in the organization then he must serve the notice of
12 weeks. When there is an issue related to the period of time then employment
contract is followed (Wessing, 2016).
As per the above provisions, it is analyzed that CFO of the Amber ltd is liable to produce
the notice of 12 months as per the employment contract. In this case, Mr. Anderson not
comply with the terms and conditions of employment contract then the company is liable
to file a suit against him due to loss incurred by accessing the confidential information.
Parties can also follow the method of alternative dispute resolution process to solve the
matter (Besson and d'Aspremont, 2017).
Conclusion: It is concluded that employees must follow the employment contract and in
case when an employee is not followed the company is liable to file a suit against such
employee (Labournet, 2015).
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P5 Provide justifications for the use of appropriate legal solutions
Case 1
It is analyzed from the provisions of Insolvency Act 1986 and Companies Act 2006
that Champion ltd have to enter into the creditor's voluntary agreement process with
outside creditors to make the payment of debts and liabilities. After the notice has been
served and enters into this agreement the money and time of the company will be saved
instead of entering into the court proceedings which are a very long process. It is also
considered further on the basis of Companies Act 2006 that directors are responsible to
follow the duties with due diligence, skill, and care for the growth and success of the
organization. The liquidation process is very effective to solve the matter but voluntary
liquidation is the best one to solve the case where no role of court is required. The
directors and managers have their own control of activities and functions of the
organization (Johns, 2017).
Case 2
It is analyzed from the above provision that Amber ltd has right to file a claim against
Mr. Anderson to terminate the company without serving the notice of fewer than 12
months. The company can sue for an injunction on Mr. Anderson because the losses
were suffered by the Amber ltd to access of confidential information. In the case of
Nationwide Airlines ltd V Roe dinger, he is the employee of company and given a
notice of one month for the termination from company and there is a need of 3-month
notice on the basis of employment contract (Wessing, 2016).
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M3 Assess the positive and negative impacts of legal solutions to business
problems.
Case 1
Positive impact: With the creditor's voluntary agreement it is very helpful to save the
time and fund of company. The advice and opinion of managers are also adopted by the
liquidator. It also conducts the complete scrutiny of records and accounts of the
business.
Negative impact: It is very large investigative method when there is any deception
finds out, and then directors are responsible for a penalty. The fess of the liquidator is
also high as per the transactions and structure of the company (Hassan, 2016).
Case 2
Positive impact: The decision of Amber ltd is good it will make an impact on future
decisions making in the terms of employment contract. Company cam claim for loss and
damages suffered due to the conduct of employees and directors.
Negative impact: Companies have to give the validity of 12 month notice period that is
not good for employee. The legal consequences will arise on company when the validity
is not proved incomplete manner (Labournet, 2015).
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LO4 Recommend appropriate legal solutions based upon alternative legal advice
provided.
P6 Recommend legal solutions based upon a different country’s legal system
and/or a different legal framework.
Amber ltd wants to start the legal action against the Mr. Anderson the CFO of the
company due to terminate the company without serving the notice of 12 period of a
month. Company can also solve the dispute with the manner of Alternative Dispute
Resolution process instead of entering into the court proceeding.
Alternative dispute resolution is the method that solves the issues between one or
more parties by adopting the arbitration, mediation, negotiation, and conciliation. The
parties to the contract appoint an expert or a third party to solve the issue by
considering their views and opinions. The method is less expensive than the court
proceedings and takes less time. It is basically used in personal injury, labor disputes,
divorce claims
Mediation: The mediator is appointed who help the parties in solving the business
disputes with mutual cooperation and assistance. Parties have control to reach an
outcome of the proceedings. The decision provided by the mediator is basically
nonbinding and grows the more negotiations
Arbitration: In this process arbitrator is appointed and both the parties present their
evidence and arguments to him. It is binding or not, the nonbinding agreements where
parties have right to go court for further action and in case of binding agreement parties
don’t have right (Perrin, 2014).
Early neutral resolution: In this method, an Evaluator is appointed as credible and
impartial third party to overlook the matters of procedure. Evaluator provides the final
judgment after hearing the arguments and evidence of parties. He provides the
nonbinding opinion on weaknesses and strengths to each party opinion.
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Advantages of ADR:
 It saves too much time by allowing resolution in months and weeks as compared
to the court proceedings.
 It saves money involves fees of experts and lawyers.
 ADR gives the right of opportunity to present their arguments, evidence views to
the third party to reach a final decision.
 It preserves the relationships instead of winning and losing the disputed matter.
 It maintains the information confidential between the concerned parties of the
arguments (Paterson, 2015).
It is analyzed from all methods of the Alternative dispute resolution process that parties
can adopt any of the methods. As per the situation and circumstances of the case, it is
recommended that arbitration is the best method because it takes less time and money
as compared to the court proceedings. Mr. Anderson and Amber ltd follow this method
because they don’t have much time and money to waste on litigation process.
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M4 Compare and contrast the effectiveness of these recommendations
As per both the options available, the first one is court proceedings and another one is
alternative dispute resolution process. Amber ltd and Mr. Anderson can follow any of the
methods to solve the issue as per their circumstances and convenience. According to
the given case, company has to start the proceedings for breach the contract of
employment. In litigation, final decision is made by the judicial authorities by considering
the each and every aspect of matter. The decision pronounced by court is final and
binding on all (Resolution Institute,2018).
The arbitration of alternative dispute resolution process is an effective method to solve
the issues in an easy manner with fewer expenses and fees and saves a lot of time.
The decision given by the arbitrator is final and binding on parties but in case Parties
who do not satisfy the decision of an arbitrator can for through the court proceedings for
further decision. The information of the parties is kept confidential and remains secret in
the arbitration and this option is not available in litigation process. The parties who want
to carry the business in future and to maintain the relations with each other such
methods are very beneficial (Call, et. al., 2016).
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D2 critically review and evaluate the use of appropriate legal solutions in
comparison with alternative legal advice
Case 1
Champion limited has not made the payment of liabilities to the creditors so company
received a threatened of liquidation. Champion ltd consider the method of voluntary
winding up by avoiding the process of court proceedings and settle down the matter
voluntarily. When company and creditors did not want to enter into such agreement then
alternative dispute resolution is the best option to solve the matter in an easy manner
with fewer expenses and minimum wasting of time (Paterson, 2015).
Case 2
Mr. Anderson breach the contract of employment by giving the termination to Amber ltd.
Company can file the suit against Mr. Anderson to breach the terms and conditions of
contract in the court. They both cam also adopt the method of alternative dispute
resolution process to maintain the relationship and solves the matter without the help of
court. Arbitration is the best method for the parties to solve the issue as early as
possible (Law Shelf, 2018).
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Conclusion
It is concluded from the whole report of business law that there are various sources of
law in the English legal system in which Precedents and common law plays an
important role. The Supreme Court is the highest authority and its decision is binding on
all other lower courts of the country. The equality act, health and safety Act, general
data protection regulations are applied by all business organizations in its functions and
operations. The employers of the company are liable to protect the safety and welfare of
employees at employment level during the work. The recent reforms and developments
play an important role in the growth and development of business organization for future
reference. The other method is also considered by the business organizations is
Alternative dispute resolution process which is very fast and easy method to solve the
issue. Arbitration is the best method of the ADR in which award is given by the arbitrator
with the support and cooperation of parties.
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References
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 Paterson, S., 2015. Rethinking corporate bankruptcy theory in the twenty-first
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