Business Law: Analyzing Legal Systems, Business Impact & Solutions

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal system in the U.K. and its impact on businesses. It begins by explaining the basic nature of the legal system, including different sources of law such as precedents, acts of Parliament, and decisions of international and European courts. It elaborates on the role of the government in law-making, differentiating between statutory and common law. The report evaluates the effectiveness of the legal system, considering recent reforms and developments like the establishment of the Ministry of Justice and the implementation of digitalization. Furthermore, it illustrates the potential impact of company, employment, and contract law on businesses, along with the potential impacts of regulations, legislation, and standards. The report suggests appropriate legal solutions for various business problems, such as termination of contract, rescue from insolvency, and liquidation, providing justifications for their use and assessing their positive and negative impacts. It concludes by recommending legal solutions based on alternative legal advice and comparing their effectiveness, offering a critical review of their use.

Business Law
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Table of 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 judgements.
..................................................................................................................................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
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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
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................17
D2 Critically review and evaluate the use of appropriate legal solutions in
comparison with alternative legal advice..................................................................18
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................19
Reference........................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
The effective legal system is established with a view to regulate and control the
practices in the business environment of the United Kingdom. The effective legal
system requires effective laws which are derived from a number of sources in the U.K.
by chief authorities. This assignment includes various laws, the provision of which is to
be satisfied by the management of the company. Different case scenarios are provided
in the assignment, the solution to which is to be provided in accordance with the laws
operating in the United Kingdom. For solving issues between the parties, alternate
methods can also be adopted which are termed as Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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Section 1– Nature of legal systems and legislations impacting businesses
LO1 Explain the basic nature of the legal system
P1 Explain different sources of law and laws that organizations must comply with
Every year, in the U.K, a speech is delivered by the U.K.s queen from the throne of one
of the houses of the Parliament i.e. the House of Lords. This speech is delivered for
explaining the operating and functional activities of the chief authorities of the nation i.e.
the Parliament and the Government (Sparrow, 2015). Moreover, the plans and the
strategies of the authorities for the coming session are also exchanged with the
audience of this speech.
Parliament is Sovereignty: In the U.K., all the laws and the acts are passed or enacted
by the consent of the Parliament i.e. both its houses. These laws and acts are to be
followed by the all residents of the nation and the organisation which is operating its
business in under the legal system of the nation (Gordon, 2015). Any orders made or
laws formulated by the Parliament cannot be challenged in any court or tribunals.
Sources of law
It is essential that an effective legal system is established in order to regulate or control
the unlawful activities of the society of the nation. For establishing an effective legal
system, effective laws are to be made by the legal authorities covering every legal
aspect so that nothing is uncovered. With the view to this, authorities consider different
sources of law which are given below:
Precedents: It is one of the most frequently used sources for developing the law in this
legal system. These are the judgment or the decision given by the authorised legal
bodies i.e. the court in the past times. If any of the similar cases happens in current
time, then the courts can refer to such decision for providing the solution to the issues
(Rab, 2018). Now a day, these decisions are the part of the law reports which are
printed from time to time having recent cases with high influence on the legal system.
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Acts of Parliament: It is considered as the laws itself. Parliament being the chief
authority in this legal system is responsible for overseeing the draft being present before
it. If the draft deems fit then it is approved otherwise it is rejected. Once approved, it is
applicable on every resident of the country and not complying with the law will attract
consequences.
Decisions of international and European Courts are also as the sources of laws and are
considered by the authorities.
International Court is a body which is responsible for dealing with international issues
falling within the legal system of the different nation. The establishment of this court is
the result of an arrangement between various nations (Law Shelf, 2012).
European Court holds a significant place in this legal system and it is responsible for
dealing with the cases attracting European Union laws.
Different personnel are responsible for providing the services of law and working under
this legal system who are as follows:
Those professionals who provide the services of law by working with organisations,
firms, etc. and also prepare the legal documents are known as Solicitors.
Those professionals who are basically known as lawyers and present before the court
to represent their clients are known as Barristers (Hollins and Sinason, 2018).
Those professionals having expert knowledge about the law and are responsible for
making legal interpretation of the norms or laws and providing verdicts based on such
laws are known as Judges.
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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
For being an effective legal system, it is essential that its laws are effective as well. As
the process of deriving laws is a significant process, it includes certain stages. These
stages are as follows:
Bill of the acts is drafted by the Government based in the requirement of the laws. Then
such bill is submitted to the chief authority of the U.K. i.e. the Parliament (Clayton,
2015).
At first general reading, is done by the Parliament, of the draft which is termed as first
reading which is followed by second reading in which such bill is properly reviewed in
the House of Commons. If needed, the committee is constituted in this regards and the
changes are reported by the committee to the House.
After this final reading of the bill is conducted and is forwarded to the House of Lords.
The process of reviewing the bill is the same in House of Lords as it is in the House of
Commons. For making such draft an act, it is to be approved by both the Houses.
After Houses approves the draft, the assent of the Monarch is also required and same
must be notified in Official Gazette (Open Learn, 2018).
Applicability of the Common and Statutory Law
In the U.K., the court operates on the provisions of commons and statutes and the
decisions are made accordingly. Interpretation or clarification in the law is provided by
the common law and all the applicable laws are arranged in a systematic manner by the
statutes law. With the help of the common laws, Statutes laws are also updated from
time to time and both the complements each other.
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M1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system in terms of recent reforms and
developments
For maintaining the effectiveness of law and the legal system, it is necessary that the
changes or reforms are made in the legal framework. These reforms took place in the
last fifteen years, there were certain changes in the institutions and other bodies are
made. Certain institutions like Ministry of Justice was established which replaced the
Department of the Current Affairs, the establishment of the Supreme Court which
overtook the functions of House of Lords (Faúndez, 2016). Due to technological
upgradation, digitalisation has also been implemented in the legal system of the U.K. as
virtual courts are set up and the proceedings in such courts are done with the help of
internet. Legal practitioners also have the option to update the system with the
documents related to the respective case.
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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 upon business.
Health and Safety Regulations
Human Resources are considered the most significant resources of the company. All
the operating and functional activities are performed by the workforce of the company
and they are responsible for accomplishing the objectives or goals set by the
management of the company. At the same time, the management of the company is
also responsible for taking care of the human resources and about their health and
safety. Certain acts and rules are enacted in this regards in order to make sure that
adequate working environment is available for the workforce of the company along with
certain safety measures and precautions were taken at the place of employment (Boyle,
2015). Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 makes sure that certain steps are taken
by the management of the company which ensures the health and safety of the
workforce of the company. Not complying with the provisions of such act will draw
punishment under the law.
Equal Opportunities Regulations
In accordance with human rights provided under the law, equality will be provided to
each and every resident of the world. This gives rise to the equality at the place of work.
The enactment of the Equality Act, 2010 makes sure that no act of the discrimination
takes place at the workplace. Discrimination can be of a different type such as
discrimination of gender, belief, religion, color, caste, disability, etc (Donald, et. al.,
2012). No act of discrimination must take place at the employment and it is prohibited
under the law. There must be a proper arrangement made by the management of the
company or by the principal for the disabled employee.
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
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Data holds a significant place in the success and growth of the company and it is
necessary that the company’s data must be provided a safeguard. With the view to this,
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) is formulated which overtook the
functions of the U.K. Data Protection Act, 1998. This act provides the individuals the
right to exercise regulations over the collection, utilisation, and storage of data. It also
includes that the personal data of the workforce of the organisation must be properly
stored and must not be accessed without any reasonable cause (Gov.UK 2018).
Compliance with these regulations provides improved security for data and information,
improvement in the image and goodwill of the company.
These are some of the laws which are to be followed by JPM Publishing, once it is
converted into a Public Company.
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M2 Differentiate and analyze the potential impacts of regulations, legislation and
standards.
There are different norms which are categorised under the different names such as
regulations, legislation and the standards. Legislations are norms which are formulated
and developed by the Parliament of the nation. All the laws are made by the Parliament
and are discussed in both the houses of the Parliament (Focus, 2018). Regulations are
considered as the guide which includes that how all the norms of the laws will work and
will be enforced. Standards are the supporting rules which provide helps in the
implementation of the laws made. It provides details and proper clarity that what are the
benchmarks which are required to be achieved in order to meet with the requirement of
the law.
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