Business Law Report: English Legal System, Employment and ADR

This report provides a comprehensive overview of business law within the context of the English legal system. It begins by outlining the structure and sources of law, differentiating between civil and criminal law, and examining the roles of the judiciary, legislature, and executive branches. The report then delves into the application of statutory and common law, emphasizing the government's role in law-making. Section 2 analyzes the impact of law on various business conditions, including occupational health and safety, employee compensation, harassment, and equal opportunities, with specific attention to contract law in employment. Section 3 presents legal solutions for problems arising from employment disputes, such as wrongful termination and workplace accidents. The report also highlights the importance of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), recommending its use and comparing it with practices in other countries. The report concludes by summarizing key findings and referencing relevant sources.

Business Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Section 1...........................................................................................................................................1
P1. Structure and various sources of English Legal System. .....................................................1
P2. Role of the government in law making method and how statutory & common law is
applied.........................................................................................................................................3
Section 2...........................................................................................................................................4
P3 (a) Effect of the law on non identical conditions...................................................................4
P3 (b) Contract law in the employment......................................................................................4
Section 3...........................................................................................................................................5
P4. Legal Solution for the problems...........................................................................................5
P5. Justification of the solution given.........................................................................................7
Section 4...........................................................................................................................................7
P6 (a) Usefulness of Alternate Dispute Resolution system........................................................7
P6 (b) Recommendation for ADR and comparison with the other country................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business law includes all the laws that shows how to form and run a business. With the
help of this someone can know how to start, buy, manage and close or sell any type of business.
Business law makes the rules which has to be followed by every businesses. A person who owns
some kind of business will definitely be aware about the business laws and will know when to
take help of the licence attorney. This report will be highlighting the structure of English legal
system and from where they are made(Bagley, 2010). What all authority are responsible for the
formation of laws in UK. What is the role of in law making and the laws made by them affect the
health & safety, worker compensation, harassment and equal opportunities. By considering
various case laws different legal solution will be given on them.
Section 1
P1. Structure and various sources of English Legal System.
Every legal system has its own rules & regulation but the motives of all is to make sure
that a proper business governance can take place in the country. UK's legal structure is not quite
complicated and is categorised into civil and criminal law. The task of formation of these laws is
given to the judges and different bodies(Cheeseman, H. R. and Garvey, 2014). In these two,
criminal law deals with the crimes like killing and robbery. Harassment at the workplace and any
data attack on the company's security system are also part of the criminal law.
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Illustration 1: Structure of the English Court System, 2017

Civil law is used when any conflict comes in between the two person who are part of any kind of
business, contract and treaty. It is the Supreme court who is the superior body and act as the head
of the other courts which are under it. The argument made by the supreme court will be
considered as final. In the business setting if the two parties are facing some sort of confusion or
disputes they can appeal into the magistrate court which comes at the lowest rank in the legal
structure of UK(Crane and Matten, 2016). Decision made by this court can be challenged in
upper court i.e., Crown Court. Still someone wants to make the decision revive they can go to the
Supreme Court.
Sources of Law.
Constitution:- It gives explanation about the fundamental rights and duties of various
citizens so that their interest and rights can be protected. The Constitution of UK is not in the
written form and is considered as the main source of the law. There are various provisions which
are mentioned in it and these have to be obeyed by all the citizens of the UK. It is very important
to allocate the powers and other responsibilities to different government department and this task
can be done by considering the constitution of the country(DiMatteo, 2010). The interests of
women, children, whose who are not well from their physical ability and the old people are
protected through it. If the written fundamental rights are violated a victim has the option of
going to the court and ask for justice. It is the duty of the court to make decision in the favour of
the innocent person because he has been denied with the basic rights which are essential for
living.
Legislature:- There are some departments appointed by the governing regime and they
are given the role of taking care of all the rules and regulation made buy the government. There
are some laws which are different in various states of UK. Businesses have to follow these laws
because they have to depend on these for the proper functioning of the firm. Statues is term
which reflects the laws passed by the legislation(Foss and Knudsen, 2013). Statutory law is
framed through following a certain procedure.
Executives: This all revolves around the President of the country as without his signature
no law can be passed. His signature act as approval or permission to make the law. The reason
behind this is that he is the first citizen of the country. The Treaties which are part of this can
also be a source of law. A Treaty is basically a document which is framed through a mutual
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understanding of the two parties and in this the interest of both the parties are included. With this
they have perform certain operations because they are bind to the agreement.
Judiciary: This is a body which includes courts and judges. Role of these is to make sure
that law and order in the country is maintained. Judges sit in the courts which act as the temple of
justice and the person who make the decision is the judges. Common Law: With the help of this judges can make decisions by referring to the past
judgement made by judges.
 Case Law: The past cases are considered for the better decisions and in this process they
look at the issue and relate it to the previous cases.
P2. Role of the government in law making method and how statutory & common law is applied.
It is the government who act as the most crucial body in the system of law making. The
reason behind this is that they are accountable to the all citizens of the country for any issue. So
from the initial period top the implementation period they have to analyse all the factors which
are attached to that law which has to be passed. With the concept of law they can create better
environment where people who are part of that area can live in peace and harmony without any
problem. They look for the things which can negatively hampers different business prevailing in
the country(Grundfest, 2010). This all start with the preparation of a draft and this includes
different provisions and suggestions concerned to that particular situation for which this law has
to be passed. The responsibility of this is given to the legislation and the draft of the bill is then
send to the parliament of the country. A Royal Consent is given to the bill if whatever suggestion
mentioned in the draft is accepted by the statutory authority. After this process the bill is called
as the law and after it is converted into act. When the law is made now the real responsibility is
with the government to make sure that all the things given in the law are followed by every
individual.
The requirement of law is analysed through identifying the problems which is faced by
the people and with this they set some goals and objective,. This define what all things they have
to improve by the new law(Halbert and Ingulli, 2011). They take the views and opinions of the
people on the law which is implemented.
Through Statutory and Common law judges can take effective decisions. Statutory law is
in written form and common law are related to case law. They are used for certain specific cases.
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Section 2
P3 (a) Effect of the law on non identical conditions.
Occupational Health and Safety: All the owners of the businesses have a duty to
provide a better environment to their staff where no comprise is made to the health and safety of
the employee. This is better defined in Health and Safety Act, 1996. This is one step towards
making the business successful because when the staff will have the safety equipments they will
be carefree because they know that organisation are taking care of their health and
safety(Johnson, 2013). The newly hired employees are trained so that they know how to avoid
any accidents.
Employee Compensation: A company might be following all the good practices which
is taking care of the health and safety of the worker but there might arise some situations where
some kind of accidents may take place. So in this case the employers is liable to pay some
amount of money to their staff who has experienced any injury. This amount is called as the
compensation money.
An individual who is part of a construction firm met with an accident in which he
received lot of injuries and this happened when he was working at the site and suddenly his leg
got slipped. If there would have been safety tools he would not have experienced this accident.
So he files a claim against the company and asked for the compensation and later the decision
was made in favour of John.
Harassment: This is the unfair attitude whether physical and mental will be counted in
harassment. It is the duty of the manager of the firm to make sure that all their employees can
feel free to share their problems or issue to the management.
Equal Chances: Every employee who is working in the company desire to grow so for
that it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that all the working staff are getting
equal opportunities and they are not facing any discrimination or favouritism(Kinicki and
Kreitner, 2012).
P3 (b) Contract law in the employment.
Contract law defines the employment for a particular company with job position they are
offering. This has been a great help for the organisation because it is helping them in providing
environment which is free from any conflicts. It ensure that all the employers pay salary to their
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workers according to the contract. It also includes Employment Right Act, 2010 and Health &
Safety Act, 1996. Some of the rights of the workers briefed by this law are as follows:-
 All the employees who has faced some sort of injury at the workplace are eligible for
remuneration and allowances.
 They have full right to receive safe and healthy working conditions. The organisation
duty is to continuously review or inspect the working places.
 To better understand the working situation and the knowledge of the tools and various
other machinery they have right to get trained through training.
Contract Law: This is a law which states that a document called contract has to be signed by
both employers and employees. This brings a mutual relation between both of them because they
have agreed to each other on certain terms and conditions(Kitagawa, 2016). These terms and
conditions are related to the salary, working hours at the company, health and other benefits, job
description, holidays, insurance and etc.
The case which is given shows that how the 16 year girl has suffered dangerous injuries.
As the case states, she was working for a fast food retaining company and one day she was busy
in cooking fries in frying range but by mistake her hand slipped and her hand went into fryer oil
container. It was observed that she slipped because the ice making machine was facing the issue
of leaking. No one noticed it and this accident has happened and due to this there were lots of
burns on his body(Mann and Roberts, 2011). Finally she filed a complaint against the company
and asked for the compensation for the injury she has faced. In this case the manager who was
given the responsibility to check the prone areas for accident showed carelessness. The girl was
eligible for the compensation.
Section 3
P4. Legal Solution for the problems.
(1)
The first case is of Calvin in which he was fired from his job without any valid reason.
He has been employed in a fashion house from last 4 years. One day his employer named Donna
found that her 100 pound was missing when she came on Monday. Her all doubt went to Calvin
and without giving any reason she dismissed Calvin on the charges of stealing her 100 pounds.
The decision was totally baseless because he has the full right to get one month salary in advance
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and a notice according to unfair dismiss protection laws. He can give note of the following rights
which he posses.
Right to Receive Notice: If employers are willing to terminate any employee they should
give him or her all the information regarding his dismissal through a notice. They should tell him
why this decision is taken and on the basis of what charges this decision has been taken (Nichols,
2012). With this he will be aware that after 1 month he will not be part of the company so he will
look for the other options.
Advance Salary Provision: Employer who dismissed Calvin should give him one month
salary in advance. With this he will get help in managing all its expenses.
Claim: Calvin is entitled to file a claim against his employer Donna because whatever
decision made was not appropriate.
Evidence: If Donna things that whatever decision she has taken is correct so she can
justify it through several evidences which he wants to give in order to protect herself. She needs
to prove that her 100 pounds was stolen by Calvin only.
(2)
There are some of the valuable things in our life which we does not want to lose it. They
are basically the assets which we hold and use them in our day to day life. We can protect them
through insurance. It is basically an amount which is submitted normally every the month and it
is for the property which has been insured. But this amount can only be taken back if the ensured
thing has been lost or had some damages. The insurance amount can be taken through an
insurance claim and showing the evidences about the losses to the insured property(Posner,
2014). This is basically a contract between the two parties which are referred to as insurer and
insuree. The person who is eligible for the insurance amount will be called as insurer and the
body who is giving the claim will be referred to as insuree. In the insurance document there are
certain terms and conditions which is followed while claiming any insurance. This can be better
understood by referring the case scenario of Dan,
Dan was the owner of a small sized store and due to a accident his all shop got burnt. He
was very much disappointed form this but he knew that he will get insurance money as he had
made insured his shop. So in order to cover all the losses which he has experienced he decided to
file a insurance claim(Spalding, 2011). After a long discussion with the insuree party he
answered all the questions which was asked by agents. But after few time he realised that by
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mistake he has given wrong information and told them that he has taken insurance in more than
two years ago but the reality was that he has taken in 23 months ago. For such reason they
declined his request and said that he is not eligible for the insurance. But through referring the
insurance act it is no where written about the time limit for this(Weber, 2010). So is eligible for
the insurance money, he should get all the money which is mentioned in the contract.
P5. Justification of the solution given.
Employment act can be a great help in resolving various cases in small period of time.
There are two situation defined by the two terms at the work place. Wrongful dismissal is a
situation which arises when a staff is fired by breaking the conditions of the contract and in the
case of unfair dismissal employee is eliminated without giving them any notice in advance.
Through the notice the employee could know on what grounds he or she has been
eliminated. This can also act as last warning and can notify them that if they repeat this
behaviour or try to break the rules they will be eliminated(Robson, 2010). With the notice period
the company can make them aware that they should arrange their livelihood as they will be
termed after a specific period of time.
In the case of Calvin he has option to file a law suite against his employer Donna because
she has broke the contract terms and conditions and without any investigation he has taken that
decision. They can also solve this issue at their personal level.
In the Dan case they both can agree on a similar terms and conditions and make sure that
all the confusions are removed. They should give them all insurance amount because this can
hamper their image.
Section 4
P6 (a) Usefulness of Alternate Dispute Resolution system.
Cases which are pending in the courts from longer period of time can resolved through
Alternate Dispute Resolution System (ADR). Arbitration and conciliation are the two types of
ADR. Through Arbitration which is a legal body can solve issue outside the court. There will be
arbitrator acting as mediator will take some decision after analysing the view point of the both
parties. On the other hand in the case of Conciliation various conflicts are resolved after hearing
each party individually(Scholes, 2015). In this any one individual have to set back so that the
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problem can be solved. This is a best way to resolve long running cases in the court. The
decision does not take much time and interest of both the parties are considered.
P6 (b) Recommendation for ADR and comparison with the other country.
This is the best way to resolve the issues as it takes less time and both the parties get
some or other from the decision. In almost all the countries the legal system takes lots of time in
making any judgement but it is said that “justice delayed is justice denied”. So to resolve this
issue of late decisions the concept of ADR can be very much useful. All the small disputes and
conflicts can be resolved from this(Snyder and Deaux, 2012). But there are also lots of loopholes
in ADR. It becomes a tough task for the parties to find an arbitrator who has the knowledge on
the particular issue. All the decision against any one party can change their mind and might not
follow the guidelines. If legal system of UK and USA is analysed it was founded that both the
legal system has motives to provide justice and they both follows a hierarchy in the process of
law making. But the biggest difference is that UK' s legal system is quite easy and the decision
making process is quicker than of USA.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that businesses can also become successful
or can gain more profits for a longer period of time if they follows and obey all the business
laws. Small disputes can be resolved through ADR system because it saves money as well as
time of both the parties. There are lots of provision in the insurance act so while understanding
ever bit information has to be highlighted in order to avoid future conflict.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bagley, C. E., 2010. What's Law Got to Do With It?: Integrating Law and Strategy. American
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Cheeseman, H. R. and Garvey, J. R., 2014. Business law. Pearson.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
DiMatteo, L. A., 2010. Strategic contracting: contract law as a source of competitive advantage.
American Business Law Journal. 47(4). pp.727-794.
Foss, N. J. and Knudsen, C. eds., 2013. Towards a competence theory of the firm(Vol. 2).
Routledge.
Grundfest, J. A., 2010. The SEC's Proposed Proxy Access Rules: Politics, Economics, and the
Law. The Business Lawyer, pp.361-394.
Halbert, T. and Ingulli, E., 2011. Law and ethics in the business environment. Cengage Learning.
Johnson, L., 2013. Unsettledness Delaware Corporate Law: Business Judgment Rule, Corporate
Purpose. Del. J. Corp. L..38. p.405.
Kinicki, A. and Kreitner, R., 2012. Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills & best
practices. McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Kitagawa, Z., 2016. Administrative Regulations (Vol. 4). Doing Business in Japan.
Mann, R. A. and Roberts, B. S., 2011. Smith and Roberson’s business law. Cengage Learning.
Nichols, P. M., 2012. The business case for complying with bribery laws. American Business
Law Journal. 49(2). pp.325-368.
Posner, R. A., 2014. Economic analysis of law. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Robson, R. A., 2010. Crime and punishment: rehabilitating retribution as a justification for
organizational criminal liability. American Business Law Journal. 47(1). pp.109-144.
Scholes, M. S., 2015. Taxes and business strategy. Prentice Hall.
Snyder, M. and Deaux, K., 2012. Personality and social psychology. In The Oxford handbook of
personality and social psychology.
Spalding, A. B., 2011. The Irony of International Business Law: US Progressivism, China’s New
Laissez Faire, and Their Impact in the Developing World.
Weber, R. H., 2010. Internet of Things–New security and privacy challenges. Computer law &
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Online
English Legal System Lecture Notes. .2017. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.lawteacher.net/lecture-notes/english-legal-system/>. [Accessed
on 19th August 2017].
What Is Business Law? - Definition & Overview. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-business-law-definition-
overview.html>. [Accessed on 19th August 2017].
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