Business Law: Sources of Law, Government Role, and Contracts Impact

This report examines key aspects of business law, starting with an introduction to the subject and its significance in regulating business conduct. The first section delves into the diverse sources of law, including parliamentary sovereignty, the structure of the UK legal system, and the distinction between public and private law. It then explores the role of the government in law-making, detailing the process from the initial raising of an issue to the enactment of an act. The report further analyzes the impact of employment and contract law on businesses, providing insights into relevant regulations. The report also presents legal solutions and recommendations for business problems, including a case study of a business needing to understand employment law. The conclusion summarizes the main points, offering a comprehensive overview of business law's crucial role in business operations.

Business law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................1
Scenario – 1..................................................................................................................... 1
TASK 1.............................................................................................................................1
P1 Different sources of laws........................................................................................1
P2 Role of government in law making..........................................................................3
TASK 2.............................................................................................................................4
P3 Impact of employment and contract law on business.............................................4
SCENARIO - 2................................................................................................................. 5
TASK 3.............................................................................................................................5
P4 Appropriate legal solutions for business problems.................................................5
P5 Justification.............................................................................................................5
TASK 4.............................................................................................................................5
P6 Recommendations of legal solutions......................................................................5
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 6
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Law consists of different rules and regulations that are enforced by government
institutions of country in order to modulate behaviour of people. Law implemented within
business premises that governs people of organisation are referred to as business law.
It is also known as commercial law. Business law governs all commercial matters and is
also referred as a branch of civil law. It deals with both law, that is private and public
law. Commercial law generally regulates hiring practices, sales of consumer goods,
corporate contracts, etc (Bagley and Dauchy, 2011). This help in regulating ethical
behaviour and legal action within organisation that helps in avoiding illegal activities and
discrimination. Company follows different laws which are enacted and passed by
government of the country. This report will cover sources of law that organisation must
comply with. Different role of government while making law and how statutory and
common law is applied in courts will be covered in the assignment. It addition to that,
potential impact of contract laws in business and solutions and recommendations for
business problems.
Scenario – 1
TASK 1
P1 Different sources of laws
Parliamentary sovereignty
Government of United Kingdom keeps on introducing new laws that is regulated
via speech given by Queen at the State Opening of Parliament, generally in October or
November. With this, people of country come to know about laws and regulation
enacted by legal body. This is considered as Parliamentary sovereign as this is chief
principle of UK constitution. This give immense power and authority to legal body of UK
to create or end any law. This is most crucial part of constitution of UK.
Legal body of United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain is divided into four main countries: England
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but have three legal bodies and they have their
own court system and legal profession and they are : England and Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland. Government passes laws and policies that are for the welfare of

people of nation. Laws basically prevent unnecessary exploitation and discrimination of
any person and gives them different rights so that they can live an ethical life.
Parliament of UK is the most powerful and have all powers to create laws and
regulations (Bagley, 2010). Parliament is basically divided into two parts and they are
House of Commons and House of Lords.
House of Commons : People of Commons are elected by public of country and
consist of largest number of members in government. They have 650 members of
Parliament (MPs) and each of them represent different geographic constituency.
Members discuss about big political issues of recent day and proposals for new laws.
They are alone responsible for making decisions related to financial bills.
House of Lords : This is a second part of Parliament and consist of 800
members in which 600 are appointed by Queen which is recommended by Prime
Minister. They have an independent form and shape and make laws.
Different Assembly and Parliament of UK have the power to pass different laws
related to devolved matters, especially Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly
and National Assembly.
Law of United Kingdom
It is mainly divided into different laws, that is public and private laws, civil and
criminal laws. Private law mainly deals with relationship of people with each other and
their different legal rights and duties. They also govern many private arrangements,
where there is minimal interference of government. Public law is concerned with state
law and their enforcements (Cheeseman and Garvey, 2014). Civil laws includes
different areas such as employment, land laws, contracts, etc. Criminal laws focuses on
anti social acts. If any person is found to be guilty against any law, then the person will
be charged with suitable penalty.
Sources of laws
They are the main origin of laws which help state to govern its region. Main
principles of sources of UK law are mentioned below:
Statues : It is mainly developed by state and local legal bodies and consist of
official which are elected by public. It is a written enactment of legal body that governs a
city, state or a country. They have powers to make laws, command or prohibit

something. It is necessary for court to apply statue as they can differ from common law
or case law, if they are not applicable. Case law directly comes from decisions of court
whereas Common Law is applied by courts based on tradition and legal history of UK.
As Statues are enacted by legal bodies who have the power to make laws, they
have control over common law and case law where the tow conflicts. Exception, statue
can be thrown out if, under interpretation made by applicable case law, in that condition
statue is unconditional according to law.
Advantage: It can be easily accessed by general public. It is predictable and is
very long scrutiny process.
Disadvantage: It is not made by judges (the people who knows the law best). It
is very rigid and lacks flexibility.
Case law : These are the judgements which is given by judge or any higher
authorities. Legislature comes with different ideas and policies that help in reducing
discrimination and violence in the society. For example: any type of harassment case as
it is increasing day by day and now government are taking strict actions towards it.
Advantage: They provide a framework to make current decisions.
Disadvantage: Case law does not change with times. It take a lot to change a
case law.
Judicial decisions : This has come up with an important source of law. The
court is responsible to settle conflicts and disputes which are coming to them first.
Whatever the decision is given by the court, the parties are liable to follow those
decisions.
Advantage: They provide fairness and justice as similar cases will be treated
and decide in the same way as a past case. Judges in the higher courts are able to
develop and update the law to take account of changing social conditions.
Disadvantage: It is complex, uncertain and rigid.
European Commission Parliament
It is an independent executive which is made
by 28 elected commissioners which is
nominated from each of the member states.
It has 781 members from 28 member nations
and they are elected in every five years.
It mainly supervises the democratic scrutiny of
all EU institutions, electing the commission

They have the power to tables laws that are
adopted by Parliament and the Council.
President and approving the Commission as a
body.
Act: A bill is passed in both Houses that is House of Commons and House of Lords and
undergo several steps in order to become an act. It covers details of specific details related to
common issue and problems and contain penalties if anyone breach or violate the contract.
P2 Role of government in law making
Legal bodies are responsible for creating and developing different laws, policies,
bills and regulation for the country in order to prevent and prohibit discrimination and
exploitation. Government first identify serious matter and issue is raised within
Parliament. Then members of Parliament debate on that topic and put their opinions
and views in front of others. The head of the parliament take votes of each member and
proposal is then converted into bill (Crane and Matten, 2016). This bill contains every
detail related to the issue and is represented again in general assembly through
readings. For passing the bill, it is necessary for each member to be in the favour of bill.
Every detail is critically analysed by everyone and then necessary modifications are
done with suitable suggestions. After suggestions and voting, the bill is finally sent to
monarch or Queen of Parliament. If it is suitable and covers the issue, then with
permission, it is converted into an act or law which is now ready to be enforced. It
required great effort to create an act and is a very tough task. It should contain every
detail and necessary points related to issue. Formation of an act is a whole procedures
starting form raising issues till the enforcement of law. Following is the procedure
covered in detail:
First reading : This is the first step towards formation of law. In this stage, a new
issue is raised related to any serious problem in the society which required attention.
This issue is written down and is given the name of “Bill” and is represented inform of
members. The bill was read in order to brief about points which is covered by bill.
Second reading : The bill is again read in front of general assembly. Members
then debate with each other on the topic of bill and represent their views in from of
others. Different types of questions arises like “is the idea effective for society”, “does
the bill will cover the issue or not”, “what will be negative and positive effect of the bill”,

etc. It is necessary for members to vote in majority if they want to pass the bill. Majority
is important.
Committee Stage : In this stage, bill is reviewed critically. In order to take
suggestions of people from outside and inside government, committee members hold
different hearings and meetings. In these meeting, people give their suggestions and
opinions related to the issue of bill (Czinkota, Ronkainen and Moffett, 2011). They can
also involve government officials and experts to give their valuable suggestions and
feedback. If there is any modification in the bill, then committee can report to general
assembly.
Report stage : The committee send the bill back to general assembly and the
parliamentarians debate again on changes and modifications which are made in the bill.
Third reading : In this reading, the bill is again is read covering all necessary
points and changes related to bill in front of parliament. They debate again and give
their advices and opinions. In some cases, some members of parliament can change
their mind and may differ from his opinion at the last stage. This may occur, if they are
not satisfied with any change or alteration (Spalding, 2011). If the bill gets the majority,
then it is passed to next stage, where all stages are repeated once again.
Royal assent : The bill is forwarded to Governor General or the Queen after the
bill is passed from the senate and the House of Commons. This is done in order to take
royal assent. They go through the entire bill and is they find it suitable for people, then
they pass it which become law or act. Now this act can be enforced by the government
of nation.
TASK 2
P3 Impact of employment and contract law on business
This case study is about three girls who have opened their business by the name
of JPM which stands for Jane, Penny and Marie. They have successfully trading for
past few years and in order to achieve success in coming years they need to
concentrate on different employment laws and rights related to employees. This helps
them to prevent possible illegal practice and acts within company. There are certain

suggestions that can providing to an organisation which are related to various
employment laws that are described as follows:
Health and safety regulations – It is that act which was enacted by UK
parliament assembly in the 1974 year. The act was passed for avoiding various types of
discrimination regarding employees, managers contractors and so more. Along with
this, act assist in protecting the individual health while doing working within an
enterprise (DiMatteo, 2010). This act secured employees from any type of risks which
are associated with health or guard related to their working, using of harmful
substances, possession, managing certain emissions into atmosphere, etc. in such
case study, JPM need to executed within an enterprise so they should be aware about
their employees safety and security. They require to know their employees value and
this is required for firm is to fulfilling their medical and health related needs properly. In
an organisation, employees are manage and handle all major responsibility that are
associated with various business activities or functions.
Equal opportunities Regulations – It is that act which is also known as Equality
Act and it was established in 2010. it is that act which confront discrimination related to
employment and on the other hand, training and education provision are based on age,
gender, marriage, civil partnership, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual, etc. along with
this, it can be executed in an organisation associated with working process of JPM
which prohibit the partiality and illegality exercises (Snyder and Deaux, 2012). They
need to treat each and every person in equal manner and also listen all individual
issues in better manner. With the help of this act, employees feel safe and secure
regarding such type of biasses so it is common in such days of corporate world.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – This is that regulation that was
implemented by European Union. This act will assist in protecting consumer and
individual details in all over the EU country. It is very vital for protecting leaking data and
make this secured in each manner. Through this, they can mandatory set a standard
which assist in safeguarding procedural of personal detail of company employees. JPM
help in treat their employees at equal manner.

From the above data critical laws which need to implemented by JPM, in order to
avoid such type of discrimination and also provides them secured and safe working
environment or culture for their staff members.
SCENARIO - 2
TASK 3
P4 Appropriate legal solutions for business problems.
From the case study, there are different problems reported which requires legal
solutions to resolve those problems. As in the first case study, Champion Ltd., they took
loan at the time of relocation but failed to pay back their loans (Foss and Knudsen,
2013). They were encountering less customers and thus were not able to earn that
much revenue so they fail to pay their loans to the band and creditors. This was the first
problem.
In second case study, Mr. Anderson was working with Amber Ltd. and his
contract of employment specified 12 months of notice period to be given by either side
in order to terminate the contract. But Mr. Anderson got attracted with the offer made by
Beta Ltd. and he terminated his employment with Amber without serving the notice
period (Posner, 2014). Amber oppose on the resignation and he ceased his
employment with them. Now, Amber is seeking an injunction to prevent Mr. Anderson
form commencing employment with or providing services to Beta from breaching his
duties of good faith and trust. This was the second problem.
Termination of contract
By terminating his employment with Amber, Anderson has violated the contract
and now he is liable to face the consequences. But under some circumstances, a
contract can be violated without performing employment duties. It is considered as
Termination of Contract. Any person can terminate their contract of notice period if they
have right or valid reason for repudiation. Following are some rules for terminating the
contract:
Impossibility of performance : By fulfilling all terms and conditions of a
contract is referred top as “performance”. There are some situation in which the contract

cannot be performed (Grundfest, 2010). As in the case of Anderson, he denied to
complete his notice period as he got an offer from other company.
Breach of contract : In this, both Anderson and Amber is bounded by the
employment contract. Anderson has refused to perform his duties by taking a
resignation and now he is liable to pay necessary consequences to Amber Ltd. in order
to recover losses caused by the breach of contract.
Rescue from insolvency and liquidation
Sometime, company is not able to run its business due to lack of funds and have
to opt liquidation strategy. This strategy is used when business wounds up all its
business operations and sell its assets to creditors and loans. In first case study,
Champion Ltd was not able to attract customers towards their stadium and were
encountering funding problems. They were not able to pay loans taken by creditors and
banks. So creditors threatens them to wind up their company.
In order to rescue from this situation, Champion can negotiate with their creditors
and banks and can borrow some time for payments of loans. They can also take advice
from experts and they can suggest some options for rescue (Nichols, 2012). Experts
can advice on latest method of improving their cash flow.
Company can sell some of their assets to pay some of its loans in order to calm
their creditors. They can even outsource critical parts of the business and can gain
funds.
P5 Justification
It is clear from above scenario that Champion Ltd. Company was not able to pay
its loans on decided time and where threatened to dissolve their company. As they
shifted their site to other country and for that they took relocation loan and now they are
unable to attract customers towards their stadium and are facing losses. Due to this,
they are unable to pay their debts. They have been facing financial imbalance. From the
above solution, it is clear that, they can rescue from their problems if they want to pay
their loans. The best solution is that they can negotiate and convince their creditors and
lend some time in order to pay its loan. They can convince by telling them about their
conditions as they have moved on to different location. It become hard to establish

business in new area. Business executives should have the power to make their
creditors satisfied with their reason, otherwise, they have to wind up their business.
By fastening up their promotion and attracting customers towards them, they can
resolve their financial issues. Other solution is that, they can sell some of their assets in
order to pay some amount of loan. This will provide some satisfaction to creditors and
they can give company some time for payment.
In other case, Mr. Anderson has violated his employment contract and give direct
resignation to company because of offer made by another company and due to this
Amber Company have to suffer. There was a contract between company and Anderson
related to 12 months notice period. Breach from any side will have to face certain
consequences (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2012). As this is not a right act but any person can
terminate his or her employment if they get better chances at some other place. If
Anderson is leaving his post without surfing the notice period, then he is liable to face
consequences which will be decided by the company and he has to perform that if he
wants to work in Beta. With this, both will be satisfied on their parts and hence, the
problem is solved.
TASK 4
P6 Recommendations of legal solutions
Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) consist of variety of procedures which help
them to resolve disputes without a trial. These process are less formal and less stressful
as compared to traditional court proceedings. With this, parties can solve their issues
without taking it to the court. There are different types of ADR and they are Negotiation,
Meditation and Arbitration (Kitagawa, 2016). It helps parties by saving their cost and
time.
Nowadays, ADR is so popular that even the courts want parties to solve their
disputes outside before coming to litigation. In order to resolve problems within parties,
a neutral third party is appointed to whom the problem is communicated, discussed and
now they have the responsibility to resolve the conflict. With this, parties can easily
resolve their conflicts which can be related to civil, criminal, family ,labour and
commercial.

Features of types of ADR are mentioned below:
Negotiation : In this, parties undergo self counselling in order to achieve
outcome. It is basically a voluntary process which have set criteria and patterns. It is
parties wish to enter in the negotiation (Kubasek, Brennan and Browne, 2016). This can
resolve small and medium scale problems where the parties are intelligent enough to
resolve their problems. But in the case of big issues, negotiation become a bit difficult
task.
Arbitration : In this, third party is present to resolve the conflict between two
parties. Third party listens to the problems and give their suggestions. This third party is
known as arbitrator (Mann, and Roberts, 2011). Arbitration clause is now added to
employment contracts which help in reducing the burden from the court and people can
solve their problems outside of the court. It is mostly preferred at the time of conflicts
arising in organisation.
Meditation : In this, third party is known as mediator and they make attempt to
reach to mutual agreement. This process is easy and the mediator can easily resolve
issues by using proper communication process and negotiation methods. In this
mediator does not decide anything but help both parties to communicate with each
other so they can settle their dispute themselves (Miller, 2015). This process is
ineffective when one party is in power or have control over others.
Amber Ltd Company select negotiation process as this was an effective process
to negotiate with Mr. Anderson. Any senior party from the company and Mr. Anderson
are mature enough to settle down their problems themselves. They both can discuss on
employment contract and can come to some conclusion. As this issue is not big enough
and can be easily sorted out, both of them can come to one result which will be
beneficial for both.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that, law are indispensable part of
country which prevent all type of discrimination and exploitation of common people.
Government enact laws related to different issues and concerns of the society. These
laws are made for the welfare of society and people living in it. Some of the laws which
are related to business and organisation are implemented within company with the
same reason, that is to avoid discrimination. These provide different rights and
obligations to employees which can not be violated by anyone, not even the owners of
the company. There are legal bodies who enforce different acts and laws. These acts
have to pass through different stages and screening in order to become most suitable
law for people. Above assignment has covered sources of law and different laws that
should be implemented within company. This help in avoiding possible illegal acts and
breach of laws. If anyone tries to violate any law, the person will be liable to
consequences mentioned in the law.

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