Business Law (BMP4002) Assessment 1: UK Legal System Report

This report, focusing on the UK legal system, begins with an introduction to the concept of law and its classifications, differentiating between civil and criminal law, and explaining the roles of the High Court and Supreme Court. The report then delves into the sources of law, particularly case law and legislation, including delegated legislation. The final section examines UK employment law, detailing statutory duties of employers and addressing wrongful and unfair dismissal actions. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the UK legal framework relevant to business operations and employment practices.

BMP4002Business Law
Assessment 1
Legal System for Business
Law
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Contents
Introduction 2
Part 1: Classifications of Law p-p
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
p
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system p-p
a) Civil Law p
b) Criminal Law p
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system p-p
a) High Court p
b) Supreme Court p
Part 2: Source of law p-p
Explanationof Case Law as a source of laws p
Explanation of the process of making Legislation p
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation p
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Lawp-p
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees p
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Conclusion p
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Introduction
Part 1: Classifications of Law
Law is an essential instrument for governing a nation. English law recognises three
different legal systems, particularly those for England and Wales, Scotland, and the
Netherlands. Each of them has a distinct legal system. There are both public and
private laws. The court system is yet another essential component of the English
legal system. The Apex Court was recently founded in October, but the High Court
is the third-largest court and the court of appeals(Abouras, 2021). The areas from
which the law is derived are known as its sources, and one of the ways the law is
generated in English is through case law. Delegations are where secondary law
originates. The rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers are
protected under English law.
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
Definition of law The best way to define law is up for debate. Since the
commencement of time, there has been a codified, ruling force that can be referred
to as law and that controls society. A body of rules established by the parliament and
enforced by the courts is known as the law. Every country needs a collection of rules
and regulations to establish and sustain the relationship between both the state and
its population. Therefore, law can be viewed as the institution that oversees a
country and lays regulations on it to regulate how its residents behave in society.
Laws are interpreted, carried out, and enforced by legal systems of a country. Legal
systems are the name given to various procedures in the UK. Instead of a president,
the UK has a monarch who leads the country in accordance with tradition.
Consequently, everyone shares it. It was incorporated that year by King Henry II
(1154 – 89)(Ambos, 2018). The system of common law in England and Wales is
composed of both statutes and rules set down through case law. Such laws are
passed by the executive branch of government, the House of Commons, and the
House of Lords. There is a very broad strategy due to the uniqueness of the legal
system in England, Wales, Scotland, and the Netherlands. England's and the
Netherlands' judicial systems are comparable, however Scotland's legal system is
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more flexible and combines both the common law and civil legal systems. It follows a
more autonomous structure. The Rome Dutch Law and this have similarities as well.
Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system
The two divisions of UK law are public law and private law. A subset of law called
public law is concerned with how people interact with the government. Private law
governs the relationship between a private entity and an individual. This is separated
further since civil law is a component of private law. And the difference between
criminal and civil law is that civil law deals with things like carelessness, contracts,
property law, etc. while criminal law relates to crimes done against society as a
whole.
a) Civil Law: Civil Law: Under English law, civil law encompasses a wide range of
subjects, such as contracts, employment laws, land laws, and negligence. It is an
essential part of private law. In England and Wales, civil law must be applied in more
than 200 places. Its financial authority spans the range of $25,000 to $50,000.
Significant jurisdictions are handled by the high court. He is called as the plaintiff and
is entitled to reimbursement and penalties if the individual initiating the claim
succeeds in defeating the defendant(Atrey, 2019).
b) Criminal Law: Criminal law is the branch of law that governs when someone
commits a crime. The state brings the majority of these lawsuits. The ones who feel
victimized are the prosecutions. Furthermore, since criminal penalties are harsher
than civil ones, guilt must be established beyond a possible suspicion. If neither of
those options is taken, the offender is considered innocent.
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system
a) High Court:
High court is divided into three parts-
 Queens bench
 Family division
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 The Chancery division
In English Common law, high court functions as a major part of the legal structure.
The decisions that are rendered by high courts construct a binding nature over the
subordinate courts. It is an appellate court. It is also known as the third highest court
of UK. Above it there is queens bench that could be approached if the parties are not
satisfied with the decision of high court(Kozhevnikov, 2022). It mainly deals with civil
cases but as it is an appellate court, lower court decided criminal cases file their
appeals in high court.
b) Supreme Court:
It is the apex court of appeal and decides cases in which the parties are not satisfied
by the decision of lower court that is high court or queens bench. Its decision is final
and binding upon the parties. The Constitutional Reforms Act 2005 provide authority
to supreme court to decide the cases. It has replaced the Lords of appeal. Northern
Ireland, England and Wales and Scotland are dealt by supreme court because it is a
distinct legal authority. The major concerns of this court are as follows-
 This is the highest court in order to file an appeal in civil as well as criminal
matters.
 It also holds power to make any changes in English common law and act as a
guardian to ensure the proper application of laws(Craig, 2019).
 It also holds the authority to regulate the secondary laws.
Part 2: Source of law
Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws
Every law is derived its origin from one or the other source. Such as, any statute,
treaty, legislation, customs, reform, etc. Particular law gets its validation from the
source from which it is established. The legal framework of different countries has
their own sources of law, similarly United Kingdom has four, they are-
 Legislation
 Common law
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 Human rights
 European Union
Precedents is that source of law which depends upon the earlier decided case laws
and observations of the judges on various subject matters. It could be used at times
when the court came across with the cases of same nature. The lower courts can
follow the judgments that are rendered by the superior courts and take them as a
reference in solving the particular case(Kosti, Levi-Faur and Mor, 2019). The details of
all such cases can be acquired from the law journals and reports such as All England
Report Reprint, etc. There are various websites that also provides access to the
previously decided cases, for example- Case digest, West law, Law cite, etc. also
holds detailed information of all the pre decided cases.
Explanation of the process of making Legislation
When the state officials develop the norms and regulations in a country in order to
maintain peace and security among the citizens is known as process of making
legislation. A bill is introduced in the parliament so as to make it a law that could be
enforced on the society. The stages are-
 First of all, any one member of the either house drafts a bill. Then, the
individuals who are in support of the bill are known as co sponsors of that bill
and the former is known as the sponsor.
 Now the bill is introduced in the other house where it is conferred for the first
time(Scott-Patel, 2019).
 After this step, in order to evaluate a bill, a committee is formulated so that it
can make the required amendments. As it could be possible that the bill has
some loopholes which could be marked up and corrected by the concerned
authority. Then it is forwarded for voting.
 At this stage, the other house vote for or against the bill according to their
stand.
 If the bill gets maximum number of positive voting, then it will be sent for the
assent of the higher authority that is British monarch.
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The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation
It is a process by which laws are implemented through the state officials or agents,
individuals, government official and not by the legislature. It assist in modifying the
existing rules and regulations instead of drafting a new law. If the authority is
delegating the power to make rules to the concerned person, then it can form a
secondary legislation. Delegated legislation basically helps in reducing the burden
from the legislature(Bengtsson, 2020). And if a particular situation demands that an
expert is required for making a particular rule, then this concept will serve the best
purpose. It also helps in removing the complexity among the laws and play a major
role in the circumstances where the emergency provisions are required immediately.
There are various examples of delegated legislation-
 Bye laws- the authority to make laws is transferred to any public or local body.
 Orders in council- in the period of colonial rule, through privilege orders and
declarations.
 Statutory instruments- the parliament is assisted by the British statutory
instrument committee in order to manage the laws in terms of accepting it or
nullifying it.
 Provisional order- a minister can perform certain rights and duties in
accordance with the authority given by the parliament.
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees
The Employment law of the country provides certain legislations that are required to
balance the relationship between an employer and the employees associated with
an organization. Both the parties possess some duties towards each other that are
obligatory on the part of the employer as well as the employees. For example- the
employer holds the duty to provide healthy working environment to the workers
without any toxicity so that they can perform well(Chiripanhura and Wolf, 2019). The
employees are required to maintain the secrecy of the organizations by not providing
information or details to the third party or the outsider. Parallel to this, it also provides
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some rights to the employees related to the illegal activities that are performed by
the employers in an organization. Such as, discrimination on the basis of sex, caste,
color, age, etc., unfair dismissal, providing maternity leaves to the female
employees, etc.
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
There is a thin line difference between the two concepts that is wrongful and unfair
dismissal. When the employer removes an employee from the job without giving
prior notice and appropriate reason of removal, then it will be termed as wrongful
dismissal. On the other hand, when the employee has been terminated from the
employment without stating any reasonable ground irrespective of the fact that
whether served a notice or not, it is termed as unfair dismissal(Bogg, 2022). An
employee can approach to the court of law and have the right to receive
compensation and his job back if the employer fails to provide fair reason for the
removal.
Conclusion
The conclusion drawn from the above report is that English legal system holds
flexibility and is systematic in nature. It discusses the classification of law by defining
laws and determining the Legal structure that is prevailing in United Kingdom. It also
explains the role of the courts in English common law which is further divided into
high court and supreme court. It also provides a brief understanding of the concept
Delegated legislation. Further, it talks about the process of drafting laws in the
parliament. It covers the statutory duties of the employers and employees along with
the distinction drawn between wrongful and unfair dismissal.
References
Abouras, R.L., 2021. Called to Counsel: Examining the Links Among Calling, Life Meaning,
Life Satisfaction, and Burnout Among Law Students. Journal of College and
Character, 22(3), pp.179-199.
Ambos, K., 2018. European criminal law. Cambridge University Press.
Atrey, S., 2019. Intersectional discrimination. Oxford University Press, USA.
Kozhevnikov, V.V., 2022. About Delegated Legislation. SIASAT, 7(2), pp.82-98.
Craig, P., 2019. Brexit and the UK Constitution. The Changing Constitution, 9, pp.95-120.
Kosti, N., Levi-Faur, D. and Mor, G., 2019. Legislation and regulation: three analytical
distinctions. The theory and practice of legislation, 7(3), pp.169-178.
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Scott-Patel, K., 2019. UK Employment Law-A Good Plan for Workers?. Int'l. In-House
Counsel J., 12, p.1.
Bengtsson, L., 2020. Addressing age stereotyping against older workers in employment: The
CJEU and UK approach. International Journal of Law and Management.
Chiripanhura, B. and Wolf, N., 2019. Long-term trends in UK employment: 1861 to
2018. Office for National Statistics, London.
Bogg, A., 2022. LABOUR CONSTITUTIONALISM: EFFECTIVE JUDICIAL
PROTECTION AS A CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE IN UK LABOUR
LAW. Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.
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