Business Law Report: UK Legal System, Employment Law, and Legislation

This report provides a comprehensive overview of UK business law, commencing with an introduction to the subject and its relevance. The main body delves into the classification of law within the UK, differentiating between civil and criminal law, and detailing the roles of the High Court and Supreme Court. It then explores the sources of law, with a particular focus on case law and the process of legislation. Furthermore, the report examines the UK's law-making process, specifically in the context of employment law, outlining the statutory duties of employers and addressing wrongful dismissal and unfair dismissal actions. The report concludes with a summary of the key concepts discussed and a list of references.

Business Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Classification of law....................................................................................................................3
Part 2: Source of law........................................................................................................................5
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law........................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business law refers to body of law i.e. corporate and commercial law which includes
relations, rights, policies, rules and regulations that are imposed by government to protect the
rights of individuals and effective operation of business. The project outlines the legislation of
UK which will include definition and classification of legal system in UK. It will also highlight
roles and responsibilities of courts i.e. high court and supreme court and discussion about civil
and criminal laws. The other part of project will include definition of delegation legislation,
different sources of law and process of legislation. At the last part of project there will be
discussion about statutory duties of employer and wrongful dismissal of employees.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Classification of law
Definition of law and identification of respective legal systems in UK
Law can be characterized as system of rules and regulations that are obligated in a
country for controlling behaviour of people and to protect rights of every person living in
country (Partington, 2021). This is used to acknowledge actions and are enforced by imposition
of penalties. The law are made by authorities and to be followed by people residing in particular
country. The laws and regulations in UK are made by Parliament which are imposed by
government. There are three legal systems in UK: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland.
Types of classification in English legal system
Civil law
Civil laws are rights and property of individuals which helps in settlement of disputes
between individuals and organizations. The civil law doesn't have any imprisonment attached
with it but individual who is found guilty is liable to compensate for the losses which have been
incurred or penalties and fines. Cases related to family disputes, personal injuries, breach of
contract, etc. are the examples of civil law cases. Civil law includes matters that are related to
offence against the society and it is of the essence to maintain legal obligation and

responsibilities towards society (Cupido, 2019). Civil laws are fundamental country laws which
includes private conflicts and disputes of citizens and resolving the problems. The cases of civil
laws often hinge in establishing a reasoning whether guilty person had duty of care towards the
claimant or not.
Criminal law
The cases, offences or breaches that can negatively impact the society rather than an
individual are criminal laws. It is essential body of law that is related with crimes. The cases that
are included in criminal laws are sexual attempt, murder, fraud, money laundering, drug dealing,
etc. The eventual aim of criminal law is to maintain firmness in society and country. There is
imprisonment as well as penalties and fines if a person is found culprit under criminal law
(Mandal, 2020). There are three types of criminal offences in UK: summary offence, either way
offence and indictable only offence. Summary offences includes most impulsive offences and
common assault and are lower severity offences.
Role of courts in English legal system
High court
The cases related to civil and appeals for decision made by lower courts are heard by high
court. It is the third highest court in UK where cases are generally heard by single judge but in
special cases such as cases related to judicial review and criminal cases are being dealt by
divisional court which includes two or more judges. The high court is enchained with the
judgements made by all the higher level courts i.e. court of justice of European Union, court of
appeal and Supreme court. High court is made up of three divisions which are discussed below:
Queen's bench division
The cases such as contract, tort and specialized matters are dealt in QBD. The specialized
matter cases consists of criminal cases, application for judicial reviews, employment appeal
tribunal, etc. QBD is made of various courts: technology and construction court, commercial
court, administration court, mercantile court and admiralty court. The construction related,
engineering and technology disputes are dealt in technology and construction court whereas
complex cases in relation to national and international disputes are resolved in commercial court.
Civil and criminal jurisdiction are deal in Administration and planning court and commercial

disputes and conflicts are heard in mercantile court (High court, 2022). The cases which are read
and resolved in admiralty court are associated with shipping and maritime disputes.
Chancery division
Chancery division consists of variety of civil work which includes of specialist work
which are companies, patents and argumentative probate. Chancery division is made of three
courts which are patent court, bankruptcy and company court and intellectual property enterprise
court. Patent court resolves disputes which are associated with registration of design and plant
variety cases. Bankruptcy of individual and companies are dealt in bankruptcy and company
court on the other hand intellectual property enterprise court deals with property related disputes.
Family court
The family court hear and resolve cases which are in relation to children, probate,
medical treatment and divorce cases.
Supreme court
The highest court which is final court of appeal is supreme court who plays a vital role in
development and maintenance of laws in UK. The cases which are heard in supreme court are
appeal for the decisions made by lower courts. Therefore, the cases which are not being heard in
any court can't be entertained in supreme court. All the cases related to civil and criminal laws
from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being heard in this court (Sorabji, 2019). Cases
that are being argued and resolved in supreme court are very essential for public and constitution.
The essential role and responsibility of supreme court is to maintain and develop a community
with laws and regulations which can ensure peace in country.
Part 2: Source of law
Case law as source of law
Case law is based in judicial decision making rather than regulation, constitution or statue and it
deals with specific disputes resolved by the court using facts of the case. Case law is not
changeable with common law has and it basically refer to collection of judicial decision
regarding any particular topic. Although it differs from one jurisdiction to another for instance
case law of California cannot be applied in New York. In England case law is consider as one of
the most prevalent source of law (Mavroidis, 2022). The judicial decision can involve questions

of interpretation on legislation and constitution as well as it can be more direct law making.
Thus, it is also one kind of source of law which helps in making the decision very quickly. It also
fills the gaps of legislation as in legal research it can be used if any particular legislation
regarding the research is not found as it promotes sense of stability.
Explanation of the process of making Legislation
Stages of law making in English legal system include following steps:
Bill: It is drafted by civil lawyers and it explains the details and purpose of law. There
are three types of bills such as public, private and private member bill.
First reading: In this reading title of the bill and details is read in the house of commons.
Second reading: The detail of the bill is debated and amended at this stage as well as MPs
vote regarding bill should be passed or not.
Committee stage: In this stage bill is further promoted to the house of commons committee for
detailed examination and changes is made at this stage (Mercescu, 2022).
Report stage: In this stage committee reports the debate and send back to the house as well as
bill is further debated and voted in the house.
Third reading: Bill is represented to the house and short debate may be done after that voting is
done in order to accept and reject the bill.
Royal Ascent: This is the final stage of the process in which head of the parliament approve the
bill and then it becomes an Act of Parliament. Although there are now formalities under Royal
Ascent Act 1961.
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation
It means giving authority or power to perform special duty or particular task. Legislation is set of
laws which govern the society and the law made by other bodies with the authority of parliament
is known a delegated legislation. Moreover, there are three delegated legislations which include
laws made by government minster and bye laws (Szostek, 2020). However, central government
should improve and approve them as well as order in council is made by the government during
the time of emergency. It is one of the faster way of making laws and parliament do not debate or

amend before they are passed as parliament itself do not have the required knowledge on
specific areas or issues.
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees
According to employment law there are some responsibilities towards their employers, even if
they work part time or there is no contractual relationship with their employers. Some of the
main responsibility of employees are:
 To completed the work on time and to follow the rules of the organization.
 To complete the work carefully and appropriately otherwise some strict action will be
taken towards them.
 To avoid doing work which can cause other danger.
 To follow their employer’s instruction.
Employers responsibility towards employees:
 Employers need to give their employees a place of work and make sure they have access
to tools and other things the need to do their work.
 Employer pay their employees right salary and benefits it agreed like paid holidays,
vacation and other types of holidays.
 Employers must make sure that working conditions protect their employees form
psychological safety and health.
 Some of the company’s employers give their workers written notice regarding their end
of agreement or they are being laid off. However, employers can also pay employees
sum of money instead of giving the notice.
 Employers should treat their workers with respect and it must make sure that there is no
discrimination or harassment (Dhar, 2022).
 Employers must take steps when they have reasonable reason regarding employees
exposed to domestic, sexual violence in the workplace they must do this whether the
workers are working in the office.
 Employers duty is to make the workplace safe and to prevent risks to health as well as set
up emergency plans (Keyes, 2022).

 Another duty is to make sure that temperature, toilet, washing as well as meeting health
and safety welfare requirements.
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Wrongful dismissal is that which breach of an employee agreement and some of the actions
involved wrongful dismissal claims.
 Breach of a notice term express or implied.
 Termination of fixed term or particular task contract before it has expired.
 Breach of contractual disciplinary.
A wrongful dismissal occurs when an employee is dismissed or terminated by their superior and
without giving reasonable notice. Although notice during termination may provide as working
notice and severance pay in the form of salary in one lump sum (Yalçıntaş, 2022).
There are different types of wrongful dismissal claim when an employer terminates employment
without cause refuses to pay adequate compensation. Along with this, where an employer
inappropriately terminates workers or fails to pay any compensation.
Unfair dismissal
According to UK law has define unfair dismissal is nothing but when the employer has been
terminated on unfair grounds on the basis of without any reason (Ioannou and Dukes, 2021).
Thus, in general terms it can be sated that unfair dismissal is when employer do not have a valid
ground to terminate workers. Moreover, there is exception of this act such as in case of fair
grounds like act of misconduct, lack of capability for the role, due to redundancy a person can be
terminated. Along with this, an employee need to have two year of service to bring a claim for
unfair dismiss.
CONCLUSION
Business laws are made and imposed by government of different countries for ensuring
smooth functioning of business and to protect the right of people residing in the country. The
project had outlined definition law and respective legal system of UK along with this it had
included roles and responsibilities of high court and supreme court. There was a detailed

explanation civil and criminal laws with examples. The other parts of project highlighted the
sources of law and statutory duties of employer which also included wrongful dismissal.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cupido, M., 2019. Common Law and Civil Law Approaches to Excessive Group Crimes. In The
Common Law and the Civil Law Today: Convergence and Divergence (pp. 289-316).
Vernon Press.
Dhar, R., 2022. Constitutionality of Delegated Legislation: A Comparative Study of
USA, UK, and India. Issue 1 Int'l JL Mgmt. & Human.. 5. p.845.
Ioannou, G. and Dukes, R., 2021. Anything goes? Exploring the limits of employment
law in UK hospitality and catering. Industrial Relations Journal. 52(3). pp.255-269.
Keyes, J.M., 2022. Judicial Review of Delegated Legislation-The Road Beyond
Vavilov. Canadian Journal of Administrative Law & Practice. 35(1). pp.69-102.
Mandal, S., 2020. Comparative Study of Criminal Laws in USA, UK and Germany. Issue 4 Int'l
JL Mgmt. & Human. 3. p.544.
Mavroidis, P., 2022. What are sources of law and why do they matter?. In The Sources of
WTO Law and their Interpretation (pp. 1-5). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Mercescu, A., 2022. Non-binding sources in law: On their merits (and their
limits). International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique
juridique. 35(1). pp.153-177.
Partington, M., 2021. Introduction to the English legal system. Oxford University Press.
Sorabji, J., 2019. Access to the Supreme Court–the English approach. Studia Iuridica. 81.
pp.152-171.
Szostek, D., 2020. Consequences of applying new technologies to sources of law
(overview). Consequences of applying new technologies to sources of law (overview), pp.615-
623.
Yalçıntaş, D., 2022. Invoking the Nullity of Non-compete Agreements in Employment
Law: A Comparison of Turkish and Belgian Law. International Journal of Comparative Labour
Law and Industrial Relations. 38(3).
Online
High court, 2022. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/judges/high-court-

judges/#:~:text=High%20Court%20Judges%20usually%20sit,Lady%20Justices%20to
%20hear%20appeals>

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