Business Law Assignment: UK Legal System and Business Operations

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BUSINESS LAW
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
Scenario 1....................................................................................................................................................4
Lo1...............................................................................................................................................................4
Lo2...............................................................................................................................................................7
Difference between legislation, regulations, and standards....................................................................9
Standard..................................................................................................................................................9
Lo3.............................................................................................................................................................11
LO4............................................................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................18
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INTRODUCTION
This assignment is prepared to study the nature of the Justice System of the UK and its effect on
business procedures. This study will be conducted in four different parts. And in the first part,
this assignment deals with the different sources of law and the effectiveness of jurisprudence in
the context of recent development. Second part deals with the potential impact of law on a
business with the help of analysis of contract laws etc. the and the third part deals with the
creation of business organizations and their impact on the functioning of the business and the last
part deals with the effectiveness of business unit in resolution of dispute if arises (Rembar,
2015).
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Scenario 1
Lo1
Being a trainee law practitioner in central London based law firm Hardy and Morrison Solicitors
assigned the task to provide the legal advice to the start-ups of the UK.
The nature of the legal system:
The legal system is a method to interpret and enforce the law. It describes the rights and
responsibilities by using multiple means. The legal system across the world comprises of civil
law, common law and religious law. And in some nations custom laws are also considered part
of the legal system. Tax laws, guidelines by the elections commission are also part of the legal
system. The laws of the countries are codified in a single document called a constitution.
The constitution is the law of the land. And all government and private bodies directly or
indirectly derive their authority from it. The constitution of the nation protects human rights and
prevents misuse by drawing a clear mechanism. The UK legal system comprises of the legal
system of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland (Rembar, 2015)
Sources of law
The laws derive their legality from the different sources as a constitution, customs, conventions,
etc. the sources of UK’s law are the parliamentary legislation, European Union law, the
conventions on human rights.
Legislation: legislation is the laws of the parliament. Legislations are drafted by the lower house
of the parliament. And they are applicable to the complete territory of the UK. The lawmaking is
a crucial process and that is the reason why the laws are put into practice only after the approval
by their representatives in the parliament.
Common law: the UK and Scotland are governed by the laws of the parliament of the UK. And
it is the principle law-making body in the UK (Edge, 2017).
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The European Convention on Human Rights: The UK being the member state of the
European Union abides by the convention of the European Union. And human rights as the right
to freedom, right to express all are protected by the human rights act.
European Union law: The European Union laws are should be abiding by the UK as it is a
member state of the UK. It follows treaties, trade laws and tax laws of the EU (Forde and Slater,
2016).
Role of government in law-making:
The constitutional monarchy of the UK is comprised of the judiciary, executive and legislature.
And the government is the executive body and rules the nation as per the laws of the land. The
laws are created by moving the motion in the parliament and this motion can be proposed by
both the private member and the minister. The minister is the part of legislators and cabinet
(Nelken, 2017).
Application of statutory and common laws:
The statutory and common laws are created in the legislature. And the judiciary applies these
laws by implementing the rules described in the laws. For instance, if any case laws go before it,
it interprets it to section by section and finds the legality of it. And then, provides the verdict
based upon it. And the verdict of the court can sometimes be the reason for the enactment of new
laws. In the following manner, the judiciary of the UK applies the statues. Initially analyze the
case law and tries to find their origin in the legal book or in the constitution. If they are able to
find the relevant sections then they interpret it in the context of the law. And after that, the final
verdict is accorded by the court in the form of punishment or imposition of fine, etc. (Bunn, and
Yusupov, 2015)
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Evaluation of Recent development in the legal system of the UK
Developments are an integral part of reform. And the changes in the legal system are undertaken
for bringing reform in the system. And it can be the enactment of a new law or can be an
amendment in existing law. And the reform process in the law was started way back in 1944 as a
part of an amendment in the education system of the UK. And after that evolving social, political
and economic conditions impact the legal system and enable the process of reform. The reforms
are suggested by the public and the government and brought by the Westminster the supreme law
making the body in the UK.
The effective justice system is crucial to maintain the rule of law. The reforms in the legal
system of the UK are undertaken in two phases from the year 2000-2015. The reforms are:
Alternative dispute resolution: An alternative e dispute resolution mechanism is creating in the
UK to reduce the burden of legal and judicial machinery in the UK. And this ADR is used to deal
with the civil laws, contract law and it is useful for the fast resolution of simple business
disputes. But, sometimes this process becomes tedious and the parties also can move to the
higher courts and it results in the loss of resources and legal machinery (Singer, 2018).
National crime agency: the creation of a national crime agency is undertaken in order to
improve the criminal dispute resolution. And maintain the separate database of crime in order to
screen the suspicious people, and prevent any potential scam. There is a need to create an
effective centralized database.
Legal advice agency: legal advice agency is created with the aim to provide advice in all legal
matters at an affordable or minimum cost to ensure the right to free and fair justice for everyone.
The quality of advice given needs further improvement.
Equality of opportunity: the government of the UK supports the idea of equality in all domains.
And make it mandatory for all organizations to provide equal opportunity for growth for
everyone. This is applied by the courts very effectively. And the quality of opportunity is
ensured by various agencies in the UK by offering them senior leadership roles. And the UK is
one of the best examples of offering equality as it has a constitutional monarchy headed by their
queen and the head of state is also female (Singer, 2018).
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Lo2
The potential impact of the law on the business
The laws of the land have immense potential to impact the functioning of the business and they
are coded separately to deal with the matters related to the business operations, structure,
function and all issues related to the management and functioning of the business. Here it will be
explained in the context of company Brandwatch a UK based social intelligence and data
analytics startup (Brandwatch logo, 2019).
Company Act, 2006: the brand watch is impacted by the company act. is enacted in order to
define the structure of the organization and the rules and regulations for the company as the rules
related to the trade, corporate social responsibilities, and corporate governance. The effectiveness
of corporate governance can be reflected in the decision making of the organization. the
Brandwatch must follow an effective organizational structure, it should ensure the compliance to
tax laws and transparent functioning within the organization and free flow of information to keep
the engagement of employees form all levels. And the employees are provided equal opportunity
with respect to their area of expertise (Company Act, 2019).
Contract law, 1994: the brandwatch is entered into an agreement with Dell in order to offer
software solutions to it. And the contract according to the definition in the contract law can be
explained as the mutual agreement between two or more parties regarding the obligations, profit
sharing, terms and conditions in case of breach of the agreement. And contracting parties decide
the duration of the contact and they are empowered to the extent it as per their need. They can
have a huge impact on the business if one party denies following the conditions and it causes the
loss of money and time as well as create distrust in the partners. The contract law compels the
brandwatch to follow the consumer protection guidelines if in case their product fails to meet the
expectation of their clients. And can in the form of replacement of the product or in the form of
compensation (Ozturk and Tatli, 2016).
Employment law: the brandwatch is impacted by the employment act. And it is being a software
developer and provider also regulated by the IT act and privacy act. It is very important in
ensuring the protection of the rights of the employees, ensuring better working conditions, fixed
hours of working and no harassment. It also ensures non-discrimination and equality of
opportunity. Companies are bound to provide equal opportunity for growth and development.
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The employment laws compel the brandwatch to ensure the senior leadership roles to their
female employees. And also take all effective measures to ensure the inclusive work-culture
irrespective of any gender, class, ethnicity or religion. And as a part of this act Brandwatch
should create one safety cell for the female employees and dispute resolution cell to resolve the
issue if arises (Kim and Ozkan, 2016).
All these laws affect the functioning of brandwatch as the company law makes it compulsory for
the organization to deliver effective health, safety, quality environment to its employees. It also
ensures the inclusive work culture and non-discrimination in their workforce. The contract laws
make it compulsory for the Brandwatch to comply with the terms and conditions of the
agreement in profit sharing and other obligations. And the employment law compels the
organization to offer equal pay for equal work. And offer senior leadership roles irrespective of
genders. And also offer the incentives mentioned in various government laws (Brandwatch logo,
2019).
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Difference between legislation, regulations, and standards
Legislations: legislations are the laws enacted by the parliament in order to ensure the rule of
laws and effective functioning of legislatures, executives and judiciary. And they are enacted by
the consensus in the representatives, the population. And to conform to them is mandatory for all
parties. And there can be an imposition of a fine in case of non-compliance.
Regulations: regulation is a federal document contains the guidelines related to the production
methods, safety standards, procurement standards, etc. they are not accepted by the consensus.
But following them is mandatory for any organization.
Standards: a standard is a transcript that is recognized by consensus. And contains a list of
commonly used rules, guidelines, and regulations and it is not compulsory to follow them. And
they at times deal with terms, labels, trademarks, etc. as they are defined by the procedures,
goods, and services (Focus standard logo, 2019).
Legislation Regulation Standard
Legislations or laws are
enacted in the parliament after
the consensus developed in the
house. And it becomes active
only after the approval of the
president or governor.
Regulations are the detailed
instructions followed by the
formulations of low.
Standards provide a
description of the goods and
services.
It is used to ensure the rule of
law across all domains.
They are prepared to ensure
the effective implementation
of the law at all levels.
It is used to ensure
consistency.
Compliance to the laws is
mandatory for everyone.
Compliance to the laws is
mandatory for everyone
Compliance to the laws is
mandatory for everyone
The legislators enact laws. Government bodies draft
regulations.
Development agencies prepare
standards.
They are applied to by the
executives.
They are enforced by the
government agencies, and they
are self-regulatory also.
They are enforced by the
development agencies.
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Companies Act, employment
Act, etc. are examples of
legislation.
Health and safety regulations,
food safety regulations are
examples of the regulations.
The general duty clause in
regulations is a kind of
standard.
They derive their power from
the Act
They derive their power form
a specific part of an act
They are part of regulations.
(Focus standard logo, 2019).
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Scenario 2
Lo3
Being a line manager, prepared a legal manual for the organization. And the effectiveness of the
work brought new opportunity to prepare a new data for the clients for fast dispute resolution and
managing the business efficiently (Diefenbach and Sillince 2011).
Formation of different types of business organizations:
There are different types of business organization and their illustration is as follows:
Corporation: A corporation is a business organization that has different legal identity and
ownership in the measured by percentage of shares hold and the stakeholders in the organization
have limited liability and has limited say in the business operations.
Limited liability companies: the limited liability companies are the corporate structure where
the owners are not liable for any kind of debt or liabilities in the companies. These companies
generally have a hybrid structure of the partnership and sole proprietorship.
Limited Liability Partnership: This is the type of business where the partners are being signed
an agreement and they are protected from the debts and the liabilities obligations.
Unlimited liability companies: The unlimited liability companies are the one where the
involved partners and sole proprietors are responsible for the debts and liabilities. The partners
are equally responsible for the repayment of the wealth (Wild and Weinstein, 2019)
Non-profit corporation: These are the legal entities which run for the fulfilment of a certain
goal not for making a profit in the company. Most, if the non-profit organization work for the
public interest and some of them work for the private sector also such as for raising funds for the
companies, contributing the plans etc.
Sole proprietorship: This the type of business where the individual or a married couple operates
the business. There is much flexibility in the business and the legal controls are also very
minimal in this type of business. The proprietor solely is responsible for all kind of debt and
liabilities
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The following are the ways in which the different business organization manages funding:
Corporation: The corporation business uses mainly two types of the method to raise the funds
one is debt capital and the other one is equity capital.
The debt capital fundraising includes the rise of funds from bank loans, personal loans, bonds
and credit card. Basically, this type of funding is borrowing money under an agreement and this
borrowing money is to be repaid later on by the company. Whereas the equity capital is the
method of fundraising where the company can raise funds by selling the shares to the public.
Limited liability companies: These companies raise funds by the means of equity route selling
where the stake of the company is selling its ownership to the members. The business is
managed by the owners of the company by developing a plan and a presentation is covered to
raise the funds from the owners. Other than this limited liability companies can raise funds by
adding more LLC owners, borrowing money from debt financing and small business loans
(Segal and Choi, 2016).
Non-profit corporation: The nonprofit organization raise funds for their operation from
charities, trusts, universities, hospitals businesses etc. they are managed by the key members of
the organization. These members take care of the daily activities and operational activities of the
organization and basically it is managed by self only.
Sole proprietorship: The sole proprietorship businesses raise funding through personal
investment, borrowing money from friends and families and taking up small loans. Generally, a
bank does not issue big loans to the sole proprietor's businesses as there is high risk associated
with it. The business is operating under a single name and it is managed by the proprietor only.
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