Business Law Report: UK Legal Framework and Business Solutions

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the UK's business law landscape, focusing on the legal framework and business solutions available within the United Kingdom. It begins by discussing the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and its role in creating and amending laws, highlighting the var...Read More

BUSINESS LAW
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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Task 1................................................................................................................................4
LO1....................................................................................................................................4
Task 2................................................................................................................................7
LO2....................................................................................................................................7
LO3..................................................................................................................................10
LO4..................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................17
Reference List..................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Business law also referred as mercantile is a set of convention or regulation that is
expected to be followed by different business firms so that they can maintain their
business activities in the competitive business environment. These regulations and law
are composed of different principles, nationalized as well as global legislations, and the
different types of dealings and contracts that take place among the business firms. This
study is focused on elaborating and exploring the legal framework and different
business solutions of United Kingdom. The role-played by the government and the
different sources of laws of United Kingdom will be explored in a detailed manner. The
impact that these legislations and regulations have on the different business activities of
the various organizations have been discussed in a detailed manner.
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Task 1
LO1
a) Discus the meaning of this statement and the various sources of UK Laws
As per the constitution of UK, it can be stated that the parliament of the country is
sovereign. As per this statement, the parliament of UK is considered as the supreme
legal body, which possess the authority of creating or dismissing any law or legislation.
Laws are the system of maintaining rules, which a community or country recognizes in
order to regulate the actions of their citizens and that help in impositioning penalties.
The legislations are categorized under two major divisions known as public law and civil
law. All the courts in UK are expected to abide by and follow all the essential legislations
and regulations of their country. If there is any kind of emergency identified by the
parliament, they have the power to alter or change laws in order to handle the current
situation. For example, it was noted that in UK when the rate of cybercrime or internet
hacking was increasing at an enormous rate, the parliament of the country took the
initiative of introducing certain legislations and Acts so that they were able to catch as
well as punish all the criminal associated with cybercrime. The different sources of law
in UK include the EU law, Customs (Pre 1066) and the Case law (Common law and
equity law).
Common law or Case law: As UK is considered as a common law country so
judgement of a particular case has the power to connect all the succeeding cases
based on the superiority of the court system. In UK, the parliament has the responsibility
to introduce new statures (Llewellyn, 2016). In order to maintain the basic regulations of
the nation, the courts take the initiative of implementing all the essential policies that are
associated with the legislatures. Courts also have the responsibility of clarifying the
mistakes or various indistinct languages that are made in the process of drafting a
specific verdict.
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b) Explain the role of government in the law making process and how statutory
and common law are applied in the justice courts
The government of UK takes active part in the law making process of their country. The
administrative division of UK government has the responsibility to create draft laws, and
the parliament’s responsibility is to consider, alter and pass the regulation or law. The
law construction process of the UK government takes place with the help of three
branches or stages. These branches along with their significance have been mentioned
below:
The Executive: The executive body of United Kingdom is composed of the Prime
Minister and the cabinet ministers. The members of the cabinet along with the PM
possess the authority to create or alter any law that is beneficial for the country. They
are expected to propose beneficial policies that will later be converted into laws that will
be enforced to enhance the performance of the nation.
The Judiciary: The court system of UK is referred as the judiciary of the nation that is
required to administer the members of the judiciary body and has the responsibility of
maintain the justice system (Scalia, 2018). The judiciary of UK ids responsible to ensure
that the laws are being enforced in a proper manner.
The Legislature: The legislature of United Kingdom consists of the members of
parliaments, legislative assembly and the parliament. All these members are expected
to ensure that the various policies that have been developed or created are successfully
converted into enforceable laws and regulations by utilizing a distinct legislative
process.
Statutory laws are the terms that are used in order to define the different written laws
that are enacted by the legislative body of the country. These laws are different from
administrative or regulatory laws that are usually passed by common law and executive
agencies (Hg.org, 2018). The statutory law can only be construing and implemented by
the members of the judiciary as they only have the power of initiating any new law.
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On the other hand, the judiciary creates the common law over a certain timeframe that
is passed with the assistance of the legislative bodies. If any principle has been applied
on the law then the court is responsible to assist in the development of the law and the
law no longer remains a statuary law.
The court has the responsibility of understanding the implication of the stature ad if the
court fails to understand the meaning then such laws is concluded and the court applies
for an amendment law. If the court is inclined towards following the intentions mentioned
by the legislative laws, the court looks at the different preceding debates/drafts that
surround passages laws. If these drafts are vague, the court prefers to look at different
contest of the law. In case of criminal law if the court finds and vagueness then the
accused might receive benefits of ambiguity. In context of common law if an individual is
fount or caught to disobey or disrespect the common law, then the individual can be
summoned to the law or court or they may be fined. If the issue or problem is extreme
them the individual can also be put behind the bars. The court of justice has given
authority to certain personals in order to help in the development of surrounding and
ensure that all individuals are efficiently following the regulations and laws. The
individuals disobeying are charged with certain fines and if the individual is unable to
pay the stated fine then they are required to come to the justice court. The court is then
responsible to make just decisions and provide justice to the accused.
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Task 2
LO2
1. Health and Safety regulations
The management of JPM Publishing Company has developed certain health and safety
regulations in order to provide security to their employees at their workplace. All the
employees, suppliers and manners of the company are required to be protected against
sever health hazards. This will allow the workers to work with satisfaction and protect
them against injurious accidents. The JPM Publishing must ensure to provide their
employees with proper lightening and ventilation services so that their employees have
a safe environment. The employees should be served with clean washroom and
refreshment facilities. In order to avoid tripping and slipping, the management must
ensure a safe passageway for their members. The employees should be addressed to
health checkups so that they can maintain their health (Hale et al., 2015). The
management of JPM Publishing should implement all the regulations of the government.
Management of the company is required to follow the terms of the Health and Safety at
Work Act 1974, that helps them in ensuring that all the tools and methods that are used
in their organization is safe to use. The workplace Health, Safety and Welfare
Regulation, 1992 helps in ensuring that the temperature and ventilation of the office are
safe and they help in maintaining the safety of escalators and hygiene of the
organization.
2. Equal Opportunities regulations
The management of JPM must ensure that equal opportunities are provided to all their
employees. The Equality Act 2010 has been developed in order to avoid unjust
treatments and help the employees feel valuable (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018, A). As per
this Act, the management ensures that they are providing job opportunity all the
deserving candidates irrespective of their sex, religion, race or other such barriers. This
law help[s in protecting and securing the employees against discrimination and helps
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them in getting equal responsibility and recognition based on their performance. The
management must accept all the job application and based on the qualification and
skills possessed by the candidates the management must recruit the most deserving
and suitable candidate for their organization. Some of the Acts that are followed by JPM
Publication are as follow:
Equal pay act: As per this Act, the management provides equal pay to both male as
well as female employees as per their performance and responsibilities.
Pregnancy discrimination act: According to this Act, women employees must not be
discriminated due to their maternal conditions and they deserve a leave of 6 months to
look after their health conditions.
Age discrimination act: According to this Act, aged employees of the firm cannot be
discriminated and should be provided with equal respect and responsibilities as
compare to any other employee. They deserve the right to receive pension after the age
of 65 when they have taken retirement.
Equal Pay Act 1970: According to this Act, the employees of the organization must be
provided equal wages as per their skills and knowledge. The management should not
discriminate among their employees due to their age, sex or any other such criteria.
This will help the employees feel valued and they will work with their full potential.
3. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): This is one of the most significant
Acts, as it allows the management of business organization in protecting the
confidentiality of their data. This Act helps in protecting the company against major
fraud and helps in gaining the trust and confidence of the consumers and the
employees (Bieker et al., 2016). An educated and qualified data protection officer
maintains the compliance of the data. If the data is provided to any third party then the
business firm possess the right to erase it under specified circumstances. Data
Protection Act allows the management to control the personal information that is used
by the organization and business firms. The companies that use personal data including
the government and other professional bodies are required to abide by the steps of this
Act. The management makes use of high security setting so that they are able to avoid
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the leakage of important information. The GDPR was implemented in the year 2016.
The organization that processes personal data is required to abide by the GDPR
legislation. A knowledgeable person is recruited to listen to the issues and complaints.
Personal data cannot be processed without any kind of legal permission. If the data is
provided in any format it should specifically include the contact details. It is import ant to
consult data protection assessment so that potential risks can be avoided.
JPM Publication firm is required to protect the information and data that is submitted by
their employees. This will help the employees feel secure the employees of the firm are
also expected to respect the law and abide by it. They should ensure that they do not
leak out any vital information about their organizational policies or strategies to other
firm.
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LO3
a) In both cases, you are to provide appropriate legal advice based on case law or
statutes to;
i) Champion Ltd on whether the creditor has legal powers to do what they
threatening and the processes for liquidation.
From the case study, it can be observed that the Premier League Club gave cash
amount to Champion Ltd in order to ensure the site is vacant and they will be able to
pave the way for developing a new stadium. Champion Ltd was unable to pay the debt
and Premier League Club did not appreciate it. As per the case scenario, it has been
come into notice that Champion Ltd has previously failed on several events to pay the
banks and other creditors respective of the loans taken while relocating. Due to this, the
creditors are threatening the company by applying to courts for the “winding up petition”
(Yang and Li, 2017). As per the case scenario provided, it can be seen that the creditors
do not have any property of Champion Ltd under mortgage but they do have the right to
claim the loan amount and can apply to the court for “winding up petition”.
Based on the case study, creditors can appoint liquidators. It is the liquidator’s
responsibility to accumulate the loan amount from debtors. The debtors can apply for
voluntary liquidation if they are unable to pay within the stipulated time. In order to
achieve this, Champion Ltd has to serve a notice period of 10 days. In the meeting
Liquidation Process:
The process of liquidation is defined as the winding up of the organization (Real
Business Rescue, 2018). The process of liquidation is categorized into voluntary and
compulsory liquidation.
Compulsory Liquidation:
The company being unable to pay the debts compulsory liquidation process is applied.
The creditors forcing a company to wind up initiate compulsory liquidation via court
order (Economy, 2018). If Champion Ltd is unable to provide the trade license within 12
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months then the business has to be winded up as per the legal laws. It can be seen that
sometimes companies tend to close some of its stores due to financial issues. In this
type of circumstances, rather than closing the stores company must handover its
business. Once the court gives order and allows liquidation it becomes mandatory for
the company to wind up the business.
Voluntary Liquidation:
In the process of voluntary liquidation, the members of the organization get together and
decide to liquefy the firm voluntarily (Omar and Gant, 2016). In order to achieve this,
75% of the members must agree with the closure of the firm. Champion Ltd must lesion
one final meeting including every member and should inform the court.
Provisional liquidation:
In the process of provisional liquidation, the firm is under misconduct or assets of the
firm are in danger. In this kind of circumstances, provisional liquidation takes place
(Thegazette.co.uk, 2018). The liquidator is appointed to protect the assets of the firm
and the assets must not be distributed among the members of the organization.
Legal advice for liquidation:
The other options available must be taken into account before going for liquidation of
the firm. Options such as reorganizing the firm, looking for paths through which
Champion Ltd can carry out its business must be accounted. As it would assist the firm
to protect its assets and pull through the loan amounts taken as debt from the creditors.
It would also help the employees to be employed. Champion Ltd may also seek advice
from legal advisers in order to protect the firm from being liquidated. If the court passes
the order of liquidation then the firm must be winded up carefully and make sure that it
is not going in opposition to commercial business law and the assets must be
distributed among the creditors respective of the loan amount lend by them to
Champion Ltd.
Legal advice for debtors:
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As per the case scenario, Champion Ltd is accountable for replying to notice served by
the creditors, as it would mitigate the possibilities of losing the case. Champion Ltd must
have all the proofs documented regarding the financial losses in order to answer the
complaints in the court. The debtor must take the help of an advocate in order to
prevent him or herself from losing the case. The advocate would look for the best ways
to defend the case of Champions Ltd if the case reaches to the court. Champion Ltd
(the debtor) must seek the advice of legal councillors. For checking, the insolvency of
the firm directors must check the following things such as Equity of shareholders in the
firm, Firm’s total capital, and Firm’s legal reserves.
ii) Amber Ltd on the possibility of getting the injunction
Injunction is an equitable solution in form of a court order, inducing a party to refrain or
persist doing precise acts. Based on the case scenario, Amber Ltd and Mr. Anderson are
the parties involved in the injunction process. If any party is, unable to comply with
injunction has to face civil or criminal penalties, involving the possible sanctions of monetary
and imprisonment (Compactlaw.co.uk, 2018). The court can order Amber Ltd and Mr.
Anderson to stop their actions in order to prevent further hitches in the business. As per the
case scenario, Amber Ltd might get the permission for injunction because as per the
contract of Mr. Anderson it is mentioned that before leaving the firm he has to serves a
notice for a period of 12 months. If Mr. Anderson does not serve the notice period of 12
months, the company might have the right to stop him from initiating employment with
and giving services to Beta. If Amber Ltd takes the case to court, the court will be
listening to the problem of both the parties. The court takes account of the issues that
may arise while injunction. In this case, injunction will help to prevent breaching of
duties by Mr. Anderson.
Legal advice for injunctions:
Amber Ltd must organize the transactions as per the legal terms and conditions. The
firm can seek advice on business-related matters from advocate. It would be better for
the firm to create a directory of law to find out remedies easily. Amber Ltd must also
make sure the terms and conditions of the contract are legal and are intact with notice
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for a period of 12 months. On contrary, Mr. Anderson should be able to explain the
reasons why he is willing to leave the job and switch to Beta.
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LO4
b) In respect of Case 2 recommend an alternative legal solution to what is
suggested in a (ii) based on a different legal framework. You should try compare
and contrast the effectiveness of these solutions.
Damages are type of compensations that are offered to for the loss or hamper that is
suffered by blameless parties due to any kind of the breach of the contract. It is not any
type of profit however, it can be considered as a punishment for the party that has
caused the loss or miss happening. The different liquidated damage is determined by
the involved parties and is required to be distinguished from the clauses of penalties.
The remaining un-liquidated damage that occurs is decided with the help of court. If for
any situation the contract existing two parties is broken then there are certain solution
that can be adopted by the parties such as:
Damages: If this solution is adopted then the party who has received the loss is
expected to be provided with certain compensatory amount for their damage. Both the
parties come together in order to decide and determine the specified damages. The
court is responsible to decide the unspecified damages.
Remoteness of damage: This damage is decided based on the extent to which the
involved party is responsible in causing the loss of the other party (Taylor, 2016).
Measure of damage: In this solution, the amount that must be paid to the suffered party
id determined. There are certain rules that are required to be included such as a)
Expectation loss: in this situation, the party that has received than damaged is put in the
exact same position, as it would be if the contract had been completed. b) Reliance
loss: the process helps in compensation the loss that takes place by relying upon the
contract and the contract breaches. c) Mitigation loss: It is the loss that is expected fro n
the blameless party.
Quantum merit: this solution is obtainable for the individual or party that has completed
some of the parts of their contract or have supplied certain materials. The [arty must be
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paid for their services and operations. If under any circumstances if the contract is
breached then any party is allowed to go for this solution.
Specific performance: In this form of the solution, the parties are forced by the court in
order to finish or complete the terms of their contract (Mai, 2016).
Alternative dispute resolution: In this solution, both the debtors as well as the
creditors are required to come to a specific agreement. They take initiative of settling
the disputes and problems among themselves by taking help of a third party. A cost
efficient solution helps in preserving the confidentiality of both the parties. The parties
have the freedom of selecting the person that will help them in solving their disputes.
Some of the alternative dispute resolution adopted by parties in order to solve their
problems is as follows:
Negotiation: In this negotiation the parties participants voluntarily and do not require
any third party in order to assists them and help them in resolving their problems.
Coloration: In this solution or remedies the parties are require to hire attorneys that will
guide them about various ways by which they can resolve their disputes or problems.
Mediation: In this remedy, the parties are expected to choose a third party that will help
them in overcoming their problems and disputes and try to provide them with
appropriate solution.
Arbitration: In this remedy, the third party that is involved is a professional judge that
provides legal guidance to the parties.
Some other Alternative Dispute Resolution used by the firms is:
1) Evaluation of Case: All the involved parties are required to state and informs about
their issues as well as problems to a qualified evaluator. The evaluator examines their
strengths and determines their weaknesses. As per the results of their analysis the
evaluators provides them with the most appropriate solutions.
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2) Early neutral evaluation: In this solution, the case is reported to a legal firm or court.
After the report has been filed, the court allocates an expert in the area so that the
expert can analyse the different situations and propose appropriate remedies that can
adopted by both the parties. These solutions will help them in resolving their problems.
3) Family group conference: In this type of solution, family members participate in the
dispute sand tries to guide the involved parties towards a mutually beneficial solution
that will help them in resolving the matter.
4) Neutral fact-finding: In this remedy, the court or the involved parties take the
initiative of appointing a reliable third party that will help them in finding solution for their
problems.
5) Ombudsmen: In this solution the certain institution are involve that helps in providing
a third party to the involved party so that they can come to a solution and resolve their
issue (Buck et al., 2016).
The above-mentioned remedies are simple and is competitively less time consuming
compared to filing cases and reports in court of law. These solution help in saving
money as well as time and allows the parties to maintain mutual harmony among their
relationship. On the other hand if the parties file a case they will have to bear the
expenditure of lawyers and are required to invest their time in various proceedings. It
will also bring negative impact on their present business terms.
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Conclusion
The assignment helps in understanding that the creditors possess powers that allows
them to collect their debt. They have legal methods that help them in collecting their
debts. These powers build up fear in the mind of the debtor and they return the debt
within the deadline. There are a number of liquidation methods that have been
discussed which are used by the business organizations in order to obtain their debt. In
case of breaching of contract, there are certain remedies and solutions that can be
adopted by business firms in order to resolve their issues. They can also take their
problem to court if they want to receive a legal advice. The court possesses
authoritative powers that allow them in resolving the disputed with the help of certain
legal norms. If remedies and solution are adopted, it allows the involved parties to save
their time and money and they are able to maintain good business relation.
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Reference List
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and future reforms. Insolvency Law Journal, 24, pp.40-61.
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Real Business Rescue. (2018). What is the Company Liquidation Process and
Procedure?. [online] Available at: https://www.realbusinessrescue.co.uk/business-
liquidation-and-bankruptcy/process-and-procedure [Accessed 25 Jun. 2018].
Scalia, A., 2018. A matter of interpretation: Federal courts and the law: Federal courts
and the law. Princeton University Press.
Taylor, A., 2016. Whither Remoteness? Wellesley Partners LLP v Withers LLP. The
Modern Law Review, 79(4), pp.678-690.
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