BMP4002: Understanding the UK Legal System for Business Law Students

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the UK's legal system in the context of business law. It begins by defining laws and identifying the respective legal systems in the UK, further explaining the classifications of law, including civil and criminal law, within the English legal system. The report also details the roles of the High Court and Supreme Court. It explores case law and legislation as sources of law, including delegated legislation. Finally, the report examines the UK law-making process with a focus on employment law, covering statutory duties of employers and actions related to wrongful and unfair dismissal. Desklib provides access to this and many other solved assignments for students.

BMP4002 Business Law
Assessment 1
Legal System for Business
Law
1

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
Explanation of 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 Law p-p
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees p
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Conclusion p
2

3

Introduction
Business law is the specialization of law which is also known as commercial
law or mercantile law. It is a collection of rules and regulations whether derived from
customary law, treaties, convention, agreements or international legislation which
deals in commercial matters between persons or countries. It is the learning of
different regulations, policies which tells how a business conduct should function. It
also covers inception of business to its managing process to its termination and other
provisions like merging of a company with other and other functions of business. In
context to legal system of UK business law, it is a legal process in which laws are
interpreted and enforce (Al-Haidar 2018). The application of legal system in UK
operates in the form of common law which includes enacting legislation and judicial
precedents in the form of case law. Parliament is the supreme legal authority in UK,
which consist of two houses, House of Commons and House of Lords. UK has three
distinct legal system having their own jurisdiction, Northern Ireland, Scotland and
England and Wales. In this report the classification of UK legal system, role of courts,
sources of law, law making process and other important factors of business law.
Part 1: Classifications of Law
Define laws and identify the respective legal systems in the UK
Law is a wider concept, which attempts to cover all the facets of human
conducts and behavior. Law is a creation of rules and regulation which govern the
order of the society or community. It sets fundamental principles based on research
and circumstances. Law is essential because without it no nation can survive, it
ensures the public safety and their development, social, economically and politically
(Biviano and Saxton 2021).
As there is no universal definition of law, but various scholars and jurists have
given definition of law. According to jurists, law is nothing but justice, wisdom,
prudence, reason, order based on reasoning for the betterment of the society. Law
means rules of court or supremacy of constitutional principles. According Holland,
law is broad rule of external human action imposed by sovereign political authority.
As per Austin , law is the collection of rules coded by man who are politically strong
and superior as political subjects. Thus, law is a rule of conduct which are formally
prescribed and recognized by the political authority and judiciary.
4

Explanation with examples the following as means of classification
of laws in the English Legal system
a) Civil Law:
Civil law are non-criminal law which are based on the matters or disputes
between people and organizations. In civil law involves cases of breaching civil law
which may harm the rights or property of another person. In civil law a person bring
suit against other person is called claimant and the person against whom claim is
instituted is the defendant. In civil law person is not send to jail, rather efforts are
made to remedy the wrong and bringing the person back into the position they were
before dispute. It means in civil cases, compensation for damages are awarded. Civil
law covers many day to day activities without realizing. Examples of civil law are,
Employment law, contract law, personal injury cases, family disputes and many
more.
b) Criminal Law:
Criminal law are the offenses which affects the society negatively, even if an
offense is created against one person. Criminal laws are enacted by the parliament.
Crime is a necessary evil, it cannot be discarded completely but can be prevented by
application of effective preventive measures by the political authority. Where a
person commits a crime, it is a breach of criminal law and such persons are subject
to criminal trial in court (Meers Gibbons, and Laws 2022). The Magistrate court or
Crown court have the jurisdiction to hear the cases of criminal nature and the case is
opened by the Crown Prosecution Service. Where a person is found guilty of a
crime, then such person shall be subject to the penalty as prescribed in the line with
the procedure of law. The examples of criminal law includes, Theft and Burglary,
drug dealing, sexual assault and rape.
Explanation of the role of the following Courts in the English Legal
system
a) High Court:
5

The UK High Court consist of three main divisions; Queens bench, Chancery
court and Family court. The matters which come before the High courts are of
serious nature and complex. Queens bench is the most superior and biggest division
among these three division. Queens bench is divided into several other special
courts who hears the case of construction, admiralty, administration, technology etc.
On the other hand chancery division takes the case of taxation, partnership, land law
and company law.
b) Supreme Court:
Supreme court of the United Kingdom is the highest appellate court of the
land. The role of supreme court is very significant in development of laws. The main
function of supreme court is to hear matter only of national importance and where a
question of law is under consideration by the lower courts or the question of
constitutional importance. It does not hold trial besides, it interpret the meaning of a
law in order to review the relevancy of law to establish on how a law should be made
applicable. Parliament has the power to enact the laws or cancel the laws
(Moazenzadegan and Mirfardi 2020). The main role of the supreme court is to
determine the correctness of law by interpreting those laws which are in disputes.
Supreme court can also ask parliament to reconsider the legislation. However, the
government is not obliged to act on the opinion of the supreme court.
Part 2: Source of law
Explanation of Case Law as a source of laws
Case laws are the primary source of UK legal system which are commonly
known as the doctrine of judicial precedents in English legal system. They are
published in la journal or reports. Case laws are laws which is created by courts by
judges in adjudication of a matter (Mousavi, 2019). It operates within the principle of
stare decisis which means 'to sand by decision'. Case laws are the rulings of the
superior courts or court of records which are of binding nature and must be followed
by lower courts.
Explanation of the process of making Legislation
6

Making legislation is a formal process of law making in parliament which
broadly consists of two houses, the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Parliament is the supreme legal authority in United Kingdom. The process of making
law begins from presentation of bill in either of the house. At first the bill is proposed
with the name and its principle objectives are discussed in the house. Amendments
are suggested during debating bill and the bill is send to committee for considering
the recommended amendments by the house. The bill is further forward to
subcommittee to review the bill after that bill is moved for motion by the chamber.
After completion of vote on bill, the bill subsequently move to the other house and
the same process follows in this house as well (Sharma 2019). Where the bill is
debated and approved by both the houses of parliament then such bill is forwarded
to the royal chair for its assent and when the assent is given such bill becomes an
Act or law of the land.
The meaning and examples of Delegated Legislation
In UK, parliament is the supreme legal authority and a complete sovereign
body. The parliament has the power to sub delegate its law making power to any
person of authority in the public and national interest. Delegation of law making
power is the system of administrative law. By way of this system, any person of
authority has the power to pass legislation, ordinances, order, standards at local
level for a short period of time. These legislation are not passed by the parliament
directly. These legislation are also known as secondary legislation. It is necessary to
delegate legislation because it permits the Government make changes in law
without even have to bring new law passed by parliament. By way of delegated
legislation many technical modification can be made in any statute.
Part 3: UK law making process: Employment Law
Statutory Duties of Employers to their employees
The main Statutory Duties and responsibilities of an employer towards their
employees are as follows:
 It is the statutory duty of the employer to ensure that its employees are given
all the statutory benefits.
 Employer must provide safe working environment to its employees.
7

 Employees must be given all the necessary equipment and safety kits for
executing a work.
 Employer must ensure that all its employees are given proper amenities within
the organization.
 Employees are given many employment rights and benefits under the UK
employment law, such as leave allowances, vacation, maternity and paternity
leave allowances, compensation, minimum wages, extra pay for extra work
and many more. An employer must provide all the statutory benefits to its
employees (Dowlatkhah 2018).
 It is the duty of an employer to maintain healthy and safety environment at
workplace.
 Each employee is important and is subject to all the rights, therefore, no
employee shall be treated arbitrary and must be paid wages on time to meet
their ends.
 An employer must prohibit all forms of discrimination at workplace.
 Every employee should be awarded and encourage and must be treated fairly
at work place.
 No employee shall be dismissed wrongfully or unfairly by their employer.
Thus, Employment law of UK, is the law for employment right and covers all
the employees working in UK. It protects their rights and interest by imposing duties
on their employers. As per the employment law it is the moral and legal duty of every
employer to provide all the rights and benefits given by the Employment law (Estlund
2020).
Wrongful Dismissal and Unfair Dismissal Actions
Where a person is unlawfully dismissed by its employer by breaching the
contract of employment without serving dismissal notice can be said as wrongful
dismissal from employment. Wrongful dismissal is the breach of employment
contract by the employer with view to dismissed employee from employment. In this
an employee is discarded from employment even before completion of employment
8

contract period. On the other hand, unfair dismissal is the wrong process of
dismissals from employment. An employee who is dismissed unfairly by their
employer can bring suit or legal action against their employer provided a dismissed
person must have worked with the organization for certain period of time
(Thornthwaite 2018).
Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that law is inevitable in all areas of
the world. Law helps in regulating the conduct of human and their behavior. It helps
in establishing and maintaining stability and order in the society. In context to the
legal system of UK, is recognized since 1189. the customary law of UK has replaced
from the law of nation and thus made common to all on its application. In this report
classification of law made by covering all the relevant facets of English legal system
and its development including role of courts and their contribution in developing the
legal system of UK.
9

References
Al-Haidar, F., 2018. Whistleblowing in Kuwait and UK against Corruption and
Misconduct. International Journal of Law and Management.
Biviano, L. and Saxton, A., 2021. UK: Winding back'Bell v Tavistock'; High Court
affirms that parents can consent to puberty blockers on behalf of their
children, which are not (of themselves) part of any “special category” of
treatment requiring court approval. AUSTRALIAN HEALTH LAW
BULLETIN, 29(4), pp.54-59.
Dowlatkhah, P.P., 2018. Explaining Legal Standards for Police Stop and Inspections
in Legal Systems in Iran, UK and America.
Estlund, C., 2020. Individual employee rights at work. In Comparative employment
Meers, J., Gibbons, J. and Laws, W., 2022. Research magpies: student sourcing
behaviours on an undergraduate law degree. Teaching in Higher
Education, 27(3), pp.387-402.
Moazenzadegan, H. and Mirfardi, G., 2020. Deferential Community Sentences to
Children and Adolescents’ Offenders Focusing on the Legal Systems of Iran
& the UK. The Judiciarys Law Journal, 84(110), pp.241-268.
Mousavi, S.A., 2019. A Comparative Study of the Legal Status of Minor Contracts
and the Basis of their Validity in Iranian and UK Laws. Journal of
Comparative Law, 5(2), pp.143-162.
Sharma, K., 2019. The Efficacy of Grundnorms in Legal Systems of India and UK: A
Comparative Study. Int'l JL Mgmt. & Human., 2, p.225.
Thornthwaite, L., 2018. Social media and dismissal: Towards a reasonable
expectation of privacy?. Journal of Industrial Relations, 60(1), pp.119-136.
10