Unit 7 Business Law Assignment

Unit 7 Business Law Assignment

Task 1 (LO1)

Introduction - Unit 7 Business Law assignment Sample

Business is the law body that helps in governing commercial and business operations. It is also considered the civil branch law which involves both the public as well as private law. Law of business assists in regulating practices of hiring, consumer commodities, manufacturing and sales, and contracts of companies. The English system of law plays a considerable part in maintaining discipline among the country and its citizens. This task consists of a detailed discussion of law sources that prevail in the UK. It also highlights the government part in the method of formulation of the law. Furthermore, it elucidates the present expansion and growth in the lawful structure of British law.

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Explain the different Sources of Law

English law is the widespread regulation lawful structure of England and Wales, which encompasses mainly civil and criminal law, every branch involves its methods and courts. Law is enacted to serve many purposes, for illustration, it is the one that facilitates in creating standards, clash resolution, sustaining order and defending rights and liberties. The constitution of English law is unwritten, which consists of broad principles that depend upon the common law. It states that England law sources are varied which not only includes the statutes which are passed by the Parliament but also decisions of the judges based on cases. All the state branches, that is the legislature, the state, and the executive which played a chief role in the expansion of the English law history (Parliament UK, 2019). According to its evolution, the Parliament is the legislative and highest law source in the UK in creating the law. The other sources that are prevailing in the UK are mentioned below:

Figure: Sources of UK law

Source: By Author, 2020

Legislation comprises both main and secondary legislation where the primary legislation is discussed and passed by the Parliament, which comprise various bills of the government that is private, public and members' bills. The secondary legislation can be introduced by the government also by issuing the regulations. For example, the Consumer Rights Act of 2015.

Case laws are also termed as common laws where the decisions passed by the judges become precedent and is binding over cases of similar nature in the hierarchy of the lawful system.

The European Union comprises the UK as its member which states that the rule of the EU overrules the laws that are prevailing in the UK. UK is an affiliate of the European Council where it is the signatory of the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights). According to the Human Rights Act, 1998 it assists the UK courts to defend the rights comprised in ECHR. 

Treaties are the international agreements formulated between the different countries and these treaties are overseen by international law. Treaties help in the fulfilment of the fundamental requirements of the states to legalize the consent, issues of ordinary concern and also bring constancy into their joint affairs. For example, a human rights agreement.

The court structure of the United Kingdom includes the topmost court named the Supreme Court, which deals with the matters of both civil and criminal in the capacity of original and appellate jurisdiction. The Appeal that entertains the matters that originate from the Tribunals which deals with the matters of the civil and criminal. The judgment passed by this court can be appealed under the Supreme Court. Crown Court is the first court to entertain the appeals of civil nature and the courts under these heads are termed as the civil court. There are several other courts include family courts, magistrate courts, county courts et cetera, to entertain the matters small and family-related matters.

In the UK, the segmentation of the lawful structure is segregated between civil and criminal law where civil law concerned with matters related to family matters, probate, and land law, negligence and contracts. Criminal law is concerned with matters which are considered an offense against society as an intact. An appeal against the decision of the High Court, heard by the Civil Division whereas errors in the decision passed by the Magistrate and Crown Courts are heed by the Criminal Division. 

Explain the Role of Government in law-making and how Statutory and Common Law is applied in the Justice Courts.

In enacting the law, the UK government's role is significant as Parliament is the topmost body for creating legislation. For making the law, the process id divided into various steps where firstly the bill is drafted and presented in one of the Parliamentary House that is the House of Commons or House of Lords (Slapper and Kelly, 2013). After this the bill is passed with undermentioned stages are as follows:

Figure: Procedure of enacting the law

Source: By Author, 2020

 First Reading the very first stage where the bill appears.

Second Reading where the debate is on the main areas of the bill.

The committee stage includes the detailed study of every clause and line of the bill along with the amendment. Voting is done at this stage to decide whether to continue with the proposed changes or not. 

Report Stage includes the text examination where more changes are debated and voting is done to decide whether to implement amendement or not.

Third Reading is the last chance for modifications and voting.

Royal Assent is given when both the Houses agree with the bill and its content  and after received the Queen consent it becomes a Parliamentary Act.

Common and Statutory Laws Applicability

The Common Law system has a very significant place in the English system of law and with the help of this law, inferior courts take the assistance of the higher courts to resolve the cases having similar facts of the cases which are already decided by the higher courts in the same hierarchy. The popular case in this context is Donoghue v Stevenson (1932).

Statute law has been formulated by the Parliament in the legislative form. For example, The Road and Traffic Act 1968, which has an important effect on the UK lawful structure. This helps the individuals to claim damages under this Act.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the Legal System in terms of Reforms and Developments.

In the past few years, there were various reforms and improvement in the UK legal system where the first one includes the introduction of the digital case arrangement in the Crown Court which removes the burden of papers and saves time in a printing million papers (Shephard, 2017). Introduction of the Online summons which is successfully tested in Guilford and Preston.  The new digital system is developed for the non-imprisonable offenses which are entertained by the single judge and now around 350Tfl cases are heard every week. Now with the introduction of online pleading for the offenses of low level, which especially responded by the people concerning the offenses related to traffic.  

Conclusion

At the end of this task, it wrap up that the function of British law is very important as it helps its citizens to follow the right path and involve in the legal activities. Further, it gives learning to the learners about the recent developments held in UK law and enhancing the knowledge of how the law is created in the United Kingdom. 

Task 2 (LO2)

Introduction - Assignment in Business Law

In this task, the discussion will comprise the policy and regulations which are helpful for the houses of the commerce. Business laws are mandatory for their employers to follow government regulation because it affects the relationships of both the employee and employer. The foremost aim of this part is to investigate how commercial laws affect the daily operations of the business.  This part of business comprises company, contract, and employment law. Furthermore, it also consists of the differentiation among the legislations, standards, and regulations along with influence over the business. At last, the report provides an assessment of the English system of law along with the examples.

Illustrate, using Specific Examples, how a Company, Employment, and Contract Law has a Potential Impact on Business.

Contract Law

Before conducting any type of business it is important to have an agreement or contract between the business parties. A contract is formed with the involvement of two or more parties to share the profits or losses arising from the trade activities. English contract law helps in settling the issues promptly so that the parties save from lawsuits. This law affects the business because the involvement of the business is either in providing services or commodities for selling or purchasing (Andrews, 2015). This law is important to meet the expectations or promises of the contractual parties. A contract is termed as legal and lawful only when it fulfills all the fundamentals of the valid contract. Contract law protects the rights of the parties. Essentials component of the contract law includes consideration, capacity, mutual consent, offer, acceptance, legality, and intention. If a violation of the provisions and conditions of the contract provides a remedy to the innocent to file a lawsuit to claim against any loss or damage.

Competition Law

This law consists of its provisions mentioned under the Competition Act 1998, its main objective is to protect the illegal practice of business that affects the competition. It prevents those companies who use their position to damage the competition prevailing in the market. This law motivates businesses to make them better to provide better services because of the competition in the UK market.

Data Protection

This law comprises its provision under the Data Protection Act, 2018 which helps in controlling the information of the businesses, administration or organizations. This law ensures that the information should be used transparently, fairly and legally (Wachter and Mittelstadt, 2019). This act guides the organisations and government to use the data of a confidential nature. In case of any violation, the innocent party can file the lawsuit against any damage or loss.

In the United Kingdom, the tort of negligence occurs, when any person injured or causes damage to another individual because of reckless behavior. Negligence cause when someone causes injury, loss or damage to another person because of less care in comparison to a reasonable person (for instance,  Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman case). This law is governed under the provisions of the English Tort Law.

For the assurance of quality or fairness in services and commodities, the Consumer Protection Act, 1987 is enacted. It helps in providing assurance and protection to the consumer's rights. It is specially enacted to resolve the grievances of the customers. It prevents dishonest, unfair marketing or mistreated by businesses.  

For setting out the duty of employers towards employees, the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 is enacted (Putri, et. al., 2018). Its chief object is to protect the employees against the harmful, dangerous and highly flammable substances at the workplace. This is the primary legislation piece which cover up the workplace health and safety in the UK. It enables to provide an essential measure for the environment and people's safety.

Employment Law

This law aim is to protect the employees and employers who are working in any business organisation. This law provides rights that help in maintaining the relationships among the employee and employer. It comprises the provisions related to the contract of employment, obligations of the employer, rights of the employee, cases concerning the dismissal, discrimination, health and safety and redundancy (Adams, et. al., 2018). The provisions of this law are guided under the National Minimum Wage Act, 1998, Employment Rights Act, 1996, Pension Act, 1995 and Working Time Regulations, 1998.

Differentiate between Legislations, Regulations, and Standards to Analyse Potential Impacts upon Business.

The legislation is the significant procedure of formulating the laws and on this, the government debated on it. Regulation is a statute which is sustain by the government. Regulation assists in a carry on legislation, for illustration, environment protection. Regulation is regulated by a regulatory agency mandated to fulfill the legislation’s purpose, for instance, health and safety regulations (Putri, et. al., 2018). Standard is the principle established by the government and helps in improving the performance, quality, for illustration, BS 1192 includes the practice of constructing drawings.

Provide a Coherent and Critical Evaluation of the Legal System and Law, with Evidence drawn from a range of different Relevant Examples to support Judgments.

Evaluation of the English system of law is significant as discussed above that the structure of the England law is not static because it consists of the level of the hierarchy and its legal system move accordingly. The jurisdiction of this system comprises both criminal divisions and for the achievement of the best results, the courts apply both laws. Further, the inferior courts apply the decisions that are already passed in the cases by the higher courts which involves similar issues. The laws which include contract, data protection, and Employment law make the English law superior in comparison to other lawful systems. But, the major con of this system is that its applicability is only upon the constitution, which is coded partially which necessitate amendments daily.  

Conclusion

At the end of this task, it ends with the conclusion that businesses must follow the laws enacted by the government while performing the functions of the business. To abide by the above-mentioned laws, help out the businesses to establish a good image among the clients which increases the competitive base in the market. Along with this, it also helps in maintaining good relations with business clients.  Furthermore, the business should remain updated with laws of the government and changes in the rules and regulations timely. If the businesses did not follow these laws, face fines, its related consequences, and penalties.

Task 3 (LO3)

Introduction - Development of Business

For the long-term growth and development of the business, it is significant to ensure the best form of business organisation. In this context, the business owners must make the decision that how the business will be structured. This task highlights the division of various types of business organizations. Further, this task focus on the funding and managing of commercial organisations. Before taking any decision, the business owners need to acknowledge the business formation pros and cons.

Explore how different types of Business Organisations are Legally Formed

Business organisations are alienated into two categories that are incorporated and unincorporated commerce. Incorporated business is separate from its members such as corporation while unincorporated business is not separate from its members with a low-cost startup. Examples of an unincorporated business include partnership or sole proprietorship. These organisations are explained below:

Figure: Types of business organisations

Source: By Author, 2020

Partnership

This business formed verbally or in written form between the two business partners and oblige to be listed at the House of Companies. It is categorized into two parts that are a limited and general partnership where the limited partnership is formed with the formal agreement and file the partnership certificate with the State. This form allows the partners to limit their liability over the business debts. In the case of a general partnership, partners are still accountable for all the business dues. A partnership is run as per the provisions mentioned under the Partnership Act, 1890.

Sole proprietorship

It is a very popular form of business possess and controlled by only one person and the individual has solely accountable for the day to day responsibilities. This business is suitable only when there is low risk for the exposure of liability (Bruwer, et. al., 2019). This business dissolves on the death of the owner. At Companies House, a requirement of listing for this business is not required. This business wholly depends upon the decision of the owner.

Company

This type of business is regulated as per the specifications of the Companies Act, 2006 where the real owners are the shareholders following the value of shareholdings. Company has a perpetual existence, with limited liability and detach legitimate entity, have right to file the lawsuit or can be sued, has any authority to enter into any type of contracts for selling and purchasing like similar held in case of Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897]. The company is categorised as a private, public, limited and unlimited company. Where the private corporation is the one whose shares are not buy and sell in the stock exchange whereas a public corporation is the one whose shares are deal in the stock exchange, open for the deposits of public, required to appoint minimum two directors for its formation and for its registration the share worth of at least £50,000 is obligatory to be issued by the public limited corporation. A limited corporation is a company that limits the liability for its owners and its profits are distributed among the owners without any double taxation. Unlimited liability corporation is mainly set up as a private company where its shareholders have unlimited accountability towards commercial debts.

Explain how Business Organisations are Managed and Funded

In the case of a sole proprietorship, the business is administered by the proprietor and this is the simplest business to set up and to dissolve. There are no requirements to register this business with the government apart from the state government, which specifies the requirement to get a business license for the commencement of the business. This business is financed with the help of relatives, friends, loans from banks or with the help of individual savings.

In case of a partnership, this is managed by its partners with the help of the terms and conditions mentioned under the partnership deed (Rahman and Ghadas, 2018). Partners assure the fulfillment of their responsibilities towards the business. This business gets finance from the sale of business assets, retained earnings, working capital or bank loans.

 The company is managed by its directors, company secretary, shareholders, and auditors. Directors of the corporation are accountable for acknowledging the business duties for saving the wealth and the interest of the shareholders. The director has to take decisions in favor and of the company benefits (Quinn, 2019). Further, the company secretary role is crucial for maintaining the relationship between the directors and its shareholders, with the government and customers (Peij, 2017). Also, responsible for all the lawful compliances on company behalf. Further, shareholders are the one who chooses their directors who work for their as well as company benefits and expansion. This business is funded with the help of equity (issuing shares) or debt (issuing debentures) capital, retained earnings or loans from banks.

Assess the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Formation of the different types of Business Organisations.

Sole Proprietorship

Main pros of this business are that it is simple and uncomplicated to form. The whole profits of the business belong to the owner and include very little compliances of regulations. While running the business, the owner having full flexibility over this.  For the commencement of the business, only require to get a business license.

Main cons of a sole trader business is that the owner has full commercial liability and has difficulty in transferring business ownership. There is no separation of income between personal and business.

Partnership

Pros of partnership is that with the sharing of resources, enhance the business capital. Every partner is accountable for sharing business profits and there is flexibility in taking business decisions. This business can be formal or informal and it is not too expensive to establish (Lumona, 2017).

Cons of partnership include that each partner is answerable for the commercial debts. This business can dissolve with decision of partners or in the case of two partners, it can be close by death or insolvency of one partner also.

Company

Pros of the corporation is that it limits the legal responsibility of losses and debts of its owners, business losses and earnings belong to the company. For the payment of commercial losses, there is no requirement to seize the assets of the business (Davies, 2020). Limited Liability Company, it also limits the owner's legal responsibility against all the business losses.

Cons of the corporation is that the process of this business are costly with the requirement of huge paperwork. In the case of limited liability corporation, the fees for legal filing of this business is high. Its agreements are difficult and comprehensive. This business is bounded by various laws.

Critically review and evaluate the formation of different types of Business Organisations.

In Sole proprietorship formation, sole trader has to give notification about the commencement to the HMRC. In the working patters of this type of business, involve low or less legal formalities. For the owner, the liability is unlimited.

In partnership business, it requires to be rolled at the Companies House, where the partners commence their work with the formation of the agreement called partnership deed (Keers and van Fenema, 2018). Each partner in this business is working as an agent as well as a principal.

In the Corporation business, this business is dissimilar from its owner. Share stock of the corporation represents the possession of the shareholder and its shares are listed on the stock exchange. This business requirements to be mandatorily registered at the Companies House. There are various legal requirements, documentation needs to be prepared that's why its process is complicated. With the help of a common seal, the Board of Directors agrees on the corporation's behalf.

Conclusion

At last, it winds up that to run the business for the long term, it is crucial to understand the characteristics of each type of business before commencement. As per the needs of the business, business owner expands it accordingly. Further, it is crucial for the business laws while formation, because it is controlled by the laws of the States in which the business is formed.

Task 4 (LO4)

Introduction - Legal Solution of Business

Legal solutions for any type of business plays an imperative role in resolving their issues. This task consists of a detailed conversation on several kind of dispute resolution of corporates.  Further, it highlights the two case studies in which the appropriate legal solution is provided to resolve the commercial as well as corporate issues. This task consists of discussion over the several ADR methods that helps in determining the commercial issues.

Case 4.1

Recommend appropriate Legal Solutions open to the Head of HR to resolve the Problem faced by him

As per the given case, the employee Sarah violated the provisions mentioned under the Employment Rights Act, 1996. According to the given case, Sarah used the unacceptable language and become rude with the managers of training. After that, Sarah again insulted her junior secretary and due to this, it was decided to issue a warning against her behavior. To resolve this problem, it is advised to Head HR that it is the duty of the HR that there should be the establishment of reputation, productivity, and performance at the place of working. The employees must abide by the standards of ethics. In case of any misconduct of an employee, the employer has the right to take action against that employee. It is advised to HR to conduct a disciplinary inquiry to prevent justice miscarriage. After that, based on inquiry, HR provided the required time for employee (Sarah) to submit her charge sheet. Then the employee continues with the answers of the employee mentioned in the charge sheet. With adequate notice, employee should be given a rational opportunity of being heard and after proving employee misconduct,  Head HR can give expected to improve their behavior and still it continues that HR can give final written warning that if there is no improvement, employees will be dismissed. After that, the last meeting should be held by HR, in this if the behavior and performance of Sarah still not improving, this cause final dismissal.

Compare and contrast different sources of legal advice and support for dispute resolution

According to the case given, this dispute can be resolved by the method of ADR (alternate dispute resolution mechanism). It consists mainly of three methods that are arbitration, conciliation, and mediation. These methods help head HR to resolve the case quickly without filing any lawsuit against the employee in the court. Arbitration structure involves the procedure of settling the issues among the parties (Blackham and Allen, 2019). It is the tribunal procedure and its judgment is binding. Similarly, mediation and conciliation intend are to achieve a settlement by making suitable recommendations to the parties. On the other hand, legal solutions through courts assist in dispute resolution by a formal process. But, this procedure is costly along with time-consuming.  It is advised to Head HR to resolve their problem by adopting the arbitration method over other methods.

Evaluate the effectiveness of legal solutions, legal advice and support for dispute resolution

According to a given case, the problem can resolve by adopting various legal advice in case of employment areas such as pay claims about equality, claims of unfair and wrongful dismissal, health and safety or agreements concerning compromise. Further, citizens' advice can be sought which provides services to its clients. Various organizations that are involved in these practices and help businesses to resolve their issues such as step-change debt charity, money advice service, and national debt line. 

Case 4.2

Recommend appropriate legal solutions open to Ramonav.

According to the facts in the given case, the firm in the UK sent the payment according to the exchange rate prevailing in September 2019 which was 10% more than the exchange rate which was prevailing in December 2019. This fluctuation in exchange rate causes financial loss to ramonav which was 10% of the expected value. Foriegn exchange contracts are the lawful arrangements in which there is an agreement between the parties to transfer a definite amount of the foreign exchange at a rate and date which is predetermined (Bocharov, et. al., 2019).   In this case, they must be a contract for this between both exporter and importer which states about the rights and remedies available to both the parties in case of rising or fall in the exchange rate in foreign currency. But, in this case, there is no such agreement between the parties so in such situation ramonav can claim for damages which he has suffered due to the currency depreciation and can recover the loss up to the amount which is equal to the different amount of the other obtainable currency at the prevailing exchange rate on the due date of the payment and the prevailing rate on the date of judgment. This issue can resolve with the assistance of the arbitrator where the judgment passed by him is necessary on both the importer as well as exporter.

Conclusion

This task ended with the conclusion that recommended solutions will help the parties in the given cases to resolve their respected issues by adopting the suggested methods. This task guides the learners about the methods that can be used by learners in case of arising any disputes.  At last, appropriate legal solutions are provided to both Head HR and Ramonav. 

References

Blackham, A. and Allen, D., 2019. Resolving Discrimination Claims Outside the Courts: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Bocharov, V.A., Karagodina, N.P., Zgonnikov, A.P., Maksimenko, A.V. and Tychinin, S.V., 2019. Legal regulation sources for the uk contractual relations.

Davies, P., 2020. Introduction to company law. Oxford University Press.

Parliament UK, 2019. Bills before Parliament 2019-20 — UK Parliament. [online] Services.parliament.uk. Available at: https://services.parliament.uk/bills/ [Accessed 11 April, 2020].

Peij, S.C., 2017. Does the company secretary share responsibility for board effectiveness?. Governance Directions, 69(11), p.650.

Andrews, C., 2015. Enforcement of Consumer Rights and Protections.Lexis Nexis.

Slapper and Kelly., 2013. The English Legal System: 2012-2013.Routledge.

Shephard, C., 2017. Legal Systems & Skills. Oxford University Press.

Wachter, S. and Mittelstadt, B., 2019. A right to reasonable inferences: re-thinking data protection law in the age of big data and AI. Colum. Bus. L. Rev., p.494.

Adams, A., Freedman, J. and Prassl, J., 2018. Rethinking Legal Taxonomies for the Gig Economy: Tax Law, Employment Law, and Economic Incentives. Oxford Review of Economic Policy (Forthcoming).

Putri, D.O., Triatmanto, B. and Setiyadi, S., 2018, April. The effect of occupational health and safety, work environment and discipline on employee performance in a consumer goods company. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 337, No. 1, p. 012036). IOP Publishing.

Quinn, J., 2019. The Sustainable Corporate Objective: Rethinking Directors’ Duties. Sustainability, 11(23), p.6734.

Bruwer, J.P., Smith, J. and Le Roux, S., 2019. Critical Innovation Skills Required of Sole Trader Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) Management and Its Influence on Perceived Business Profitability: A South African Perspective. Ghosh, P.K., Baig, N. and Goyal, R.N., 2020. Unit-2 Forms of Business Organisation-I. IGNOU. Rahman, H.A. and Ghadas, Z.A.A., 2018. The Evolution of Partnership Structure; Special Reference to Governance Legal Framework for LLPs. PROCEEDINGS–ICLG 2018, p.511. Keers, B.B. and van Fenema, P.C., 2018. Managing risks in public-private partnership formation projects. International journal of project management, 36(6), pp.861-875. Lumona, S.C., 2017. Government partnership with traditional agencies in community development: advantages and disadvantages. international journal of social & management sciences, madonna university, 1(1).