Legal System Prevailing in the United Kingdom

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Section 1

Legal system of United Kingdom and difference between criminal and civil law

the legal system is defined as the system in which all the laws are classified and combined which needs to be followed by the company so that the working of the company is ethical and morally correct. These legal system combines each and every law which is applicable on the business. The UK has a constitutional monarchy where the head of the state is the monarch. This monarch has the responsibilities and duties and powers which are provided by the constitution and convention. The England and Wales operates in a common law system which integrates the legislation passing but also includes the creation or initiation of precedents with help of case laws. These laws are made by the passing of the by- passing in the parliament by the monarch.

Also, there is a lot of difference between the civil laws and the criminal laws (Schulman, Moscow and Lesser, 2017). The difference between both the laws is illustrated in the connected points below-

Sources of law

There are different types of source from which the law originates. The different types of sources of the laws in United Kingdom are as follows-

• Common law- this is a which is prepared by the judges while solving the case. Under this law the judge can take help of the previous held or solved cases. This is because of the reason that these already solved cases can act as a guide for the present case and this will save the time of the judge in analysing the present case and give sentence for the current case (Sánchez and Brühwiler, eds., 2015).
• Act of parliament- the Parliament is the place where new laws are created and amendments in the law is done. This is another source of the law that is from where the law can be generated. This source if law helps in making effective decision making within the process of giving the judgement. This is also known as statutory law because of the reason that this is operated with help of the state.
• European law- this is another source of law which is provided by European community since 1973. this law examines the members of the European Union and European Community. This law deals in every type of situation or case whether be it economic, social, legal, political or any other problem.
• Customs- these are the laws which are coming from the ancient times. Within this the laws and the rules which the king made and implemented are designed in this system (Boldt, Kassis and Smith, 2017). This is also a source of law and this totally depends on the rights of the public and aims at protecting the public only.

Role of government in law making and application of common and statutory law

The government plays a crucial role in the making of the law. This is because of the reason that the law cannot be made without the consent of the government of the company. This is because of the reason that all the laws are designed or amended by the government of the country only. The law is made with the initiation of a bill. This bill is a type of draft made for the actual law which needs to be bring in to action. This draft is presented in front of the parliament because the whole law cannot be presented that is why a draft is prepared and presented in the parliament.

Then the bill is sent for the first reading in the house of Lords and the bill is discussed here and if these people feels the draft is correct then it is sent for second reading. Here the bill is analysed and if there are any amendments then they are made. Then the bill is sent for third reading where there is last chance of any amendments (Merry, Davis and Kingsbury, eds., 2015). After considering all the amendments and changes being made in accordance with the amendments and the bill getting accepted by both the houses is provided for the royal assent. Here the bill needs to get approved by the royal monarch and as they approve it the bill becomes the law and is applicable all over the area.

Application of common and statutory law

• Statutory law- these laws are made in UK with help of the parliamentary process and are applicable to whole country or nation. These laws are interpreted with the help of the pre- established aids like long titles, dictionaries, Hansard and many other related aids. The court does not have any right to go beyond these laws.
• Common law- these are the which are applied only in the justice court in order to have the binding effect on the decisions which are taken by the court. Here the court abides by the decisions of the previous cases held by other people in some other cases.

Key legislation, standards and regulations that business needs to know

The legislations are the set of different rules and laws which have been passed by the parliament or the government. The laws are very necessary in order to have similarity in all the same companies and to have discipline and ethical working within the business and its operations. The legislation needs to be followed by the company this is because of the reason that if the companies do not follow the rules then they might face some issues in their successful operations.

On the other hand, regulations are defined as the different directives made by the regulatory authority or agency which are formed for the purpose of making the directives in accordance with the legislations or the main laws. These regulations are prepared by the company in accordance with the laws. The company according to these laws makes some guidelines in form of directives which are to be followed by the company.

On the flip side, the standards are some points which are set as the highest point up to which the company has to work. These are defined as the deadline or the maximum value up to which the company needs to work. by setting the standards the company set a limit that the work needs to be accomplished till that standard and in proper and ethical way by complying with every laws and regulations (Pollman, 2016).

The business needs to have complete knowledge and awareness about the laws and regulations which are applicable in the business. This is because of the reason that if the company do not know that which laws they have to follow then how they will work in ethical way. Also, the different business set their standards by keeping in mind the laws applicable on them.

The potential implication of the law

There are laws which are made for every sector or aspect of the business whether be it laws governing contract between the two parties, or the laws relating to the employees and their rights or any field within the business. The different laws and their implication on the business is discussed in the connected points below-

Employment law- these are the laws which are concerned with the rights and benefits of the employees working within the company. It is very necessary for the companies to follow and abide by all the employment laws. This is majorly due to the reason that the employees are the ones because of which the company is working. Therefore, it is very essential for the company to follow all the requirements of the employment laws prevailing in UK.

Contract act- this is a law which is made in order to govern the contract made between two or more parties. This is because of the reason that the business cannot run in isolation and needs to work with other parties as well (Sadgrove, 2016). For this the company has to come in contact with other parties and for this they sign a contract within which all the terms and conditions of the contract are mentioned. The companies had to follow all the implications of the contract laws to be successful.

Copyright law- the copyright act prevailing in UK is the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988. This is a law which provides for the company to use and secure all its dramatic, literary, artistic work so that it cannot be used by any other person (Siems, 2018). Application of this type of law arises when the company creates or manufacture its own work and then it copyrights that product or the service. This is because of the reason that now the product or the service which is copyrighted cannot be used by any other person or business.

Reflection of UK legal system

The maintenance of legal system is very necessary. This is because of the reason that if the laws are not made in proper way then it is not possible for the company to have ethical and proper working. Therefore, according to me it is very necessary that the laws are made in proper and effective manner. This is because of the reason that if the company operates by complying with all the necessary laws and regulations then they will work with more efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, the UK legal system is very good and efficient in making the laws. This is because of the reason that the laws are made with the royal assent of the monarch. The laws made by UK government are more efficient. This is because of the reason that the laws are made by the bill passing by two houses and two reading and is thoroughly analysed before making it a law.

You can also read: Origin of Business Laws & Role of Governing Bodies

Section 2

a) Memorandum outlining the obligations under the Health and Safety act 1974

The health and safety act 1974 also known as HSW which outlines the different types duties and responsibilities which the employer has to follow to protect and safeguard the employees at the workplace. This includes different types of duties and obligations in favour of health and safety of the employees of the workplace. These duties and responsibilities of providing the health and safety are binding on the employer (Picciotto, 2017). This is because of the reason that the employer is the person who recruits the employees for the work of the company. The duty of the employer does not pertains to only the employees but to also the clients, suppliers, visitors, general public and all the other stakeholders of the company as well. This is majorly because of the reason that if the company does not provide with the safe and healthy environment then the employees will not be comfortable and happy in working with the company. The obligations which the company faces in order to manage health and safety are as follows-

Adequate training must be provided by the company in order to train the employees so that they have the knowledge of how to maintain the health within the workplace (Singer, 2018).

Reduce the risk at the workplace so that the workers are safe and secure at the workplace.

Time- to- time carrying out the sufficient assessment of risk so that the company knows that what all can be the possible risk and what are the ways of mitigating those risk.

b) Employment contract

This is a contract which is binding on both the employees and the employer. This is because of the reason that if some contractual obligations will not be in between the employees and employer then they will not work in full efficiency and effectiveness. This contract lays out the different employment condition which the employee may go through, the rights which the employee’s posses, the responsibilities and duties which the employees have to following order to fulfil the contract. In these contracts the major duty is that the the employees do not go for double employment. As in the present case Charlotte is employed in the accounts department of the company and she is asked by her friend to join her dress making business to book keeping. But this is not possible for Charlotte to accept this offer. This is because of the reason that Charlotte is already in contract with the Regent vision and because of this she cannot join the job of book keeping in her friend’s dress making business. Also, if she goes for the book keeping job offered by her friend then this will also breach the contract act. This is because of the reason that she is already in one contract with the Regent vision and if she braches the contract then they have to pay for the consequences. This is so because of the reason that she cannot go in other contract when one contract is already binding on her.

c) Implications of the employment contract for both employee and employer

the present case states that Nicholas Jacob is an electrician who is married and has all its work and life in Newcastle. He has worked for last three years in the Regent vision only. But the company went for restructuring and as a result of this the branch of Newcastle where Jacob was working was put on closure. But the company was offering another job in London. But Nicholas Jacob refused to accept this offer and didn’t want to go out of the place (Lasprogata and Foster, 2016).

In this present case, they both come under the obligation of the employment contract act. According to this act the company is in correct position. This is because of the reason that the company is offering its employees to have an option of the job in the other place. This is because of the reason that the company is shifting to another country then also the company is providing the facility of different employment opportunity for the employees who were earlier employed in Newcastle branch.

The employee that is Nicholas Jacob is not responsible for the company alleging that the company has taken away the job of them. This is because of the reason that the company is providing them alternative job facility so that they can settle their lifestyle in the new place (Mikami, K.,, 2016). But company is not responsible for the position of Jacob because he himself denied the offer of Regent vision.

CONCLUSION

With the help of the study of the report it was concluded that business law is very necessary. This is because of the reason that business law refers to as a combination of different laws and rules and regulations which needs to be followed by the company. The compliance to these laws is very necessary because if they do not follow these then there will not be any ethical working in the business. In the present report an overview of legal system of United Kingdom was discussed. Further the different sources of law were highlighted which are like common law, European law and many others. In the next role of government was discussed that the bill passes through different houses and then after the royal assent of the monarch then it is converted into the law. Further some key legislations and regulations and some standards which needs to be followed by the company. Next the implications of different law like employment, contract and copyright act was highlighted. In the next part some case studies were discussed.

REFERENCES

• Beatty, J.F., Samuelson, S.S. and Abril, P.S., 2018. Business law and the legal environment. Cengage Learning.
• Boldt, D.J., Kassis, M.M. and Smith, W.J., 2017. Factors impacting the likelihood of student withdrawals in core business classes. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 18(4), pp.415-430.
• Lasprogata, G.A. and Foster, T.N., 2016. Fostering Integrative and Interdisciplinary Learning: A Business Law Exercise in Social Entrepreneurship, Global Health Innovation and Cloud Technology.Atl. LJ,18, p.38.
• Merry, S.E., Davis, K.E. and Kingsbury, B. eds., 2015. The quiet power of indicators: measuring governance, corruption, and rule of law. Cambridge University Press.
• Mikami, K., 2016. Cooperatives, transferable shares, and a unified business law.Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics,87(3), pp.365-390.
• Picciotto, S., 2017. Rights, responsibilities and regulation of international business. InGlobalization and International Investment(pp. 177-198). Routledge.
• Pollman, E., 2016. Constitutionalizing Corporate Law.Vand. L. Rev.,69, p.639.
• Sadgrove, K., 2016.The complete guide to business risk management. Routledge.
• Sánchez, Y. and Brühwiler, C.F. eds., 2015. Transculturalism and Business in the BRIC States: A Handbook. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
• Schulman, S.H., Moscow, C. and Lesser, M.R., 2017. Michigan Corporation Law & Practice. Wolters Kluwer.
• Siems, M., 2018.Comparative law. Cambridge University Press.
• Singer, L., 2018.Settling disputes: Conflict resolution in business, families, and the legal system. Routledge.
• Twomey, D.P., Jennings, M.M. and Greene, S.M., 2016. Anderson's Business Law and the Legal Environment, Comprehensive Volume. Nelson

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