Business Law Assignment 4th Sample

Business Law

Introduction

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In this assignment, the importance of the English legal system is discussed. It consists of various sources of law that need to comply with theorganizations. It consists of different sources of law with the explanation of numerous acts for the safety of the citizens. Further, the lawmaking process of the government is explained to understand their role along with it recent reforms and developments are evaluated. In addition, numerous laws are discussing that potentially affect the operations of the business and along with it the impacts of regulations, legislation, and standards are analyzed. Further, legal solutions are provided to the given cases to resolve business problems. It also assesses the positive and negative impacts of the appropriate legal solution of the business problems. Moreover, the legal system of the two different countries discusses and the role of the alternative dispute resolution is discussingto resolve the business problems.

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P1 Explain different sources of law and laws that organisations must comply with

Before understanding the legal aspects, it is important to understand the meaning of the law. It is defined as a recognised body or structured principles that govern the conduct, behaviour and bind people to act ethically. These are usually effectively recognised, prescribed, enforced or bind by the controlling authority. In other words, law teaches the community and people who belong to then to behave in accordance with them. Talking about the UK, there three legal system that governs the whole UK (Painter and Holmes, 2015). Each system governs a particular geographical region. For instance, English Law is applicable to England and Wales, Scots law is applicable in Scotland, and Northern Ireland law is applicable in Northern Ireland.

Sources of the UK Law

There are many sources from where the laws can be generated in the UK. These include legislation, common law, custom, International bodies, and European law. These have been explained below briefly (Marmot, et.al, 2012).

Common law: These laws are formed in the court instead of the parliamentary session and are usually added in the law reports and yearbooks. The lower hierarchy courts or the same hierarchy judicial body can refer to them in the similar kind of cases in the later years.

European law: As the UK is the part of the EU that comprises 28 members, it has to follow the laws formed by the EU. Each member associated with the European Union has to prioritise the EU’s laws over its own legislation.

International law: Since the UK has an international presence and is a member of many international communities and bodies, such as the UN and BRICS, many international laws are governing many sectors in the region. The bodies such as WHO, Human right commissions, and many others have been seen as the major governing bodies in the UK.

Custom: these laws are formed within a community or are being followed for a long time. Each and every person associated with that community has to abide by the customs laws. Somebody who is not following them might be liable to punishment.

Legislation: In the UK, the parliament is solely responsible to create and implement various acts under which the laws are formed. These acts usually relate to the issues associated with the maintenance of law and order in all the region within the UK. These legislations are to be followed by each and every individual living in the UK.

As per the case study, the organisation needs to work in accordance with the following acts or legislation:-

Misrepresentation Act 1967: This act is important as it makes sure that the parties involved in a contract are taking responsibilities in case of misrepresentation that results in the loss (Barak, 2016).

Companies Act 2006: This act is very important for the companies as it safeguards the shareholders’ right and set the duties of the employers and employees within an organisation.

Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999: This act protects the rights of any third parties through provisions of forming a contract with mutually agreed terms.

Consumer Acts 2015: This act is very important from consumers’ viewpoint as it safeguards them against any illicit trading or retailing practices of a company.

Advertising Regulation Act 1955: This act is crucial as it makes sure that consumers are not misguided or mislead by the organisation by any fake or false advertisement displayed on any media, such as radio, TV, newspaper, etc.

Equality Act 2010:  This Act has mandated the provision for equal treatment for each and every employee. The organisation cannot ill-treat their employee and discriminate based on sex, socio-economic status, income, religion, colour, disability, etc.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: It mandates for the Organisations to follow the regulations and directions given in the Act to make the working environment safer for the worker. This includes risk assessment.  

P2 Explain the role of government in law-making and how statutory and common law is applied in the justice courts.

There are three terms that are often used interchangeably by common people in the context of law. These are common law, statutory, and equity. However, their literal meanings are different. The common laws are usually based on precedents and are formed by any judicial system of a country. On the other hand, the statutory laws are formed by the parliament after a long debate and a simulating procedure. Common laws are applicable on cases of the similar kind, whereas the statutory laws are applicable to every person of a nation. Talking about the equity law, it is one of the sub-systems of the legal system of the UK. These are usually referred to a specific set of actions and remedies associated with civil law.

Since the case is associated with the organisation, it is mandatory for both the disputants to understand the meaning of corporate law and company law. The former is applicable to the issues associated with the consolidation, investor understanding, corporate structure, partnership, etc. On the other hand, company laws cover the company-related issue in a broader way. These include contract issues, intellectual property, copyrights, customer-related issues, etc.

Role of Government in Legislation-making process

In all the three legal systems of the UK, the laws are formed under a public bill passed by the Parliament. The members of the Parliament that are the chosen representatives introduce the bill in the House of Common (Parliament). This House comprises the people who are voted up by the citizen of the UK in general elections. The bills are introduced by the members that are based on the issues and needs faced by people of a community. Thereafter, the debate starts on the bill between the ruling party members and those who are in opposition. The bill is critically analyzed in the house. Once the bill is supported by the majority and is voted up, it is sent to the House of Lordswhich comprises the bench of the Supreme Court. Here, the revaluation of the bill takes place. The Court suggests some changes (if required), and revert it back to the Parliament. The changes are made in the House of Commons and the bill is again evaluated and debated. This is called ‘the third reading'. After this, the bill is sent to the Queen of Britain for Royal Assent. Without the Queen’s consent, no bill can be passed. Once the bill gets the green signal from the Queen, the bill is sent for the gazetting and at last the bill is passed. Under this bill, laws are formed in order to apply the act on the whole of the UK.

M1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the legal system in terms of recent reforms and developments.

There is always a strong need of updating the legislation and sometimes the whole legal system. However, the latter option is very seldom in current times. The English Legal System is widely adopted by other countries due to its effectiveness and robustness. With time, the legislation and legal system lose its efficiency and effectiveness. Many a time loop wholes may get developed. Therefore, law reforms are necessary in order to eradicate the gaps in the legal system. The best example of recent law reforms is the formation of virtual courts. The proceedings are taken place online (Manthorpe and Moriarty, 2014). It increases the pace of the case and the court can solve many cases in a day, thereby reducing the burden on the legal system of the country. Another reform was regarding the personal data of the stakeholders of an organisation by formulating General Data Protection Regulation 2018. It has obligated organisations to protect the data of their customers at any cost.

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P3 Using specific examples illustrate how the company, employment, and contract law has a potential impact upon business

In order to safeguard the rights of the workers, the government of the UK has formulated the provision of formulating the contract at the time of hiring employees. In addition to this, the contractual relationship should be mutually formed by both parties agreeing on the terms mentioned in the contract (Hart And Green, 2012). In the case study, the Magnificent Hair Salon has undergone the following changes after the "employment and contract law" becomes an obligation for them:-

Non-discrimination: The salon organisation becomes aware of the discrimination acts and started taking care of avoiding any kind of discrimination based on sex, age, gender, color, disability, etc.

Equal Payment and Opportunities: They make policies regarding providing equal payment to men and women working in the same post.

Set Working hours: In the UK, the working hours of worker are fixed i.e., 48 hours per week. In addition to this, employees need to be over 18 years of age in order to become eligible to work.

Pre-defined holidays: The organisation is obligated to release the list of holidays at the beginning of the years as it is mandatory for the organisation to provide holidays on crucial events.

Apart from this, it is mandatory for the organisation to follow the following legal aspects:-

General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR): Organisations are liable to safeguard the personal information and details of their clients and customer. This act provides the organisations' directions to keep the personal information secure.

Equality Act 2010: Every employee has the right to be treated equally. This Act has mandated the provision for equal treatment for each and every employee. The organisation cannot ill-treat their employee and discriminate based on sex, socio-economic status, income, religion, colour, disability, etc.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: Each and every organisation working in the UK needs to abide by the provision given in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Organisations are liable to follow the regulations and directions given in the Act to make the working environment safer for the worker. This includes risk assessment (Ball and Ball‐King, 2013).

M2 Differentiate and analyse the potential impacts of regulations, legislation, and standards.

The global business environment is very intricate and comprises many complexities that hinder the growth of the business. Even if regulations appear to be a major challenge for a business entity, they help it to sustain in the market. Most of the regulations make it compulsory for the business entities to re-evaluate their needs and update the skills of the employees on regular basis (Painter and Holmes, 2015). On the other hand, legislations obligate the company to undergo some changes as per the legal standards followed in the country or set by any governing authority. It exerts pressure on the company to arrange resources and undergo risk assessment stage in order to prepare the company against any risk or failure in the near future. Overall, legislation discards the variables and uncertainties from the organisation and its operating environment.

The reason why standards and regulations are turning out to be profitable for the companies’ in the UK as they foster the organisation against the competition and uncertain complexities posed by the business environment. One of such complexities include the legal discrepancies.

D1 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.

Being one of the effective legal systems in the whole world, the English legal system is adopted widely. There are numerous provisions that are being introduced in it so as to provide justice to the poor people of the society (King, 2016). The legal system is very strong yet flexible and it allows the government to make changes in it time to time. Some of the recent amendments are Employment Act 2002, Equality Act 2010, and General Data Protection Regulation 2018. It is as effective on business as it is for the citizens of the UK. The legal system allows the lower court to seek directions from the higher order courts. However, the only downside of the English Legal system is that it takes years to resolve a dispute.

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P4 Suggest appropriate legal solutions for a range of business problems e.g. termination of the contract, rescue from insolvency and liquidation.

According to the Magnificent Salon Services Ltd.the case, the issue is that the applicant suffers from severe itching in the scalp due to the treatment of the products of the salon. Before the applicant complains about the problem, the management of the Hair Salon put the notice stated that there is no liability of the Hair Salon staff and it is the liability of the product manufacturer (Honeyball, 2012). Now the Mrs. John Ruska business owner of the salon seeks legal advice to resolve such issue:

Every business has to face problems and issues while running the business. In this case, Mrs. John Ruska advice to terminate the contract according to the term n conditions of the contract, Mrs. John Ruska has the rights to terminate the contract with the product manufacturer who supplies the products to the salon. As per the given case, the manufacturer is responsible for the abovementioned issue because the manufacturing supply defected product to the business owner that not suits on the client's scalp.

The business owner Mrs. John Ruska considers the issues of the employees and takes necessary actions to resolve such issues. It is the responsibility of the employer to pay in regard to the performance of the employees and pay them timely rewards to enhance their motivation level. It is essential the payment of the staff should be according to their skills and efforts and their contribution to achieving the overall business goals and the employer is abided by the Equal Pay Act, 1970.

According to the Consumer Product and Safety Act, it ensures the safety of the consumers against the unfit and unsafe goods that are provided to the consumer with misleading and unfair activities. This act is responsible to provide safety and security to the consumers against the dangerous and hazardous goods.

Further, the owner is accountable to save the company from the state of insolvency and take all possible steps to save the company to get into the liquidation. Insolvency is the situation when the company has not enough funds to pay out the debts because in this case, the liabilities of the excess over the company assets (Blazy and Nigam, 2018). This provision is administered under the Insolvency Act, 1986.

According to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, it is advisable to Mrs. John Ruska that she has the right to take appropriate action against the manufacturer for selling the defected and unfit goods to her. In the context of the act, she possesses the terminate the4 contract and demand for the co9mpensations against the loss of business reputation and for the unfit products.

Moreover, Mrs. John Ruska also takes legal action according to the Consumers Right Act, 2015. This act provides protection to the buyer against the misleading activities of the seller, distributor, retailer or manufacturer (Gabriel and Lang, 2015). So, Mrs. John Ruska is advice that she can take necessary actions to receive the compensations against the unfit goods and damages that cause to the client.

P5 Provide justifications for the use of appropriate legal solutions.

The above-mentioned legal solutions that are suggested to Mrs. John Ruska for the given business problem is appropriate. Firstly, the Consumer Product and Safety Act providea defense to Mrs. John Ruska for a further supplyof unfit goods by the producer. It gives the right to the consumers to take actions and demand for the damages. It gives the right to Mrs. John Ruska to demand certain information while buying the products with the producer regarding the products information.

Further, as per the given issue the Sale of Goods Act 1979, is advice to Mrs. John Ruska to regulate the selling and buying process of the goods.Mrs. John Ruska is advice to terminate the contract of sale and demand compensation for the damages caused to the client due to unfit products provided by the manufacturer(Dignamand Lowry, 2012).Mrs. John Ruska has the right to terminate the contract if the product supply by the manufacturer is not in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

In accordance with the Consumers Right Act, 2015, it provides protection to Mrs. John Ruska against the unfit and unsafe products that are supplied by the manufacturer to the company. It is the right of the owner to demand recompense against the reimbursement that causes to the client due to the products of the salon. Here, the owner has the right to take details about the information regarding the products.

M3 Assess the positive and negative impacts of legal solutions to business problems.

With the above legal solutions, it has both the positive and negative impacts. As per the given scenario, the Consumer Product and Safety Actestablishes to provide the safety to Mrs. John Ruska against the unsafe and unfit goods and minimizes the risk of death and injuries to the consumers. But on the other hand, if the appropriate standards are not followed by the manufacturer than the consumer products are banned (Wilcock and Ball, 2017). Further, the Sale of Goods Act 1979protects the consumers against the misleading information that are provided by the seller about the product to Mrs. John Ruska. It provides the right to the consumer to demand compensation against the loss. But sometimes seller misguide the term of the sales contract that causes injury, loss or damage to the buyer. Furthermore, the Consumers Right Act, 2015 is enacted to provide safety and protection to the consumers against the unfair practices of the seller. Mrs. John Ruska conducting investigations against the manufacturer to enforce the rights against the unfair trade.

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P6 Recommend legal solutions based upon a different country’s legal system and/or a different legal framework.

The legal system of two dissimilarcountries is compared under the given table.

The function of the Alternate Dispute Mechanism is very crucial for resolving the disputes among the disputed parties. There are numerous processes for dispute resolution that includes Arbitration, negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and ombudsman. Arbitration is the process of cheapest and fastest dispute resolution mechanism. In this method, the arbitrator is appointed to resolve the dispute by giving both the parties of the opportunity of being heard (Gill, et. al., 2014). The arbitrator is responsible to give the impartial and effective decisions that are binding on the disputed parties.

On the other hand, the conciliation is also the dispute resolution process where the conciliator is the one who resolves the dispute among the disputed parties. It is a voluntary, confidential and flexible process to seek the dispute settlement with the advice of conciliator. The conciliator is acted as the third party that settles the disputes between the parties via settlement.

In addition, mediation is the flexible dispute resolution procedure where the mediator is the one who guides the party to resolve the dispute and take decisions regarding resolving the matter through settlement (Monczka, et. al., 2018).

Furthermore, negotiation is the dispute resolution process to settle the difference among the parties by avoiding arguments and disputes.

Ombudsman is not an advocate but provides healthy resolution of the issue between the disputed parties. Ombudsman provides a satisfactory resolution with the mutual consent of the parties. In Australia there are numerous issues at the occupational place are explained below:

According to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) in Australia, it is responsible top provide satisfy to the consumers against the discriminated activities that prevail in the organization, clubs association, educational institutes etc. This act educates the employees regarding their rights at the workplace.  

Further, according to the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers), Act 2017 is responsible to protect the employees and imposing the penalties on contraventions and forbid the employers to force the employees for the unfair payments (Harris and Krueger, 2015).

The abovementioned issues can be resolved through the process of arbitration. This process resolves the disputes in less time at a minimum cost. It is the most vulnerable method of dispute resolution.

M4 Compare and contrast the effectiveness of these recommendations.

With the abovementioned recommendations, the mediation is the process to resolve the dispute between the parties through an agreement the mutual concern. Conciliation is also the dispute resolving process by identifying the disputes among the parties through negotiations. Further, the process of arbitration is the mainlyaccepted process among all the methods. It helps to resolve the parties’ disputes by giving both the parties the opportunity of being heard in less time (Yin, et. al., 2017). This process is very popular among the people as it takes less time to resolve the disputes while comparing with the long procedures court.  

D2 Critically review and evaluate the use of appropriate legal solutions in comparison with alternative legal advice.

The most popular and appropriate legal solution that is popular among the people is the arbitration process as it is the cheapest and less time-consuming process of dispute resolution. In this process, the arbitrator is responsible to resolve the disputes among the parties with negotiations and discussions. The award provides by the arbitrator is binding on both the parties (Volkov, 2018). This process has both advantage ban disadvantage are discussed below:

Advantages of Arbitration

• Arbitration is the quick dispute resolving process
• It is less expensive
• Arbitration is a very convenient process for dispute resolution
• The award of the arbitrator is binding on disputed parties

Disadvantages of Arbitration

• The arbitrator charges very high for dispute resolution
• It has less popularity and only a few people are aware of this process
• The arbitrator is not the expert of the legal knowledge
• The decisions passed by the arbitrator is contradictory

Conclusion

With the consideration above, this assignment assists the learners to enhance the knowledge regarding the role of government in the process of lawmaking. With the assistance of the several laws, it provides assistance to the learner the law's impact on the business operations. This assignment educates the business employees about the discrimination laws that prevail inside and outside the business. This report instructs about the employee's rights in the organization. With the help of the alternate dispute mechanism now it is possible to not abide by the long procedures of the court and resolve the disputes with the help of alternative methods. It educates about the legal system of different countries.

References

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• Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L. (2018). Avoiding Court: Alternative Means to Settle Contract Disputes.

• Painter, R. and Holmes, A., 2015.  Cases and materials on employment law. Oxford University Press, USA.

• Volkov, K., (2018). The necessity of reforms within the arbitration system under the icsid convention: myth or reality?.  Global Journal of Politics and Law Research,  6(4), pp.50-53.
• Wilcock, A. and Ball, B. (2017). Food safety: consumer perceptions and practices.
• Yin, J., Eckert, Y., Che, S., Oskin, M. and Loh, G.H. (2018). Toward More Efficient NoC Arbitration: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach.