The English Legal System (Essay Sample)

BUSINESS LAW
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Task 1
1(a)
Briefly, explain what constitutes the English legal system.
The British Legal system is made up of laws which apply to particular areas. That is, the Scots Law applies in Scotland, Northern Ireland law in Northern Ireland, and the English law which is used in England and Wales. However, some of the laws are common and apply throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.
The sources of these laws are the European Convention on Human Rights, European Union law, common law and the legislation. No one particular document contains the whole of the laws in the United Kingdom. The legislation is the law that the legislature creates. Parliament Acts are essential parts of the law. The parliament is the principal authority. It has the power of passing the laws that are applied in all the countries to which the laws apply. It is made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
1(b)
The law serves various functions and purposes in the society. The primary functions and purposes are protecting liberties and rights, resolving disputes, maintaining order, and establishing standards.
The evolution of law begun thousands of years ago with the society developing rules which would be used to maintain order and co-existence. The Anglo-Saxon era made it easy to take the rules and implement them over a given territory. It paved way for the introduction of common laws and later on the court system. The society came up with more laws for governance.
Sources of law simply means the origin of the laws. The sources include jurisprudence, international sources such as treaties between countries, and national sources such as the legislation, case law and parliamentary convections.
1(c)
Statutory Law refers to the written laws which are frequently enacted by a legislative body. They vary from administrative or regulatory laws which are passed by the law created by the court decisions or the common laws, and the executive agencies. These laws are exclusively construed by the tribunals and are only bound to express its terms.
Common law refers to the law which is declared by the judge. The law applies and exists for a given group based on the legal precedents and customs developed in Britain over so many years. The law is created by the judiciary and developed on a case by case basis.
Equity law is a term which refers to a given set of associated procedures and a set of remedies. The equitable doctrines and procedures can be differentiated from the legal doctrines. Moreover, equitable relief may be made available in case the legal procedure is inadequate or insufficient in some way.
1(d). Why is Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100 such an important case law?
The Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] case is considered to be such an important case law because its outcome led to the establishment of several legal precedents and principles. They include:
The duty of care. This case made it that the manufacturers have the obligation of attention to the users and the end customers of their products. The precedent has become established and protects the customers from the faulty and contaminated products. The protection began as common law.
Negligence. It was affirmed by the House of the Lords that negligence is a tort. If the negligence of the respondent causes loss of property or plaintiff injury, the plaintiff can take civil action against them (Andrews, 2017). In the previous times, the plaintiff was forced to show a contractual arrangement for negligence to be ascertained, such as when it involves an agreement or an item to provide a given service.
Neighbor principle. The case led to another controversial Lord Atkin's neighbor principle. It paved the way for action against tort of negligence beyond the next party and the tortfeasor.
1(e). Explain the differences between a contract law, company law, and employment law. What are their impacts on a business?
Contract law. The rules that interpret and form contracts are primarily governed by the common law legal system since a contract is an agreement between parties having a legitimate objective to undertake a proceeding or even purchase products in exchange of the given value which corresponds. Regarding business, it usually has two recoveries (Andrews, 2011); These are the specific performance and the damages, or the equivalent amount of money to the value that one party would have received from a given contract if there would be no breach.
Company law, on the other hand, is the field of legislation which is used regarding corporations and other business organizations. It includes partnership, corporations and other associations which perform charitable or economic activities. A juristic person is the most prominent of the company law (Dignam and Lowry, 2012). It means that it has a separate legal personality, and those who invest a substantial amount of money into the given business have a liability for the losses that are made by the company (Dolzer and Schreuer, 2008). The corporate law governs it.
Employment law is a wide field which encompasses the relationship between the employer and the employee. It, however, incorporates the process of negotiation, which is considered by the labour and collective bargaining law (Honeyball and Bowers, 2012). Its impact on business is that it helps in regulating on what the employers can expect from the employees, and vice versa concerning the rights of workers of the employee.
1(f).
The government has a crucial role in the process of lawmaking. The initial stage is that a Bill is proposed in the parliament and debated upon and then is subjected to approval lesser houses of the house of common. It becomes law. Upon receiving Royal Assent, it becomes an Act. If a department in government is involved or has a Bill proposal, which it might want to be added to the legislative program, then it submits to the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee of the Cabinet a bid for the given Bill. In return, the committee will come up with the necessary adjustments and recommendations to the cabinet on the provisions of the given program.
During the parliamentary stages, the government is involved where its minister will open the debate by setting out the case for the Bill and explaining its provisions during the Second Reading (Hazell and Rawlings, 2007). The Opposition responds to this, and the members discuss. The government closes the debate by responding to the points made. The House then votes on this Bill. The Bill will not proceed if the government loses. It is however rare for a Bill by the government to be defeated at this stage.
During the Committee stage, the government will make amendments to the Bill to ensure that it is functional. This is to avoid defeat of the government at this stage. The government might need the agreement of the PBL committee if the amendments are purely technical in the capability of the government.
1(g). Structures, organizations and jurisdictions of the courts in England & Wales.
The structure dictates that individual cases are there to handle the different types of cases which are presented. For example, the criminal cases begin in the magistrates' court, but can proceed to the crown court if they are on more pressing matters. Might go to the High Court upon appeal by the Crown Court and a further appeal may take it to the Supreme Court of Appeal or even the Court of Appeal.
The tribunal system is made up of different structures for dealing with its cases and appeals. The Court of Appeal may intervene in various decisions from the Employment Court of Appeal and the Upper Tribunal.
Jurisdiction: The civil justices in England and Wales are mostly dealt with in the county courts. More complex and substantial cases are referred to the High Court. It means that the jurisdiction covers a broad range of the simple claims to the large claims but great cooperation and companies mainly.
The civil cases would involve hearing in open court where the public is allowed to attend. There is no hearing in the judge private room or matters that the judge decides in private (Feenan, 2017). Most of these cases don't go to trial or even a full jury. There are quicker and cheaper ways of dealing with the small claims. Also, the judges do not have the power to imprison the losing party. The case when complicated may proceed to the Court of Appeal, High Court (Queen's Bench Division) or High Court (Chancery Division).
TASK 2
2(a).
1 Standards
These are well-written approved and monitored compliances that rule or limit recognized, professional or authoritative body as the minimum benchmark which is acceptable. These standards may be classified as specifications that laws provide, or the legal or government enforced laws. They can be the propriety standards which an organization or firm may develop and place in the public domain to encourage their use. The rules are complicated to dislodge or change once they are enforced.
For instance, 4 feet and 8.5 inches are the standard for broad gauge railway and inches between parallel tracks respectively. This figure originated from Roman army chariots axle width designed to accommodate the backs of two horses which is yoked on both sides.
2 Regulations
The regulatory laws are the rules which determine how to operate businesses in some cases. Since the trade rules are sometimes standardized, some of the regulations can be applied to given indus...