How the Law of England and Wales Is Made - Term Paper Example

Corporate and Business Law Introduction: While a new business or a corporation is initiated, the understanding of the corporate and business laws and ethical values becomes highly essential. Company Law is most significantly guided by the Companies Act of 1985 (Milman, 2009, p.43). The law is considered for the companies all across the United Kingdom. England and Wales have been found to have certain provisions that are not available for all other countries. The primary purpose of the corporate laws is to ensure efficient functioning of their operations and their measurements of ethical principles as well (Slorach & Ellis, 2007, p.42). The company laws also set standards required to be followed by the company and maintain their ethical behavior since ethical leadership is considered to be very essential for the appropriate operations of the company and its success (Miller & Jentz, 2009, pp.63-64). The present study focuses on how the law of England and Wales is made and how a company is incorporated with study on the evaluations of the incorporation of companies. The General Legal System in England and Wales (in the United Kingdom): England and Wales are two countries that form part of the United Kingdom. The primary laws prevalent in the nation include the legislative law, the common law, the European law, and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Parliament is in the primary charge of the legislative law. The legislature that is located in London has the responsibility and power to pass different laws in all the four countries that include England and Wales as well. The common law represents a common legal system prevalent in England and Wales. The European law is more superior to the UK law since UK is a part of the European Union. The human rights convention is responsible to look after the rights of individuals as dictated by the legal system (The Legal System of the United Kingdom, n.d.). A formal legal system is not found in the country of Wales. Rather the Wales Act presents the application of the laws in England in Wales. Thus the legal system in England is not only meant for England but is applicable to both England as well as Wales (Gillespie, 2007, pp.2-3). It is necessary to understand in this respect that the legal reflections are focused on the business organizations as well. Corporate and business laws have been found to be essential for any firm that tries to establish itself in the market or the industry. Moreover, when contractual issues are involved in a business, standardization proves to be essential (Mantysaari, 2009, p.11). The formation of the law in England and Wales: As it is already mentioned and learnt, the passing of laws in both the countries in the UK is the primary responsibility of the parliament that has the necessary and required power. In order to form the laws in England and Wales, at first the law needs to be proposed. The new law that is proposed is referred to as the bill that then needs to be accepted by the parliamentary houses. Once the parliament agrees to the bill and its purpose, the Queen needs to give her assent to the passing of the bill. Once that happens, the bill becomes ready to be treated as an Act by the parliament. The first reading of the law reflects a situation where the parliament learns that a new law is ready to be proposed. A second reading presents the discussion on the law by the members of the parliament. In the next step, a third reading is performed where debates and votes take place on the new proposed law. If majority of the votes are won, then the bill gets passed by the parliament and requires the assent of the Queen. If the Queen provides with her assent, then the bill becomes the Act and acts as the law for the nation, including the countries (Barrow, 2012). Considering the level of crimes and frauds occurring in businesses in the present state of globalization, laws associated with the business crimes have emerged to be significant to be formed and followed. Thus while national and international laws are formulated, the criminal actions are kept in focus and accordingly the laws are proposed and agreed upon. The control that is performed by the legal formulations have emerged and enhanced with the passage of time depending on the requirements of the business organizations and the legislations of the countries (Lacy, 2002, p.291). Thus it can be understood that the legal implications in the United Kingdom, and thus in the countries of England and Wales, have been taken significantly into consideration over the years in the requirements of the countries as well as the businesses. Incorporation of a Company and the Evaluation of the Incorporation: The incorporation of a company or a business involves the registration of the company under the house of different companies. The registration allows the company to become legally acceptable business in the concerned industry. For a private company to get incorporated in the countries in the UK, the company requires to provide its postal address that must be registered within the nation. The registration or the process of incorporation also requires the presence of an individual in the post of the director for the company, and a shareholder who can be the same person as the director and another individual associated with the organization. A company secretary is also essential. Considering England and Wales, it is learnt that the countries have their respective Company registers for the accomplishment of the process of the company incorporation (Private company formation- how does the process work?, n.d.). With the continuous changes brought about in the technology and advancements in the world of business, modifications are also being attempted in the company laws in the states as well as the tax laws such that the advancements may be controlled within the grip of the country’s systems. Thus in the process of incorporation, every detail of the business is necessary to be provided to the legislator power. It is important in this regard to understand that every new company needs to meet the terms as set by the company laws in the respective countries. Also, it needs to be evaluated that the company would responsively perform the acts of income tax payments and reporting of its financial status accurately (Sniffen, 2001). The ethical issues within a company are also significant in the context of corporate laws and the incorporation of a company on its evaluation. Ethics in business and among the members of a business organization is essential for the long term success of the company as well as its reputation in the industry. Lack of business ethics might have negative impacts on the wellbeing of the organizational members. Ethics is not only required within the context of the internal organization, but it is also needed externally, particularly when corporations are required to enter into partnerships or associations with other companies. Thus ethics and ethical leadership are highly significant for any business corporation. In order to effectively implement the positive attributes of such ethical behavior, specific standards are also essential (Miller, Cross & Jentz, 2008, pp.73-75). Thus the evaluation for the incorporation of a company can be realized to consider the ethical values of the companies while the registration of the company can take place. The company law is associated in this context since it has significant impacts on the business ethics and the ethical behavior of a company. Depending on an assessment and evaluation of the company and its intentions for the incorporation, the process of incorporation proceeds. In countries like England and Wakes that are under the laws of the United Kingdom, the process thus involves providing with the details of the company, the purpose of the business, information of the members along with a suitable name for the company. The incorporation forms need to be duly filled up by the concerned organization. The necessary documents are required to be submitted along with the forms. The registrations for the value added tax as well as income tax payments are also involved in the process. With all the above mentioned measures, the insurance for the company is also incorporated in the process (Starting a Business in United Kingdom, 2012). The overall process of the company incorporation in England and Wales involve the business and corporate law prevailing in the United Kingdom and a detailed evaluation of the company following the process of incorporation and focusing on the ethical leadership and values of the company as well. In order to get incorporated as a business organization, a company would thus require complying with the laws associated with the company and its operations. Conclusion: The study has focused on the formation of law in England and Wales, and the evaluation and incorporation of any company with respect to these countries. It has been obtained from the study that the laws passed in England are applicable to Wales as well. Through the study the formation of the law in the two countries within the UK has been reflected and the process of incorporation of companies has also been reflected. This has focused and reflected on the important role that the parliament of the UK plays in the passing of the laws. The company laws are then applicable to the evaluation of the companies as well. It has been thus observed that the ethical values and principles and the ethical leadership proves to be highly significant within an organization that gets impacted depending on the laws that the company needs to comply with. Based on the compliance of the company with the laws it is capable of being incorporated and listed as a formal business organization in the industry. Reference 1) Barrow, M. (2012), How are laws made in the UK?, woodlands-junior, available at: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/government/laws.htm (accessed on January 8, 2012) 2) Gillespie, A. (2007), The English legal system, Oxford: Oxford University Press 3) Lacy, J.D. (2002), The reform of United Kingdom company law, London: Routledge 4) Mantysaari, P. (2009), The Law of Corporate Finance: General Principles and EU Law: Volume II: Contracts in General, New York: Springer 5) Miller, R.L. & G.A. Jentz (2009), Fundamentals of Business Law, Connecticut: Cengage Learning 6) Miller, R.L., Cross, F.B. & G.A. Jentz (2008), Essentials of the legal environment, Connecticut: Cengage Learning 7) Milman, D. (2009), National corporate law in a globalised market: the UK experience in perspective, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing 8) Private company formation- how does the process work?, n.d., jordans, available at: http://www.jordans.co.uk/companyformation/formingcompaniesfaqs.pdf (accessed on January 9, 2012) 9) Slorach, J.S. & J.G. Ellis (2007), Business Law 2007-2008, Oxford: Oxford University Press 10) Sniffen, C.R.J. (2001), Incorporating your business for dummies, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons 11) Starting a Business in United Kingdom (2012), doingbusiness, available at: http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/united-kingdom/starting-a-business (accessed on January 9, 2012) 12) The Legal System of the United Kingdom (n.d.), ILEX, available at: http://www.ilex.org.uk/about_legal_executives/the_uk_legal_system.aspx (accessed on January 8, 2012) Read More