The Legal System and the Impact of Law on Business in the UK - Case Study Example

The Legal System and the Impact of Law on Business in the UK Name Institution TASK 1 P1 part 1 of 2 The different sources of law which exist in the English legal system The English legal system originates from three key sources. The first includes the acts of parliament or statutes that the parliament creates. These are legislations that delegated people make in the Parliament. The second includes the European Union law, which consists of regulations, treaties, decision, and directives. The last is the case law, which is made up of laws made by courts in their rulings, commonly known as the Common law. In respect to the common law, a unique aspect of the English law is the principle of judicial precedents, in which the rulings of the courts are essentially binding sources of law for rulings made in future. P2 part 1 of 2 How laws are made in Parliament and the role government plays in this process. Acts of Parliament apply to people across many jurisdictions in the UK, although they may be restricted to certain geographical settings in a single jurisdiction, such as the local bylaws, the West Yorkshire Act 1980. They may also be applicable to certain companies or individuals. The Acts of Parliament serves to make legislations, which are validated for application in the UK jurisdiction through an approval following a debate by the members of the House of Commons (save for certain exceptions under procedures set up by the Parliament Acts 1911-1949) and the House of Lords. At the same time, an act of parliament may become valid once it is granted the Royal Assent from the Queen. The government becomes greatly involved in coming up with a legislation. In fact, legislation may be created by Government Ministers, under the authority of primary legislation. In such case, the parliament does not approve the legislation beforehand. This form of legislation is known as delegated legislation. Usually, a government minister issues it based on a specific authority specified in an enabling act. They are then issued in terms of statutory instruments. The rationale for a delegated legislation is to save time in Parliament, invite expert input, and promote flexible response to representations or events. P2 part 2 of 2 How statutory and common law was applied in that case by the judges involved R v Harvey (Appellant) [2015] UKSC 73 In the case law of R v Harvey (2015), Mr Jack Harvey (who was the complainant) was permitted by the Supreme Court to make an appeal against a ruling made by the Court of Appeal and established that in creating a confiscation order, and evaluating the quantity of benefits an offender obtains as specified by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 section 76(4), the VATs paid to HMRC have to be disregarded. The complainant had 98.9 percent shares in JFL Harvey Ltd, while his wife owned the remaining shares. He had been found guilty of nine offences linked to handling of property and an arson attack on a competitor’s property. The Crown Court evaluated the benefit the appellant acquired of £2,275,454.40, consisting of £1,960,754.40 from general criminal conduct in addition to £314,700. He had used the criminal conduct process to buy commodities. Technically, it was not right for the complainant to be accredited in respect of the VAT element of such purchases. The Court of Appeal also rejected the appellant’s argument that the VAT was included in his price by an obligation that was in essence imposed by the state, and as a result, he was making the collection on the state’s behalf. By using the principles outlined in the case law of R v Waya (2012) and R v Del Basso and Goodwin (2010), the Court of Appeal held that it was technically wrong to perform an accounting exercise as far as those monies were concerned. The complainant had used money from a criminal conduct to buy commodities and it was technically wrong for him to be accredited with regard to the VAT element of such purchases. The Supreme Court held that as a subject of ordinary statutory construction, in making a decision on the benefits acquired under section 76(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the VAT paid to HMRC should not be subtracted, since deducting them would be inconsistent with the sub-section’s simple language. In other words, an individual should be considered to have acquired property or money when he assumes its ownership or becomes the owner. In essence, JFL Harvey Ltd was the legal owner of the bank account and the money held in the account. TASK 2 P1 part 2 of 2 3 key areas of law that the business needs to comply with Competition law The company has to comply with competition in order to achieve effective competition. Through effective competition, the company can deliver value to customers while at the same time driving its productivity (Office of Fair Trading, 2011). It would deter the company from taking part in anticompetitive agreements or conducts. Indeed, Chapter I of Competition Act 1998 prohibits anti-competitive agreements. Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 also prohibits companies with a dominant position in the UK market from abusing its dominant position. Corporate and security law The laws on corporate governance are concerned principally with the balancing power relations between the two key organs of a company in the UK. The two include the general meeting and the board of directors (Dixon et al., 2006). In broad sense, in the UK law, the corporate governance centres on the comparative rights and duties of shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, as well as other stakeholders. These legislations are enshrined under the Companies Act 2006. The UK legislations often centre on the protection of the investing public and shareholders, although company constitutions also assign rules on how the company relates with its members and that of the outsiders. Food and environmental protection law The company also needs to ensure it complies with the legislations on food safety, imports and exports, labelling, safety, traceability, as well as product withdrawals and recalls. The relevant food laws the company will need to comply with include the General Food Law. Regulation (EC) 178/2002 is openly applicable to EU legislation, as well as offers the general principles of food safety comprising the provisions of food businesses to sell safe food in the UK market. It will also need to comply with the Food Safety Act 1990 to provide safe food to the public (Food Standards Agency, 2016). Focussing on one or more of the 3 key areas, identify one example each of regulations, legislation and standards that apply, and then differentiate and analyse the impact these will have on the business – M2 Food law and environmental protection The company will have to comply with the legislations on food safety. The relevant food law it will have to comply with is the Food Safety Act 1990. In the UK, the main food safety and consumer protection offences are stipulated in the Food Safety Act 1990. The legislation has the overall impact of ensuring that the food that is deemed unsafe is not placed in the market, particularly food that is unfit to be consumed by humans or which may be injurious to health (Food Standards Agency, 2016). The legislation stipulates the food hygiene rules for food businesses, and demands that they apply effectual quality control standards across the entire food chain, including production, supply, and sale for consumption. For instance, Section 7 of the Food Safety Act 1990 ensures that business produce food that is not injurious to human health by requiring that they use safe ingredients while preparing the food and using safe preparation processes while knowing that the food is intended for human consumption. Section 14 of the Food Safety Act 1990 also demands that food sold should be of the right substance, nature and quality the consumers demand. Section 15 of the Food Safety Act 1990 also prohibits false description or presentation of food (Food Standards Agency, 2016). Evaluation of the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) The Equality Act was enacted in October 2010. It strengthens and extends the protection of individuals from all kinds of discrimination in the workplace and in broader society. It specifies the manners in which it's unlawful to treat people unfairly, in addition to how a company needs to do to comply with the law (Perren et al., 2011). Under the Equality Act 2010, a company is affected in several ways in that it specifies how it should make rational adjustments to steer clear of putting individuals with disabilities at a considerable disadvantage relative to those deemed not to be disadvantaged in one way or the other (Blackham, 2016). The duty assigned to a company is anticipatory in nature. This implies that the company should not wait for disabled person to want to use a service for it to respond. Rather, it has to provide for his needs in advance. The legislation protects nine key areas marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation, disability, age, gender, race, pregnancy and maternity, religion (Cairns, 2010). In addition, Equality Act 2010 makes lucid clarification of the definitions of direct discrimination, such as through perception or association, harassment and victimisation, and indirect discrimination. At the same time, it broadens positive equality duties to the public authority, which has to give consideration to the necessity to purge discrimination, promote equality of opportunity, as well as promote effective relations among divergent groups (Blackham, 2016). The Act also encourages positive action among business in the processes of employee recruitment and dismissal. It helps individuals who share certain protected features and experience disadvantages. It has provisions that require employers to take action to attain efficient equality outcomes. The positive actions include treating former or potential employees sharing a protected characteristic favourably by ensuring that their needs are met and that their increased participation in work is encourage. Particular regard is given in section 159 of Equality Act 2010, which encourages positive action in recruitment and promotion. Effective application of the Equality Act 2010 was witnessed in the case law of Jessemey v Rowstock Ltd and anor (2014), where the legislation was used to prohibit victimisation during dismissal and recruitment of the complainant called Jessemey. The complainant was initially employed by Rowstock Ltd, yet was dismissed on grounds that he was above the age of 65 years. He sued his employer for unfair dismissal and age discrimination. Later, when he looked for a job elsewhere, his former employer gave him poor references, which prevented him from being recruited. The court upheld the claims of unfair dismissal and age discrimination. Jessemey was the Claimant compensation totalling £24,682.73. TASK 3 How company, employment, and contract law has a potential impact on business (P3) In broad terms, company, employment, and contract law laws have two critical functions. They encourage fair market competition and mitigate the adverse impacts of business activities on individuals and other organisations (Dixon et al., 2006). As a consequence, they ensure that businesses engage in fair competition, and businesses behave ethically towards stakeholders by avoiding compliance costs and the likelihood of litigation (Office of Fair Trading, 2011). For instance, the employment laws, such as anti-discrimination laws, impose costs on businesses for discriminating against employees based on their unique characteristics. To a business, the employment law serves to ensure that a business provide an emotionally safe environment where employees from diverse backgrounds can work, as provided for by the Equality Act 2010. For instance, in the case law of Jessemey v Rowstock Ltd and anor (2014), the court prohibited victimisation of employees due to their age during dismissal and recruitment. Additionally, the corporate and securities law serves to ensure that businesses relate in a fair and just manner with its internal members and outsiders. This encourages businesses to be ethical and to take responsibility for the actions by subjecting the owners of the business to personal and business liability risk (Dixon et al., 2006). To ensure this, legislations may provide provisions on how to effectively manage the affairs of a company. For instance, in the case law of Royal British Bank v Turquand (1856), it was held that third parties should oversee the internal management of a company to make sure it is managed effectively. References Blackham, A. (2016). Reflexive change? A quantitative review of the impact of the Equality Act 2010 on age equality measures in organizations. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 16(2), 122-142 Cairns, I. (2010). Gender mainstreaming & ‘equality proofing’ in british law-making: a comment on the impact of the Equality Act 2010. Retrieved from: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/law/documents/Gender_Mainstreaming_and_Equality_Proofing_in_British_Law-Making.pdf Dixon, L. Gates, S., kapur, K., Seabury, S. & Talley, E. (2006). The impact of regulation and litigation on small business and entrepreneurship. Rand Institute. Retrieved: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/working_papers/2006/RAND_WR317.pdf Food Standards Agency. (2016). General food law. Retrieved from https://www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/regulation/foodlaw Jessemey v Rowstock Ltd and anor [2014] EWCA Civ 185 Office of Fair Trading. (2011). How your business can achieve compliance with competition law. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284402/oft1341.pdf Perren, K., Roberts, S., Stafford, B. & Hirsch, D. (2011). Evaluation of the Implementation of the Equality Act 2010: Report 2 - Awareness and Impact of the Equality Act. Centre For Research In Social Policy And International Centre For Public And Social Policy R v Del Basso and Goodwin [2010] EWCA Crim 1119 R v Harvey [2015] UKSC 73 R v Waya [2012] UKSC 51 Royal British Bank v Turquand (1856) 6 E&B 327 Read More