btec level 4 hnd diploma in business unit 7 business law

The system of legal normative documents consists of the following: Legislation Constitution, Acts, Resolutions of the National Assembly;... Ordinance, Resolution of the Permanent Commit

ASSIGNMENT FRONT SHEET 1Qualification BTEC Level 4 HND Diploma in Business

Unit number and title Unit 7: Business Law

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Contents

I Introduction 4

II Sources of law 4

1 The definition of law in general 4

2 The purpose of law 4

3 Sources of law in the VN 4

4 Sources of law in the UK 5

4.1 Case law (Common law) 6

4.2 Statutory law (Codified law) 7

5 Role of Government in Law-making 9

6 Role of Parliament in Law-making 10

7 The case of 39 Vietnamese people died in a container in Essex, UK 11

III Conclusion 13

I Introduction

In modern life, the concept of law is no longer strange to people all over the world However, in reality, not everyone can understand the law as well as the issues related to the law In this article, I will clarify about the different sources of law, the role of the Government in law making, and how written law and

case law are applied in legal courts II Sources of law

1 The definition of law in general

“The law may be defined as the body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the

administration of justice In other words, the law consists of the rules recognised and acted on by courts of justice.” (LawPage, 2021)

2 The purpose of law

The primary purpose of this function of the state is that which its name implies; to maintain right, to uphold justice, to protect rights, to redress wrongs

to provide a governmental structure and legislative procedures: constitutional law to provide public services and to raise taxes to pay for them: administrative

to regulate and promote the economy: administrative, civil and criminal law are all involved to promote public order and preserve national security: criminal law

to give individual members personal rights and duties in relation to others and to enable personal enforcement of these rights: the civil law

to give legal validity to approved relationships and transactions between members of the society:

this involves the law of contract; the law of company

3 Sources of law in the VN

Legal Normative Documents: The legal normative documents are the primary, fundamental and most important source of law in Vietnam

The system of legal normative documents consists of the following:

Legislation (Constitution, Acts, Resolutions of the National Assembly);

Ordinance, Resolution of the Permanent Committee of National Assembly; Orders, Decisions of the State President;

Decrees of Government; Decisions’ of the Prime Minister;

Resolutions of the Justices Council of the Supreme People’s Court and the Circulars of the Chief Justice;

Circulars of the President of the Supreme People’s Procuracy; Circulars of Ministers or Heads of Ministry-equivalent Agencies; Decisions of the State Auditor General;

Joint Resolutions of the Permanent Committee of National Assembly or the Government and the central offices of socio-political organizations;

Joint Circulars of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court and the President of the Supreme People’s Procuracy; those of Ministers or Heads of Ministry-equivalent Agencies and the Chief Justice, President of the Supreme People’s Procuracy, those of Ministers or Heads of Ministry-equivalent Agencies;

Legal documents of Local People Councils and People Committees

International Treaties: In cases where a legal document and a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of

Vietnam is a party, contains different provisions on the same matter, the provisions of the treaty shall

prevail

Customs: Customs are norms having the clear content to define rights and obligations of individuals and

legal entities in a certain civil relation, which were constituted and iterated over a long time, and were

recognised and applied widely in a region or area by an ethnic group or community or in a civil field 4 Sources of law in the UK

Made by Parliament Made by Court

Made by European Union, if not yet BREXIT

4.1 Case law (Common law)

Definition: The law as established in previous court rulings; like common law, which springs from

judicial decisions and tradition

The origin of the common law: The United Kingdom lacked a comprehensive legal system before 1066

and the Norman Conquest; instead, the nation's laws were made up of regional customs that applied to

different parts of the nation

The term "common law" comes from William the Conqueror, who was the first monarch to combine these accumulated customs and traditions and establish courts and a national legal framework

The judgments of these courts were documented and made public, making it possible for the judiciary to

review earlier judgments (precedents) and apply them to the current case

Common Law Countries: Common law is also practiced in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, New

Zealand, and the United Kingdom…

Characteristics of Common Law Systems:

1 The law existed even though it could not be immediately found English law has no boundaries and is always evolving / growing

According to Professor Dworkin, English law is seen as a ‘seamless web’ ie English law has no boundaries and is alwaysevolving or growing English law will never going to stop evolving unless parliament completely codify the entirecommon law As more cases come to court, the judges have an opportunity to extend the legal principles

In essence, the statement that English Law is seen as a ‘seamless web’ suggests that the nature of unwritten law is it hasthe capacity to grow and evolve Judges have the opportunity to include more if the law is unwritten / uncodified

2 Judges cannot look beyond legislation to determine the meaning of statutes, and no consideration ofmorality prevails against parliament

When there is written law (statute), written law will always prevail over common law 3 Another distinctive characteristics of common law culture is that there is jury trials

Jury trials involve the participation of ordinary men in a criminal trial to decide the verdict of the defendant Jury will notdecide on legal matters, their job is to decide on factual matters after being explained what the law is

Judicial Precedent: The doctrine of judicial precedent involves an application of the principle of stare

decisis ie, to stand by the decided In practice, this means that inferior courts are bound to apply the legal principles set down by superior courts in earlier cases This provides consistency and predictability in the

law

Stare decisis: A legal doctrine in which a decision previously reached by a court is used as authority in all future cases that are based on the same basic circumstances or facts

Common law example:

Every once in a while, common law has outfitted the reason for new legislation to be composed For instance, the U.K quite a while ago had a common law offense of “outraging public decency.” In the last decade, the authorities have utilized this old common law to arraign another meddlesome movement called upskirting: the act of putting a camera in the middle of an individual’s legs, without their consent or knowledge, to snap a picture or video of their genitals for sexual delight or to mortify or trouble In February 2019, the U.K Parliament passed the Voyeurism (Offenses) Act that authoritatively makes upskirting a crime, deserving of as long as two years in jail and the chance of putting an indicted individual on the sex offenders register

4.2 Statutory law (Codified law)

Definition: Statute law is a written law created by parliament which begins from choices made in

different courts and the country’s written constitution It is the most elevated sort of law which passes acts

onto the Houses of Parliament where they banter whether the act should exist or not

Origins of Statutory Law: Statutory laws may originate with national, state legislatures, or local

governing bodies Federal laws must be passed by both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then usually require approval from the President of the United States before they can take effect In rare circumstances, the executive-the president or state governor-may “veto” or refuse to sign the law or reject it When this happens, the legislature-Congress at the federal level-can override the

veto with a two/third supermajority of votes

Statutory laws enacted by state legislatures or local governments must comply with the U.S Constitution In addition, the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution holds that statutory laws enacted by the U.S Congress take precedence over conflicting laws enacted by the 50 state legislatures

Statutory law is in contrast to other types of laws such as common law or regulatory law

Characteristics of Codified Law Systems:

Deeply influenced by Roman law

The legal system is divided into Public Law and Private Law The legal system appreciates reasoning

The legal system is highly systematized and codified

The legal precedent is not considered as a common and popular form of law as a written law

Public Laws: Public laws are laws intended for general application, such as those that apply to the nation as a whole or a class of individuals

Public law consists of laws aimed at regulating the functioning of society The main areas of public law are constitutional law, administrative law, procedural law, and criminal law

Private Laws: Private Laws affect individuals, families, or small groups of people, and are enacted to

assist citizens found to have been injured by government programs or who are appealing an executive

agency ruling such as an order of deportation Example of statutory law:

Suppose you are driving on a highway where the posted speed limit is 55 miles for every hour Be that as it may, you are in a surge, so you choose to go 70 miles for each hour A cop pulls you over, and you are given a warning or fined for exceeding the speed limit You have violated a vehicle and traffic law This law is set up by the lawmaking body as a statute or a law that is officially composed and sanctioned

Therefore, the law you violated was a statutory law

5 Role of Government in Law-making

Secondary legislation: Secondary legislation usually has the words ‘rule’, ‘order’ or ‘regulation’ in the title Many pieces of secondary legislation are referred to as ‘statutory instruments’ or ‘SIs’, which are the most common form of secondary legislation

The functions of secondary legislation:

1 To fill out the detail of an Act of parliament Many Acts of Parliament only set out the

high-level policy direction, leaving much of the technical detail to be provided through secondary legislation later This approach is usually taken for two reasons First, as parliament has already approved the broad shape of the policy and adding such detail is not thought to warrant the same intensive scrutiny as an Act of parliament Second, practically, there is insufficient parliamentary time or capacity to include such technical detail in an Act of parliament

2 To provide flexibility to update the law when necessary In some areas, policy is subject to

regular, small changes, which are not thought to warrant a new Act of parliament For instance, if a parent Act establishes a particular benefit, secondary legislation may be used to uprate the benefit each year In some cases, powers to create secondary legislation may have been made with the intention that they would be used for relatively uncontroversial purposes, but later be used to make significant policy change- such as in 2015, when the government attempted to use secondary legislation to make changes to tax credits Some controversial powers known as Henry VIII –powers allow secondary legislation to be used to amend or repeal primary legislation –

3 To respond to urgent situations Some parent Acts provide for secondary legislation to come into

effect immediately, allowing the government to rapidly change the law in response to events An

extreme example of this part of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which empowers ministers to make emergency regulations in times of national crisis

Distinguish secondary legislation with the first legislation:

1 Act voted and which have become law through parliament

1 Rules and legislation made by the executive branch, for e.g by ministers, local councils and public authorities to whom law-making power has been delegated

2 Tim consuming process, consisting of multiple stages

2 Secondary legislation must be authorised by primary legislation, and conform to boundaries it has laid down

6 Role of Parliament in Law-making

Distinction:

Royal commission: An idea that has been generated by a number of individuals or government bodies, such as the Royal Commission (an agency of law reform), a pressure group, a party policy that has been put forward as new legislation, a private member’s Bill or an alternative law reform Royal

Second readingCommittee

Third readingHouse of

court

body such as the Law Commission

A White Paper and a Green Paper These are discussion documents that are used to give details of proposed legislation

Drafting: typing the draft of a new piece of legislation This is the drafting of the Bill to make sure that the wording of the proposed legislation is clear

First reading: The bill arrives in the Lords This stage is a formality where the bill name is read in the chamber, which is the introduction of the proposed legislation

Second reading: The main debate on the purpose and key areas of the bill At this stage members discuss any concerns or specific areas where they think changes may be needed There are usually no votes (divisions) at this stage

Committee stage: Detailed line-by-line scrutiny of the text with amendments (suggested changes) Members start at the front of the bill and work through to the end Votes may take place to decide whether to make the changes Any member may take part and there is no time limit

Report: Is of a report This represents the report stage, which informs either the House of Lords or House of Commons of any amendments

Third reading: This reading considers the amended Bill: A ‘tidying up' stage, aiming to close any loopholes A final chance for amendments and votes

House of Lords At this stage the Bill passes to the next House If the Bill started in the House of : Commons, the next House would be the House of Lords

Royal Assent: When both Houses have agreed the text, the bill is approved by Queen and becomes a law or ‘Act of Parliament'

Publication: The published legislation

Implementation: Simply states that the legislation is being implemented

Interpretation in court A judge in a court who is reading the legislation, interpreting the rules and : applying them

7 The case of 39 Vietnamese people died in a container in Essex, UK 7.1 FACTS/Background of the case

The case of 39 Vietnamese dead in a container in Essex, UK occurred when the police discovered the