TASK 1
Question 1: Sources of Law
While running any business effective type of laws and regulations must be followed. For the business to run successfully, proper compliance with the law must be made. The law generally originated from two different sources which include the primary and the secondary sources of the law. The primary sources are stated as the main analysis with which the legal obligations are set. On the other side, the secondary sources are the ones which is used to offer commentary or to describe the primary sources effectively. Based on the primary and secondary sources of the data, there are different types of sources of law which are assistive to the company to follow. The various sources of law are as follows-
- Common law- this is a type of law which is particularly developed with the help of judicial decisions and the principle of stare decisis (Robson, 2023). This principle states that the court must follow the precedents which are made previously.
- Statues- these are the laws which are written by the legislative bodies and the companies and other people have to effectively follow the laws in the same way.
- Case law- these are the laws which are based on the decisions which the judges have taken in any of the similar previous cases. In case the current case is also similar to any of the previous cases, then the judge of the case can refer to that previous case and accordingly take the decision.
Hence, to operate the business well for Cathy it is necessary to comply with laws like contract law, tax law, company law, employment law and many other different types of laws.
Question 2: Role of Government in Law-Making and Court Types
The government plays a crucial role in the working and making of the law well. The role of government is to initiate and develop the different types of changes and amendments which are needed to be implemented into the working. Further after developing the bill relating to the amendment it is sent for the first reading in the Lords. After the discussion in the first reading, the bill goes for a second reading and the members discuss the concerns relating to the bill (Making laws: House of Lords stages, 2025). Further, all the changes are scrutinised to determine whether the changes in the first and second reading have been implemented or not and this is done at the committee stage. After amending all the changes, the report stage arrives and after cross-checking all the amendments the bill is sent to third reading. After considering and checking for all the changes by both houses, the bill is presented to the queen for royal assent. When the bill is approved by the monarch then it is converted into legislation and this becomes a law which needs to be followed by all the concerned people.
Difference among county and high court and magistrates and crown court
|
Type of court |
Description |
|
Magistrate court |
This is a type of court which includes only the type of criminal cases. |
|
Crown court |
This is the court which includes all the cases that are based on the laws made by the European Union. |
|
County or high court |
This type of court includes working on the cases which are brought from the European Conventions and human rights. |
With the evaluation of the above difference, it is clear that all the courts are different and the types of the cases dealt are also different. Thus, it implies that every court is designed to solve a particular type of case only and in case the court is unable to solve the case then it is transferred to some other related court.
TASK 2
Question 3: Elements of a Valid Contract
For the contract to be legal between Cathy and Sue certain types of elements and conditions need to be fulfilled. For the contract to be valid there are different elements which need to be stated correctly so that the contract between the parties is clear and legally binding on every party (Ferreira, 2021). These conditions are as follows-
- Offer- the contract must have a valid offer in which currently Cathy is provided to sell the dress at $1000. This implies that an effective offer is made to the parties coming into the shop.
- Acceptance- the contract to be valid, must have effective acceptance to the offer which is made by the first party. In the current case, Sue did not accept to buy the dress at $1000 and made a counteroffer of $800.
- Intension- the contract must outline the intention of both parties to come into a contract (Henderson et al, 2022). For instance, in the present case, for $800 Cathy did not have any intention to sell the product.
- Consideration- it is defined as the exchange value that is present in the contract. In this case, the consideration was less for Cathy and as a result, the consideration is not appropriate.
- Capacity- it is termed as the fact that all the parties must have the capacity to come into a contract and fulfil all the obligations listed in the contract.
- Legality- this implies that the contract must not include any of the options or clauses which is not legal. This will affect the legal status of the contract and it will become void.
According to the case of Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain V Boots Cash Chemist [1953] it was held that just displaying the goods on the shelves is not an offer rather, the offer is the one which the consumer makes to the shopkeeper (Pharmaceutical Society v Boots – 1953, 2025).
Question 4: Consumer Rights
In the present case, there are different types of legal rights which Sue can access about the purchase of the dress based on the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Chapter 2 of the act section 9 states that the goods need to be of satisfactory quality. This quality of goods includes the fact that goods must be good in fitness, free from minor defects, safe and durable along with having a good appearance and finish (Consumer Rights Act 2015, 2025). By this clause, the dress was not fit and as a result of this, Sue can claim Cathy for the faulty product. This can include the fact that Sue can go to Cathy and demand an exchange of the product with one which is of superior quality. Also, according to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the consumer has a timeframe of 30 days and within this duration, the buyer can reject the delivery and can claim a full refund. Moreover, in the current case, Sue can go to Cathy and claim for the exchange of the dress as well. In case Cathy refuses to change the dress then Sue can even file a suit against Cathy and in court, she will get the dress exchanged or refunded.
Question 5: Breach of Contract
The breach of any warranty or the condition is stated as the violation of the implied or the expressed contract which is being finalised between two or more parties. This simply means that one of the parties in the contract has not fulfilled or followed the conditions and warranties which were defined in the contract (Parella, 2021). Thus, the legal effect in case of breach of warranty is that the whole contract is not repudiated rather the party can claim for the damages or the compensation. On the other side when there is a breach of condition then the contract is terminated. The case of Poussard v Spiers included the issue of whether failing to come on the first day of the performance can lead to a breach of the condition of the contract (Poussard v Spiers, 2025). Thus, it was held that failure towards fulfilling the condition was present and thus, Spiers was eligible to make the contract void. On the other side, in the case of Bettini v Gye (1875) LR 1 QBD, the issue arose that 6 days before the rehearsal, was a condition and Bettini was not present thus, Gye could end the contract (Bettini v Gye, 2025). However, according to the decision of the court, it was held that this requirement of being present 6 days before was a warranty and not a condition. Thus, it was held that Gye could not terminate the contract and resultantly only claim for the damages from Bettini.
Question 6: Discrimination
Direct discrimination is defined as treating a person differently against the protected characteristics. In the present case, Cathy faced direct discrimination in Nigeria as she belonged to the UK and based on her race and religion the discrimination took place. On the other side, indirect discrimination is termed as the putting of some specific rules and regulations on some particular people only and which do not apply to all people. In the current case, at last, Cathy has asked Joe to not serve anything to people coming from Lagos which was wrong. According to section 13 of the Equality Act 2010, Joe has the right to claim for the discrimination which Cathy has caused to him. It is particularly because of the reason that Joe has faced discrimination against the protected characteristic of race and he was provided less favourable treatment indirectly (Sian and Smyth, 2022). This is a case of indirect discrimination because Cathy has not directly asked Joe to leave as she does not want to serve anything to people coming from Lagos. But Joe has spent his whole childhood there and is much connected to the place. Thus, based on race which is a protected characteristic the discrimination took place with Joe and consequently he resigned.
TASK 3
Question 7: Breach of Contract – Partial Completion
According to the Contract Act, a breach of contract is when the parties are unable to fulfil the work for which the contract was established. This is because of the reason that the contract is prepared for a particular reason and in case the reason is not fulfilled then the contract will not be accomplished. In the current contract, Doreen has completed almost the whole work but due to not feeling well she was unable to complete the digital copy. Thus, according to the contract act elements, the contract was almost accomplished (Guha et al, 2024). Also, she has sent a copy of the designs by post to Cathy which she can convert in digital format. According to the situation, the designs have been completed but in the contract, there was a clause that money needed to be paid only on the completion but at a higher rate. Thus, according to the contractual agreement, there is a breach of contract and it is the responsibility of the company to not pay Doreen. But Doreen has shared all the designs by post and she has partly completed the contract and only the digital copy was not provided. Thus, based on the principle of consideration, Cathy must make the payment to Doreen. For this, she might not pay Doreen at the higher rates as the contract stated, but Cathy must pay for the payment as Doreen has shared the work with Cathy and has not cheated on her.
TASK 4
Question 8: IPR, Health & Safety, and Legislation
IPR and trademarks
Intellectual property rights are the ones which are used by the companies to protect the products and services in which they deal. There are different methods for protecting the product it includes ways including trademarks, copyrights, patents, design rights and many other different kinds of elements. For this, Cathy must effectively comply with the Trade Marks Act 1994. Compliance with this act will help Cathy in effectively protecting the designs well so that it is not utilised by others.
Health and Safety
For the working of the company successful it is necessary for Cathy that she must provide better health and safety to the employees working in the company (Badi et al, 2021). The employees need to be provided with good and safe working conditions so that they can effectively work and ensure that health and safety are managed. For this, Cathy needs to comply with the Health and Safety as Work Act 1974. This act provides better guidance to the companies that how they have to manage the work and ensure that whether they are working appropriately according to the guidelines or not.
Welfare, social and environmental legislation
Cathy also needs to work on managing effective welfare and environmental protection as well. For this Cathy needs to comply with the Environment Act 2021 as this is the major environmental legislation that the business needs to follow (Degan, 2024). This act provides for the effective type of guidelines which the company need to follow for managing the environment in a better manner. Thus, for this, it is essential for Cathy to effectively comply with this regulation so that better working can be ensured and good environmental protection can be ensured.
Copyright laws
Also, for the effective protection of the designs of Cathy, she must protect the work effectively with the law. This is necessary because there are high chance that the designs of the dresses might get copied. Thus, it is the responsibility of Cathy that she must protect the designs and for this compliance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 is required, this law assists in protecting the work effectively so that the work is not affected and also the things are protected well.
TASK 5
Question 9: Legal Remedies for Employees
There are certain types of legal solutions which are present for the employees to take action against the working of the company. In the present case of the arbitration agreement, the employees do not have to work beyond their regular hours. It is due to the reason that there is no legal requirement for the employer to pay off extra to the employees for working extra. Thus, the claim for unpaid overtime can be void as the arbitration contract does not provide for it. Hence, for this, Cathy can consider the Working Time Regulations 1998 for setting the hours of working and accordingly the overall working can be improved. It is the reason that this law effectively provides guidance relating to the working and ultimately better policies can be implemented into the working (Giri et al, 2022). According to Section 7 of the act, the arbitration agreement is separable from other agreements. The validity of the arbitration agreement is that it reflects the mutual wish of parties relating to the dispute resolution in case it occurs in future. This includes the fact that in case any issue is faced in future then both parties will be seeking the help of an arbitrator for solving the issue. Further, institutional arbitration is termed as a contract where one party agree to arbitrate using the conditions provided according to arbitral institutes. On the other side, Ad Hoc arbitration is defined as an agreement which is controlled with the help of the arbitrators selected and appointed by the parties.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Badi, S., Ochieng, E., Nasaj, M. and Papadaki, M., 2021. Technological, organisational and environmental determinants of smart contracts adoption: UK construction sector viewpoint. Construction Management and Economics, 39(1), pp.36-54.
Degan, V.D., 2024. Sources of international law (Vol. 27). BRILL.
Ferreira, A., 2021. Regulating smart contracts: Legal revolution or simply evolution?. Telecommunications Policy, 45(2), p.102081.
Giri, A., Aylott, J., Giri, P., Ferguson‐Wormley, S. and Evans, J., 2022. Lived experience and the social model of disability: conflicted and inter‐dependent ambitions for employment of people with a learning disability and their family carers. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(1), pp.98-106.
Guha, N., Nyarko, J., Ho, D., Ré, C., Chilton, A., Chohlas-Wood, A., Peters, A., Waldon, B., Rockmore, D., Zambrano, D. and Talisman, D., 2024. Legalbench: A collaboratively built benchmark for measuring legal reasoning in large language models. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 36.
Henderson, P., Krass, M., Zheng, L., Guha, N., Manning, C.D., Jurafsky, D. and Ho, D., 2022. Pile of law: Learning responsible data filtering from the law and a 256gb open-source legal dataset. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 35, pp.29217-29234.
Parella, K., 2021. Protecting Third Parties in Contracts. American Business Law Journal, 58(2), pp.327-386.
Robson, S.E., 2023. A Common Law Corporate Crisis: The Status of Common Law Criminal Immunities for Foreign State-Owned Enterprises in a Post-Halkbank Era. Am. UL Rev. F., 73, p.303.
Sian, S. and Smyth, S., 2022. Supreme emergencies and public accountability: the case of procurement in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 35(1), pp.146-157.
Online
Making laws: House of Lords stages. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/work-of-the-house-of-lords/making-laws/>
Pharmaceutical Society v Boots – 1953. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/pharmaceutical-society-v-boots.php>
Consumer Rights Act 2015. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/9>
Poussard v Spiers. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/poussard-v-spiers.php>
Bettini v Gye. 2025. Online. Available through: <https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/bettini-v-gye.php>
