The aim of the course is to provide students with a knowledge of modern Business law in theory and practice.

 Monday 1600-1700, Thursday and Friday 1100-1200.

4 Fortnightly tutorials

Obligations 1B

Business Organisations

None

Summative Assessment will be by class essay (25%) and a two hour exam (75%)

The aim of the course is:

■ To introduce students to the essential elements of the legal system, including the main sources of law.

■ To provide a firm grounding in the structure and content of modern Business Law (including in particular key aspects of the Contract & Insurance contract Law, Delicts, Agency, Partnership, Trusts, Employment Law, Intellectual Property Law, Corporate & Insolvency Law, Business Regulation & Ethics, ).

■ To enable students to recognise and apply the general principles of the law of obligations (in particular the law governing the formation of contracts, breach of contract, unfair contract terms and the law of negligence) and to understand basic rationale of insurance contracts.

■ To enable students to identify the contract of employment and the basic principles underlying dismissals and redundancy.

■ To identify and explain the various forms of trust.

■ To provide students with an understanding of how a limited liability company is formed and operates through its board of directors.

■ To enable students to identify the basic constitutional documents of a limited company. 

■ To explain the differences between loan and share capital (including The London Stock Exchange, issuing securities to the public);

■ To explain the remedies available to a minority shareholder; to explain the duties incumbent upon a company director.

■ To explain the rationale and procedure of corporate insolvency law.

■ To appreciate the main elements of business regulation and ethics i.e. Anti-money laundering, Anti-bribery and anti-fraud regulation.

■ To emphasize the legal, professional and ethical issues which arise in the course of business practice.

and also to encourage and enable students

■ To take responsibility for effective individual and group discussion and problem solving exercises

■ To develop problem solving skills

By the end of this programme students will be able to:

■ Show a clear and thorough understanding of the basic principles and concepts of Business Law.

■ Understand and explain the structure of the law in particular sub-fields, including topics such as the role and nature of law, sources of law and the Human Rights Act 1998.

■ Recognise and explain the elements of a legally binding contract; recognise the ways in which contracts may be concluded by agents; identify the remedies for breach of contract and explain the circumstances in which a party may be entitled to exercise remedies for breach of contract; identify the transactional structure and relevant legal rules of insurance contracts.

■ Identify an employee and the consequences of the status of an employee as compared to other workers; explain the nature of redundancy and the procedures of information and consultation to be followed in the context of redundancy;

■ Identify the legal issues surrounding the concept of negligence and, in particular, the legal implications of professional negligence.

■ Identify the various forms of trust.

■ Define the key elements of intellectual property law and identify legal and regulatory issues associated with the use of information technology; identify the key requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

■ Use the Companies Act 2006 as a primary source; understand the procedure involved in the formation of a limited liability company; identify the main commercial differences between a company and partnership as a business vehicle; explain the primary legal implications of debt and equity funding, issuing securities to the public, the London Stock Exchange; recognise the Articles of Association as being the primary constitutional document of a company; explain the remedies of a minority shareholder; recognise and explain the duties incumbent upon the officers of a company; and identify the various forms of insolvency proceeding.

■ Identify regulatory and ethical issues that must be considered in the context of normal business practice.

■ Define accurately and explain clearly the legal issues arising in legal problem scenarios.

Students must attempt both assessments.