Deck 5: The Legal Environment

Question 1

Which of the following statements is true? Please select all that apply.

A) Van Gend en Loos establishes that Article 12 of the Treaty of Rome 1957 applies only to countries.
B) Van Gend en Loos establishes that all EU legislation has direct effect.
C) Van Gend en Loos establishes that some EU legislation gives rights to individuals and companies.
D) Van Gend en Loos establishes that some EU legislation imposes duties on individuals and companies.

Answer 1

C, D

Question 2

Describe how the British government's policy, as set out in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, reflects the more general arguments in favour of deregulation? Please use a maximum of 250 words for your answer.

Answer 2

The act requires the government to publish a 'Business Impact Target' showing the economic impact of regulation on businesses. The first of these aimed to reduce the cost of regulation by £10billion between 2015 and 2020.
This sort of target is consistent with the economic argument in favour of deregulation which emphasises the cost of regulation on business. It is felt that reducing regulation can make companies more competitive.
A similar argument is used for nation states and underpins the World Bank's Doing Business rankings. This suggests that deregulation assists economic growth as it helps to attract inward investment. It is also argued that free trade encourages prosperity.
There are related economic arguments which stress how deregulation can allow for flexibility which can also reduce cost. At the same time, as the Better Regulation Commission suggested more flexibility can also allow for more innovative thinking.

Question 3

Which one of the following does NOT have legal personality in England and Wales?

A) A sole trader
B) A partnership under the 1890 Partnership Act
C) A company
D) An LLP

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In Salomon v Salomon, Mr Salomon could not recover his money from the company because the company was really just Mr Salomon under a different name.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true? Please select all that apply.

A) Companies cannot be sued by their shareholders.
B) Companies are owned by their shareholders.
C) Companies are run on a day-to-day basis by their directors.
D) Companies are always big businesses.

Question 6

Examine the arguments for and against Investor State Dispute systems such as the one proposed under TTIP? Please use a maximum of 250 words for your answer.

Question 7

Which of the following statements is true? Please select all that apply.

A) A Director owes special duties to his/her company.
B) A Director must act in the interests of the shareholders.
C) Directors must only ever think in the short-term interests of the company.
D) Directors must act in the interests of employees even if this conflicts with shareholder interests.

Question 8

A partner in an ordinary partnership governed by the 1890 Partnership Act, who enters into a contract in the partnership name, makes all of the partners liable if the contract is not performed.

Question 9

Which one of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Regulation may be beneficial because it helps to protect society from unscrupulous business practices.
B) Regulation may be beneficial because it may help ethically run businesses compete with less ethical ones.
C) Regulation may be beneficial because it is always cheaper than letting employees be injured.
D) Regulation may be beneficial because it can bring economic benefits.

Question 10

Do auditors always act as a check on financial abuses in companies? Please use a maximum of 250 words for your answer.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is true? Please select all that apply.

A) In Civil Courts in England and Wales the Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in respect of English Law lacking an EU dimension.
B) In Civil Courts in England and Wales the higher value and specialist cases are heard in the High Court.
C) In Civil Courts in England and Wales appeals from the High Court go to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division).
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 12

Those on the left of politics generally favour less regulation.

Question 13

The EU Commission's role includes bringing Member States before the European Court of Justice.

Question 14

According to UNCTAD how many International Investment Agreements were in place by the end of 2016?

A) 97
B) 3,324
C) 150,000
D) 3,000,000

Question 15

If a judge decides some legislation is incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 (s)he does not have to apply the law, but can ignore it and make her/his own mind up as to what the law ought to be.

Question 16

Does law simply consist of rules? Please use a maximum of 250 words for your answer

Question 17

Everything a judge says in a higher court binds judges in lower courts.

Question 18

Which of the following articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union deals with anti-competitive practices?

A) Article 30
B) Article 49
C) Article 56
D) Article 101

Question 19

Typically non-executive directors run companies on a day-to-day basis.

Question 20

What factors would influence the decision a business took about the different types of business organization it could adopt? Please use a maximum of 500 words for your answer