BASIC LAW, REGULATION AND BUSINESS POLICIES

Chapter 3

1. Why do we need to know any law

Because accounts department might get involved with

complains from customers or dispute with a supplier. Does a customer has the right to refuse the payment if the goods supplied are not the ones ordered or delivered late etc. We need to know it for data protection and personal data records keeping purposes,

2. The Law of Contract

2.1 Is there a legally binding contract Factors to consider
Intention to create a legally binding contract Capacity Consideration Offer and acceptance

2.2 Breach of contract

Repudiation Damages

Action for price

Specific performance

3. Regulation of the sale of goods

A UK prospective

Some main rules of the Act A contract for the sale of goods can be made verbally, in writing or by electronic communication A contract for the sale of goods can be for either existing goods or future goods The price of the goods in a sale agreement might be fixed in the contract or by a method provided in the contract
Sales by description

Satisfactory quality
Merchantable quality

3. Regulation of
3.1 When does ownership of the goods pass from seller to

buyer The sales of goods Act deals with some problems relating to when the ownership of goods passes from seller to buyer
A buyer cannot acquire better rights to ownership in goods than the

seller had.
A buyer might take delivery of goods without having time to

inspect them and check that they are the correct items. The customer has the right to reject the items which not comply with terms of the sales agreement. Retention of title clauses also known as (Romalpa Clause). The Act allows a contract to include a clause stating that a seller will have the legal owner ship of goods even after delivery utill the goods have been paid for. Unless the contract includes a clause stating that legal owner ship passes to the buyer after the delivery to the buyer.

3. Regulation of
An International Prospective: Legislation protecting

consumers in other countries varies across the globe. There is no single piece of international legislation so you should be familier with the UK fundamentals of contract and the UK Sales of Goods Act 1979.

4. Document Retention Policies

The documents used to process a transaction are not

thrown away but are kept for some years. Such as orders, delivery note, GRN, invoice etc. they are kept for future use. Some tax laws require docs to be retained for a number of years. Nowadays electronic copies are kept.

5. Data Protection
it is another aspect of the business which keeps records

of and information about people. The law provides some protections for individuals:
Prevents business holding information about people when there is

not a legal reason for that. Requires the business to make sure that the data is accurate Allows individuals to inspect and see any personal data about them held by others. Personal Data: It is about specific person. It can include name, address, age, date of birth, education, experience, salary, tax. Businesses in the UK that hold files of personal data about individuals required to comply with the Data Protectino Act 1989. first they mus register with Data Protection Commessioner as a user of personal data.

5. Data Protection
A user of personal data must comply with the following

principles:
Per.. Info must be obtained and processed lawfully. Per.. Info should be held only for specific lawful purpose. The amount of info should be sufficient and relevant for its purpose.

Per.. Info should be accurate and up-to-date.

Per.. Should not be kept for longer than is necessary. An individual is entitled to know that a data user is holding personal

data about him or her. He or she can inspect the data and ask for correction and deletion. If personal data is disclosed in unauthorized way individual has the right of legal action against the data user.

5. Data Protection
Certain Conditions for processing personal data: With the constant of the individual As part of contractual arrangement between the data user and individual For legal reasons Some personal data does not come within the scope of the Act such as: Personal date about employees for payroll purposes Personal data about customers and suppliers for the purpose of maintaining account records.
Countries other than UK also have laws on data protection which are less more stringent.