Assessment 1: Case study raising ethical and legal issues
Assessment 1: Case study raising ethical and legal issues
FACT SCENARIO
Neverlands Secondary College is a year 7 12 co-educational school of around 1000 students in country Victoria. In 2022 a new teacher, Angus, decided to start up a Rugby Union club. He felt that Australian Rules and Soccer competitions were not robust enough for some of the more boisterous boys, and he wanted to create an avenue for the boys to dissipate some of their energy.
The leader of the physical education program, Maud, had an established co-educational program involving netball, basketball, cricket, Australian Rules Football and soccer. She ran an intra-school training and competition process, feeding into an inter-school competition through School Sport Victoria. When Angus told her that he wanted to set up a Rugby competition Maud told him to assess the demand (amongst the students) and put in a proposal so that it could be assessed and an appropriate risk management process organised. Angus did a poll of his year 9 Geography class and some of the boys loudly expressed their approval (mainly because they wanted to distract Angus from teaching). Most of the girls thought rugby was dumb but a couple asserted that if there was going to be a competition it should be co-ed.
Without consulting Maud, Angus sent around an email to students in years 9, 10 and 11 advertising the new Rugby Club which would practice at lunch-times on the public oval across the road from the school. Angus would be the coach.
During the first practice the following incidents occurred:
Philippe, a year 8, student was very keen to play rugby, as his father had played it as a teenager. He enthusiastically joined in the training session. Angus decided to demonstrate the scrum. Without giving any instructions other than to line the boys (all of them, not just the forwards) up against each other and calling out crouch, bind, set and throwing the ball in. The boys hooked the ball with their feet and pushed against one another. Philippe was caught awkwardly when the scrum collapsed. He had a long, thin neck and it was broken in the incident.
Kai, a year 11 student, decided to join the Rugby Club. He was a promising and ambitious rugby player with a stocky build and a tendency to be competitive. He was a little annoyed at having to play with students younger than himself, and keen to show them his skills. After Philippe was injured in the scrum, Kai ended up with the ball. Kai was unaware of Philippes injury, and pleased (although puzzled) with the ease at which he got the ball. He was jogging slowly along with the ball, throwing and catching it whilst grinning at, and joking with, some admirers on the sidelines. One of the year 7s, furious at Kais showing off and apparent lack of sympathy for Phillipe, caught up with him, then stuck out a leg and tripped him. Kai landed heavily on his shoulder and dislocated it. The shoulder joint capsule was compromised and Kais rugby career now looks doubtful.
Lizzie, a year 9 girl, was crossing the road back to the school, posting about the incidents on her Instagram and snapchat. Angus was still dealing with Philippe, Kai, and the ambulance, and there were no other teachers to regulate the students crossing the road. Lizzie was struck and seriously injured by a car which, although travelling at the 40 km/h speed limit, did not see her as she walked out between two parked cars. Lizzie hit her head on the road and suffered a brain injury.
Respond to these events, indicating the legal issues that arise on these facts, which principles will assist resolution of the issues (legally), and indicating what the outcome will be when those principles are applied to the facts.
Your answer should predominantly reference materials from Module 4, but of course the materials out of Modules 1 3 provide the background and scaffolding for that Module.
submission requirements
Assessment 1 is worth 45% of your mark for this subject. IT WILL BE MARKED OUT OF 45.
Submission must occur through the TURNITIN link on the LAW5EDU LMS site before11:59 PM (AEST/AEDT), 5th February 2023. You do not have to submit a hard copy.
Your answer should total 2500 words (+/- 10%). As long as you use footnotes only for referencing, these do not count in the word limit.
In the submission you should provide a full citation using the citation method commonly utilised in your discipline. For law students theAustralian Guide to Legal Citationwill be the easiest method to use. For others the Harvard or APA method may be more appropriate.
Assessment Rubric
Please note that the three issues described in the question are evenly weighted (so the rubric marks for each section are in multiples of 3).
MARK ALLOCATION
IDENTIFICATION OF LEGAL ISSUE/S Statement/s of issues stated at an appropriate level of generality 3
IDENTIFICATION AND STATEMENT OF LEGAL RULES Legal rules/statements correct 6
Legal rules/principles are supported by appropriate authority (case law or legislation) 6
APPLICATION OF LEGAL RULES Arguments on the facts appropriately articulated 9
Logically ordered, evaluative and persuasive argument 9
CONCLUSIONS Logically follow from discussion, concisely worded and appropriate 6
PRESENTATION Grammar, spelling, appropriate professional language and tone, appropriate referencing 6
TOTAL 45 marks
