MLC101 Law for Commerce Trimester 1 2024
MLC101 Law for Commerce Trimester 1 2024
Assessment Task Two (AT2) Short answer questions (case studies) Individual
DUE DATE:Monday, 6th May, by 8:00pm (Melbourne time)
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE:30%
WORD COUNT:Maximum number of words (1500)
Description
Purpose
This assessment provides you with another opportunity to formalise written answers to legal problems (hypothetical fact scenarios - HFS), albeit at a more advanced level, with an expectation of legal research and consideration of laws/ethics from an international perspective (Scenario 3). This assessment is the second step in acquiring and demonstrating the skill of legal argumentation, which is set as a discipline-specific skill with which to enhance your writing abilities, as well as to provide a deeper understanding of the workings of law for commerce (ULOs 1, 2, 3 and 4/ GLOs 1, 3, 4 and 8).
Tackling hypothetical real life legal problems will enable you to understand how laws are applied and from where certain rules of law are derived, and this will allow you manage risk as a business manager/ executive and also understand that risk from the perspective of a client or consumer.
Context/Scenario
For this task (like all your HFS questions), assume you are a lawyer, giving advice to a potential client, about their legal rights and obligations in relation to their situation (you should tell the client about all the possibilities, and then advise what is more likely to occur if the case goes to court). Scenario 3 involves principles from the UN Global Compact, which are not binding, however you are expected to address how those legal/ethical principles might influence a decision maker from the perspective of the parties in that case.
Specific Requirements
Your task is to provide interpretation and analysis of the legal issues posed in the case studies (HFS), drawing on the legal principles covered in Topics 4, 5 and 6. These scenarios (except for Scenario 3) are based broadly on your course materials from these topics; however, further research (beyond the textbook) for all scenarios will most definitely enhance the quality of your submission and help you to score a high grade for this assessment. You must correctly reference (Harvard referencing) for this assessment.
Please do not reference power point slides. Cite cases in full (you may abbreviate using only the first name after the first full citation), but you need not cite the source of the case. In other words, if you research the facts from our textbook or the library database such as Westlaw AU, you only need to cite the cases, not the textbook or the website.
The overall word count for this assessment is 1500 words (including in-text citations, headings, sub-headings but not including the references in the reference list). There is NO leeway for this assessment. In other words, please ensure the maximum word count is 1500. Submissions beyond the word count may be penalised.
*** You cannot access the dropbox for this assessment until you have completed the Legal Research for Commerce Module in the Content tab in CloudDeakin***
Scenario 1
Scenario 1
Arvin, a car mechanic (and owner of Fixacar Co. Ltd), is 50-years old and suffers from mild dementia. Arvins business has not been going well recently because of his illness. He and his wife, Angela, work casually (Arvin as a mechanic and Angela as an artist), and jointly own two mortgaged properties (one in which they live) in the inner city. One day, Arvin receives a call from Tony, a close family friend. Tony works as a property and finance consultant, and Arvin has relied on Tonys advice ever since he was diagnosed with dementia. Tony tells Arvin that now is a good time to invest in rural property, and that it would help Arvin pay off the mortgage of his two houses quicker. Arvin has been quite anxious about his loan repayments, so he asks Tony how to go about acquiring a rural property. Tony explains to Arvin that he can secure a loan at a very good interest rate if Arvin is willing to put up his two properties to secure the loan, and to guarantee the loan. Tony advised Arvin, that Arvin could use his mechanic business to secure the loan. The loan documentation included a certificate of independent legal advice to be signed by a lawyer and a certificate of independent financial advice to be signed by an accountant. It was through Tonys associated business connections that these certificates were obtained and signed. Arvin signs the loan agreement with JohnnyBank Ltd. (through Tony). After six months, Arvin is unable to pay the repayments for the loan. JohnnyBank wish now to secure their rights over the mortgaged properties. Arvin comes to you for advice. You recall reading a High Court case in the recent past (last few years) that sounds similar to Arvins situation.
Advise Arvin.
Please use case law to support your answer. (10 marks)
Note: Research is required for this scenario. You may rely on the course materials to answer this question but it is expected that you also research beyond the course materials..
Suggested word count: 500 to 600 words
Scenario 2
Adventure Cruises Pty Ltd. (AC), is a subsidiary of and wholly owned by Festival Group, a US based travel and cruise company. In August, 2021, one of ACs cruise ships, the Mermaid of the Seas, travelled from Hawaii to Melbourne, Australia, via New Zealand. Upon arrival in Melbourne, the ship was forced to keep its passengers on board, after a sudden outbreak of COVID-19, and subsequent lockdown by the Victorian government. Unfortunately, the virus had already started to spread on the ship, due to several passengers being infected prior to embarkation. The forced disembarkation restriction, plus the spread onboard lead to several elderly passengers on the Mermaid of the Seas falling ill, with limited medical support.
Miss Jolly Good-Show, a US citizen from Wisconsin, was one of the passengers infected with COVID-19 whilst on the Mermaid of the Seas. She and several other passengers had also fallen ill due to food poisoning on the journey from New Zealand because of contaminated shellfish (partly from careless handling and storage) from the buffet. Further to this, many, including Miss Good-Show, were not able to participate in any tourist activities in Australia and were forced to either isolate or fly back to the US once released. Miss Good-Show and several other fellow US passengers wish to bring a class action in damages for their loss against AC and Festival under the Australian Consumer Law. Both AC and Festival claim that the contracts were formed in the US, and therefore only US law can apply. Also, AC and Festival claim that an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the United States District Courts for the Central District of California and a class action waiver clause in the contract prevent Miss Good-Show and her fellow claimants from making any claims in an Australian court or under the Australian Consumer Law. Festival also refer to a term in the cruise contract providing: Festival Group and all its subsidiaries will not be subject to the consumer law guarantees of states outside of the USA.
Advise Miss Good-Show and her fellow passengers whether those clauses will be considered fair under the Australian Consumer Law and whether they may have a claim under the Australian Consumer Laws consumer guarantees.
Please use case law and/or statute to support your answer. (10 marks)
Note: Research is required for this scenario. You may rely on the course materials to answer this question but it is expected that you also research beyond the course materials..
Suggested word count: 500 to 600 words
Scenario 3
Marcy is a senior manager at Soulful Sisters Ltd. (SS), a retail outlet that designs and sells clothes to younger women and teenage girls. SSs factory is located in Cambodia. When recently visiting the factory on outskirts of Phnom Penh, Marcy hears about protests occurring outside the factory. Local rights activists were protesting against environmental damage to the local waterways and exploitation of children for labour. Marcy had read about this type of thing in the news, but did not expect that her own company was involved in such practises. After investigating the situation further, she finds that the factory is using old technology in its processes which is harming the environment. It is also apparent that very young girls (under 16) are working in the factory. She is conflicted about the situation because she understands that SSs profit margins are dependent on the low cost of production (the reason the factory was located in Cambodia). She calls her direct manager about the situation, who tells Marcy to just ignore it, and that it is just the way things are. Marcy is not comfortable with this approach.
Imagine that you work for Global Compact Network Australia, and are presenting to small to medium size businesses (SMCs) in Melbourne. Drawing on your experience and understanding of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, how would you advise Marcy about her situation. More specifically, which Principles would you advise Marcy pay specific attention to, when Marcy asks you how she should approach the situation with their factory.
Please cite specific aspects of the principles in your advice. (5 marks)
Note: Research is required for this scenario. The course materials WILL NOT be sufficient to complete an answer for this scenario because of the global perspectives component, which is not taught formally. This particular question focuses specifically on ULO4 which requires students to recognise that international legal standards have a bearing on commercial practises in Australia.
Suggested word count: 200 to 300 words
Please note that the facts provided in the hypothetical fact situations are purely fictional and any similarity to real life events are purely coincidental. You are not expected to consider any other related laws or legislation, only legal principles from the set Topics.
Referencing
For Assessment 2, you are required to observe referencing standards (Harvard referencing). Cite relevant cases and legislation (if applicable) in your answer from your unit materials the textbook will be an important resource, however you are expected to go beyond the materials, where instructed. You must comply with the usual legal conventions regarding the italicisation of case names and full case citations with the year and reporting reference. For example, Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] 1 QB 256.
Marking Criteria
Assessment Two is worth 30% of your final grade for this unit. You will be assessed against the following criteria:
Identification of legal issues and applicable legal rules (principles of law derived from cases and statutes)
Analysis of the facts and application of the law to the facts
Conclusion
Organisation, communication and style
Research and referencing
You will receive an individual mark for each of these criteria. These criteria will be applied by way of a rubric.
Submission Instructions
Assessment should be submitted in Microsoft Word (or rich text) format - .doc, .docx or .rtf. Please do not submit your assessment in PDF format, Apple Pages format, or in any other format. It is your responsibility to ensure that the file you submit is readable. Files that are not readable will be treated as non-submissions. Additionally, please take care to ensure that you have submitted the right version of the file (i.e., your final version, and not a draft version) and that you have submitted the assessment for this unit (and have not mistakenly submitted an assessment that was written for another unit). You are not able to take back your submission and upload a fresh (correct) version of your assessment, however this should not be a concern, as only your most recent submission will be marked, provided it is submitted before the due date and time. Any further submissions beyond the due date and time will attract a late penalty. Please observe the following format:
You do not need to provide a cover sheet.
Use IRAC (taught in Seminars) if you are new to legal writing (you need not use IRAC for Scenario 3).
Use a font at 11 or 12 point and line spacing of 1.5.
Use Calibri font.
Use margin 2.54 cm on all sides.
You must provide a word count at the beginning of your assessment. All pages of the assessment must be numbered and your student ID number included in the header or footer.
You must ensure that your writing, spelling and grammar are of a satisfactory standard.
Please do not repeat the questions in your submission so the word count can easily be checked.
REMINDER: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE Legal Research for Commerce Module BEFORE THE DROPBOX FOR ASSESSMENT TWO WILL OPEN FOR YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT.
Please ensure that you read all of the instructions contained in this document.
Learning Outcomes
This task allows you to demonstrate your achievement towards the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) which have been aligned to the Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs). Deakin GLOs describe the knowledge and capabilities graduates acquire and can demonstrate on completion of their course. This assessment task is an important tool in determining your achievement of the ULOs. If you do not demonstrate achievement of the ULOs you will not be successful in this unit. You are advised to familiarise yourself with these ULOs and GLOs as they will inform you on what you are expected to demonstrate for successful completion of this unit.
The learning outcomes that are aligned to this assessment task are:
Unit Learning Outcome (ULO) Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO)
ULO1: Apply key principles of law for commerce to recognise and evaluate legal issues GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
ULO2: Interpret and analyse a range of legal issues and the bearing they have in commerce GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities
GLO4: Critical Thinking
ULO3: Use appropriate digital technologies to search, retrieve and apply relevant information to law for commerce. GLO3: Digital Literacy
ULO4: Identify critical legal issues in the international context that have a bearing on business ethics, standards and practice in Australia GLO8: Global Citizenship
Submission
You must submit your assignment in the Assignment Dropbox in the unit CloudDeakin site on or before the due date. When uploading your assignment, name your document using the following syntax: <your surname_your first name_your Deakin student ID number_[unitcode].doc (or .docx). For example, Jones_Barry_123456789_ABC123.doc.
Submitting a hard copy of this assignment is not required. You must keep a backup copy of every assignment you submit until the marked assignment has been returned to you. In the unlikely event that one of your assignments is misplaced you will need to submit your backup copy.
Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means for the purposes of detecting collusion and/or plagiarism and for authenticating work.
When you submit an assignment through your CloudDeakin unit site, you will receive an email to your Deakin email address confirming that it has been submitted. You should check that you can see your assignment in the Submissions view of the Assignment Dropbox folder after upload and check for, and keep, the email receipt for the submission.
Marking and feedback
The marking rubric indicates the assessment criteria for this task. It is available in the CloudDeakin unit site in the Assessment folder, under Assessment Resources. Criteria act as a boundary around the task and help specify what assessors are looking for in your submission. The criteria are drawn from the ULOs and align with the GLOs. You should familiarise yourself with the assessment criteria before completing and submitting this task.
Students who submit their work by the due date will receive their marks and feedback on CloudDeakin 15 working days after the submission date.
Extensions
Extensions can only be granted for exceptional and/or unavoidable circumstances outside of your control. Requests for extensions must be made by 12 noon on the submission date using the online Extension Request form under the Assessment tab on the unit CloudDeakin site. All requests for extensions should be supported by appropriate evidence (e.g., a medical certificate in the case of ill health).
Applications for extensions after 12 noon on the submission date require University level special consideration and these applications must be must be submitted via StudentConnect in your DeakinSync site.
Late submission penalties
If you submit an assessment task after the due date without an approved extension or special consideration, 5% will be deducted from the available marks for each day after the due date up to seven days*. Work submitted more than seven days after the due date will not be marked and will receive 0% for the task. The Unit Chair may refuse to accept a late submission where it is unreasonable or impracticable to assess the task after the due date. *'Day' means calendar day for electronic submissions and working day for paper submissions.
An example of how the calculation of the late penalty based on an assignment being due on a Thursday at 8:00pm is as follows:
1 day late: submitted after Thursday 11:59pm and before Friday 11:59pm 5% penalty.
2 days late: submitted after Friday 11:59pm and before Saturday 11:59pm 10% penalty.
3 days late: submitted after Saturday 11:59pm and before Sunday 11:59pm 15% penalty.
4 days late: submitted after Sunday 11:59pm and before Monday 11:59pm 20% penalty.
5 days late: submitted after Monday 11:59pm and before Tuesday 11:59pm 25% penalty.
6 days late: submitted after Tuesday 11:59pm and before Wednesday 11:59pm 30% penalty.
7 days late: submitted after Wednesday 11:59pm and before Thursday 11:59pm 35% penalty.
The Dropbox closes the Thursday after 11:59pm AEST/AEDT time.
Support
The Division of Student Life provides a range of Study Support resources and services, available throughout the academic year, including Writing Mentor and Maths Mentor online drop ins and the SmartThinking 24 hour writing feedback service at this link. If you would prefer some more in depth and tailored support, make an appointment online with a Language and Learning Adviser.
Referencing and Academic Integrity
Deakin takes academic integrity very seriously. It is important that you (and if a group task, your group) complete your own work in every assessment task Any material used in this assignment that is not your original work must be acknowledged as such and appropriately referenced. You can find information about referencing (and avoiding breaching academic integrity) and other study support resources at the following website: http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-supportYour rights and responsibilities as a student
As a student you have both rights and responsibilities. Please refer to the document Your rights and responsibilities as a student in the Unit Guide & Information section in the Content area in the CloudDeakin unit site.
