CLW1000 Commercial Law
Assignment
(40%)
Due:
Friday 20th September, 2013 (5pm)
Length:
2000 – 2500 words
QUESTION
1 (40 marks)
Ellen is a
graduate of The College of Alternative Medicine and is looking to start her own
business. She decides to open a meditation studio and looks around the inner
city suburb of Paddington for suitable premises. She eventually finds a perfect
terrace house near to Oxford St. (the main street). The owner of the premises
is willing to enter a 12 month lease however Ellen asks him to wait for a week
so that she can check with the local council as to the suitability of her
business.Ellen attends the council
offices and goes to the counter marked “Business Inquiries”. She asks several
questions of the council employee including a question about building work in
the area. She says “my meditation studio requires a calm environment is there
anything that could cause noise nearby?” The council officer is called away
before being able to answer. When he returns he has a very quick look at the
computer and says to Ellen “relax everything will be fine”.Ellen signs the lease the next day however within 2 weeks of
opening the meditation studio she sees builders arrive next door. She asks one
of them how long they will be working next door. The builder replies “It’s a
big job, a total renovation. It should take at least 6 months”.Ellen tries to run her meditation
studio but the noise from the building is too stressful on Ellen and her
clients. In fact a month into the building Ellen is so stressed that she
develops a nervous disorder that threatens her career in alternative medicine.
Discuss whether Ellen has a claim
against the council in relation to the advice she received.
The
use of Australian commercial law is to be made when answering the questions.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT
1.
Start your answer to each question on a fresh
page.
2.
When answering each question, ensure that
you:
·
identify
the issue(s) raised by the facts
·
identify
the relevant legal principles
·
apply
the relevant legal principles to the facts
·
reach
a conclusion
3.
You may, and are encouraged to, hand in an
introduction or outline of how you propose to answer the questions so that
feedback will be provided to you from the communication and study skills staff
before you complete the assignment.
Guide
to Formal Presentation of the Assignment
General
1.
The assignment should be typed on A4 paper, on
one side of the paper only, and with a margin of at least 5 cm.
2.
Formal language should be used so avoid
jargon, slang and colloquial abbreviations such as “don’t”. Ensure that you use
correct spelling.
3.
Headings and subheadings may be used if you
think that this would assist the presentation of your material.
Referencing
sources of information
4.
Avoid plagiarism by referencing your
sources. Sources must be referenced
where:
·
You are using someone else’s ideas
·
You are quoting directly from a source
·
You are paraphrasing someone else’s views
(See Crosling G.M. and Murphy H.M How to
Study Business Law- Reading, Writing and Exams, 3rd ed, 2000, p
122).
5.
Footnotes should be used to reference your
sources and should appear at the bottom of each page. Do not include substantive material in the
footnotes. All substantive material
should appear in the body of the assignment.
Citation
of cases
6.
When you first refer to a case, you should
cite the case in full, either in the text or in a footnote eg Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR
1. The case name should be italicised or
highlighted in some other way eg underlined or placed in bold letters.
7.
When subsequently referring to the case, it
is acceptable to use a common name for the case, such as “Mabo’scase” or “Mabo”.
8.
Where a particular page or paragraph in the
case is referred to, then the page number or paragraph number must be given eg
“Mabo’s case at 9” indicates that the information came from page 9 of Mabo’s
case. There is no need to write “page”
or an abbreviation of the word page.
Citation
of statutes
9.
When citing a statute, the name of the
statute should be italicised and the jurisdiction should appear in brackets
after the name eg Commonwealth of
Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK).
10.
When a particular section in the statute is
being relied on, then the section should be specified eg section 1. It is acceptable to use the abbreviation “s”
for “section” or “ss” where more than one section is being referred to eg s 1
or ss 5, 6 and 7. However, when a
sentence begins with a reference to a section, the word should always be
written in full eg “Section 1 of the Commonwealth
of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) provides that …”
Secondary
sources
11.
When initially referring to secondary sources
such as books, the author’s name and initials, full title of the book, edition
(if relevant), publication date and page number should be given eg Crosling
G.M. and Murphy H.M How to Study Business
Law- Reading, Writing and Exams, 3rd ed, 2000, p 122.
Bibliography
12.
A bibliography listing all books and articles
(not cases or statutes) used in the preparation of the assignment should appear
at the end of the assignment.
Guidance
from textbooks
13.
Use your prescribed textbook and recommended
texts as a guide to the way in which cases, statutes and secondary sources are
cited and the manner in which legal arguments are structured.
Further
References
Crosling G.M. and Murphy H.M How to Study Business Law- Reading, Writing
and Exams, 3rd ed, 2000
