LAW 8500 Australian Commercial and Corporations Law
Assignment 1
This assignment deals with critical problem solving skills and comprises 20 % of total marks for this course. This assessment tests course objectives addressing:
• Knowledge of relevant law,
• Application of the law to factual business situations, and
• Use of critical and analytical thinking skills.
Please read the question carefully as well as the marking rubric supplied separately. Make sure you clearly understand the mark allocation for each question and the word limit.
Instruction for assessment tasks
Students should read the discussion of the ILAC method of addressing problem based questions posted to the course activity page. It requires identification of ISSUE(S) as the initial step in addressing problem based questions. Usually problem based questions in law have 2 – 3 key issues in the question. However, this is a general directive only, and students should examine the question and make their own determination about the key issues.
You are applying the ILAC method to address the problem-based question. There is one question divided into three parts. Note the word limit and mark allocation for each part.
Due Date 30th August 2018
Question 1 (20 marks)
Problem scenario
Brisbane Diamond Jewellery entered into a standard service agreement with Transglobal Alarm Monitoring Pty Ltd to provide security and alarm monitoring services for 5 years. From 2013 until 2017, the alarm and monitoring system was working fine and there was no incident of any security nature. On June 2017, the owner of Brisbane Diamond Jewellery went as usual to open his business and noticed that the alarm and monitoring system was not working properly and later found that many pieces of diamond Jewellery were missing and stolen from the shop. Unfortunately, Brisbane Diamond Jewellery had not insured its premises to cover lost property in the event of robbery.
The owner immediately contacted Transglobal Alarm Monitoring Pty Ltd and wrote formally to the manager demanding compensation for the failure of the alarming and monitoring system that resulted in the robbery. The manager replied back and advised that the company is not prepared to pay any compensation relying on the standard alarm agreement signed between the parties and particularly clause 10 that states the following:
10. Transglobal Alarm Monitoring Pty Ltd and its employees will not under any circumstances be liable or responsible for any damage or loss that may be caused as a result of using the alarming and monitoring security system.
The owner of Brisbane Diamond Jellewery wants to take legal action agnist Transgloabl Alarm Monitoring Pty Ltd and you have been appointed to advise him on his chances of success.
Assessment tasks
1. Please identify the legal issue(s) raised in the question and briefly state the law relating to each issue. (5 marks)
(Hint: what is the effect of the exclusion clause? In order to address this matter, it is important to examine if the exclusion clause is part of the contract, and whether it covers breach.)
(Maximum word limit 500)
2. Apply the law specifically to the facts of the question and advise Brisbane Diamond Jellewery on their chances of success in receiving compensation for the losses resulting from the failure of the alarming and monitoring system provided by Transgloabl Alarm Monitoring Pty Ltd. (10 marks)
(Hint: it is important demonstrate how you apply the law to the facts of the question. The law effectively is a tool to fix the legal problem/issue/difficulty. Please think carefully about this aspect of answering a legal problem. It is not enough to take a legal proposition, but you need to explain its relevance, why you are using it and what it will achieve.
(Maximum word limit 1000).
3. Discuss whether the question, particularly in relation to any of the legal issues or factual circumstances raised, created the possibility of alternate arguments. Critically assess one alternate position and briefly explain why this might arise. You only need to address one situation here. If you are of the view there are no situations of that type arising, then explain why you feel that, again by critically assessing your position on this. (5 marks)
(Hint: note, you have to demonstrate critical thinking here, and you should read material posted to the course study desk on this to assist you. Part of the course objectives involve using critical and analytical thinking skills. Sometimes in a law question, there may be facts that suggest more than one possible answer. There is a degree of ambiguity in the facts allowing for different interpretations. This is where critical and analytical thinking skills are important.
(Maximum word limit 500).