RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Question 1
Simon and his girlfriend Jane decided on going camping in the Three Gorges National Park in northern New South Wales. The park is set up for campers with a designated camping area with cooking facilities and toilets. It also has an area set aside for parking visitor’s cars and setting up tents. The camping area has a sign directing people to set up camp within designated areas but there is no restriction on where people can go in the actual park.
The park is a wild natural place with dense forests and narrow winding pathways. There are many cliffs and gorges in the park and it has had hikers who have suffered injuries when on hikes in the past.
On their first evening in the park Simon and Jane start cooking a meal on the cooking facilities made available to campers. It is actually Simon’s birthday so they both have a few celebratory drinks. Simon actually becomes a little affected by alcohol and wanders off into the bush to go to the toilet. He completely forgets that there are toilets in the camping area and just thinks finding a nearby bush will be good enough. Unfortunately Simon stumbles through the bush for quite a distance, misjudges his footing and falls over a cliff edge. Fortunately he does survive the fall but suffers serious leg injuries that does incapacitate him in his ability to walk.
Simon urgently seeks your advice in respect of his chances in establishing liability for negligence against the National Parks Commission. In your answer make sure you address each element required in establishing negligence.

Question 2
Barry is a sailor on a boat that sails from Melbourne up the east coast to Brisbane. He is paid a wage for his services which include him cleaning cooking and assisting the captain in navigating the boat. Whilst on their journey up the east coast one of the other sailors deserts the ship. Apparently the other sailor decided that the bright lights of Sydney were more to his taste than remaining on board as a sailor.
The Captain explained to Barry that if he remained on board the boat and did not desert like the other sailor he would pay Barry the other sailor’s wages. Barry was excited to get the extra money but was unclear as to the Captain’s intentions. He asked the captain whether he had to do anything extra for his extra pay and the Captain replied, “Well lad, just make sure everything is ship shape, just like you had to do before. If you stay on board you can have a job on the return journey.” Barry thought that this was a good deal and stayed on board for the balance of the journey.
On reaching Brisbane the Captain (who was obviously a very untrustworthy individual) refused to pay Barry the extra wages of the sailor that deserted.
Barry urgently seeks your advice on whether he can sue under contract law for the extra wages. Advise Barry. In your answer discuss whether promissory estoppel could be used by Barry to assist in his claim for the extra wages

Question 3
Alexander and Susan were in a de facto relationship. They had been living together for 3years and typically made all household decisions together, including what apartment to livein, what groceries to buy and how the rent was paid. There was never any written agreementbetween the two and neither party thought twice about trusting the other.
Alexander thought of himself as a bit of an entrepreneur and had stumbled across abusiness deal three months ago to sell household furniture, requiring an initial outlay of$50,000 and estimated ongoing costs of $20,000 per year for the first few years. Alexander,excited by the prospects of leaving his mundane job as a checkout attendant, told Susanabout all the benefits of running his own business and asked Susan if she would be willing tohelp out with some of the costs.Susan agreed to contribute $15,000 now and $10,000 whenthe business was ready to open to cover the first few months of stock and operatingexpenses.Susan also agreed to be paid back whenever it was convenient for Alexander, whowould primarily be in charge of the running of the business. In return, Alexander agreed todo all the household chores until the business opens and promised to attempt to find anextra job to generate enough capital to cover a few unprofitable periods whilst the businesstakes off.
Alexander has purchased the business with a combination of his own savings, a bank loanand Susan’s contribution, and preparations have begun to open the business in 2 months’time.
Last week Alexander and Susan had a major falling out and Susan has moved back in withhis parents, refusing to pay any rent on the apartment he shared with Alexander.Alexanderis in your office, scared that Susan will not provide the extra $10,000 when the businessopens. Alexander has also received a letter from Susan’s lawyers demanding that Alexanderrepay the $15,000 within 28 days.
a) Advise Alexander and discuss the 3 elements of a simple contract, concentrating on the element that is particularly raised by these facts.
(13 marks)
b) On the above facts, would your answer be any different if the two had reduced their agreements to writing?
(2 marks)
c) Would your answer be different again if there was an express exclusion of an intention to create legal relations in the written agreements?
(2 marks)