NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY BTEC HND IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Assignment Cover Sheet NAME OF STUDENT REGISTRATION NO. UNIT TITLE ASSIGNMENT TITLE ASSIGNMENT NO NAME OF ASSESSOR SUBMISSION DEADLINE Common Law Take Home Assignment 1 of 2 Ho Thuy Ngoc 14th May, 2012 I, __________________________ hereby confirm that this assignment is my own work and not copied or plagiarized from any source. I have referenced the sources from which information is obtained by me for this assignment. ________________________________ _______________ Signature Date ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FOR OFFICIAL USE ASSIGNMENT GRADE 1 Unit outcomes Outcome Understand the essential elements of a valid and legally binding contract and its role in a business context Evidence for the criteria Assessor’s decision Feedback Explain the importance of the essential elements required for the formation of a valid contract 1.1 Discuss the impact of different types of contract 1.2 Analyse terms in contracts with reference to their meaning and effect 1.3 Apply the elements of contract in given business scenarios 2.1 Apply the law on terms in different contracts 2.2 Evaluate the effect of different terms in given contracts 2.3 (1) Be able to apply the elements of a contract in business situation (2) Merit grades awarded M1 M2 M3 Distinction grades awarded D1 D2 D3 2 Internal Verification Overall Comments By Assessor Assignment ( ) Well-structured Reference is done properly / should be done (if any) Overall, you’ve Areas for improvement: ASSESSOR SIGNATURE DATE / / DATE / / NAME: ........................................................................ (Oral feedback was also provided) STUDENT SIGNATURE NAME : ....................................................................... FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY VERIFIED YES DATE NO VERIFIED BY : ......................................................... NAME : ......................................................... 3 / / Claim 1: At 9.00 am on Thursday 13 August, Mary, a car dealer sends a telex to Austin offering to sell him a rare vintage car for £ 50,000. Austin receives the telex at 9.15 am and telexes his acceptance at 1.00 pm. Austin is aware that Mary’s office is closed for lunch between 1.00 and 2.00 pm. On her return to the office, Mary does not bother to check if she has received a telex from Austin and at 2.30pm receives an offer for the car from Ford, which she accepts. At 4.00pm Austin hears from another car dealer that May has sold the car to Ford. He is advised that it will cost him an additional £2,000 to buy a similar car and he immediately sends Mary another telex demanding that the original car be sold to him. Mary receives this telex at 5.00 pm, at the same time as she read the acceptance telex. What are essential elements required for the formation of a valid contract? Explain the importance of each? (1.1) Using IRAC format to advise Austin of his legal position and what remedies, if any are open for him? (2.1) Claim 2: Spacely Sprockets Pty Ltd enters into a contract with Cogswell Cogs Ltd to supply machinery for £200,000. The contract is written and signed by both parties. One of the terms of the contract states "in the event of any dispute both parties agree that neither party will take any legal action against the other". After signing the contract Cogswell Cogs cancels the order. Discuss whether Spacely Sprockets would have any claim under Contract Law (2.1) Claim 3 Niko borrows £1,000 from Scott and agrees to repay it, together with £100 interest, on 30 April, 1995. On 29 April, 1995, Niko tells Scott that he cannot repay the loan as he has lost his job and his only asset is his computer worth about £900, which he is using to help train for another job. Scott suggests to Niko that he sell his computer. He tells Niko that he will accept the proceeds in full settlement of the debt. Niko sells the computer for £950 and pays that amount to Scott on 30 April 1995 in full settlement of the debt. Two weeks later, Scott sues Niko for the balance of the debt. Is Scott likely to succeed in his legal action against Niko? Give your reasons. (2.1) Task 1 Explain the impact of different types of contract (1.2) Task 2 4 Explain the differences among conditions, warranties and innominate terms with examples to illustrate. (1.3) Claim 4 Hoe purchased an airline ticket to travel to Perth. The ticket contained several terms excluding the airline from any liability for any loss that may occur to the passenger's luggage during the time that it is out of his/her possession. On arriving at the airport Hoe handed over his luggage for inclusion on his flight. Before Hoe's luggage was loaded on the plane, an airline employee cut open the bag and stole the valuables inside. The employee then threw away the bag. Hoe was upset when he arrived in Perth and discovered the loss of the bag. He seeks your advice as to whether he can sue the airline despite the exclusion on the ticket. (2.2) Claim 5 Greg owns a factory which operates 12 hours a day for 7 days a week producing lollies. In the factory there is a large mixing machine which is used to mix all the ingredients for the lollies. It is a very special piece of equipment and is the only such machine in the factory. One afternoon there is an electricity surge and the mixing machine breaks down. Greg gets the repairer out immediately and is told that the motor will have to be taken away for repairs. Greg tells the repairer that this is the only mixing machine he has, and that without it he will not be able to run the business. The repairer promises that the motor will be back to Greg in 4 days. In the end the repairer takes 9 days to repair and bring back the motor. (a) (b) Advise Greg of any rights he has against the repairer in contract law Would your answer be different if Greg told you that he had received a special order for lollies which he was going to meet by running the factory for an extra 6 hours a day for 3 days? This special order was worth $2,5000 to Greg in profit, but because the repairer was 5 days late Greg missed out on the order. Discuss. (2.3) 5 GRADING Pass is achieved by meeting all the requirements defined in the assessment criteria. Merit Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions. (M1) Characteristics / Possible Evidence – Identify different elements of valid and binding contract using of relevant theories and techniques in the given situation. Select and apply appropriate techniques. (M2) Characteristics / Possible Evidence – Select and apply appropriate legal rules using of various case examples related to given situations. Present and communicate appropriate findings (M3) Characteristics / Possible Evidence – An appropriate structure and approach has been used to prepare a legal report. Using a range of case examples widely related to given claims. Distinction Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions (D1) Characteristics / Possible Evidence – creation has been used to generate and justify valid comments on related to essential elements of a valid contract and specific terms in a business contract. Common Skills Grading To achieve a PASS, student’s answers should display receive and respond to a variety of information, legible and neat written of work, different sources of information used widely and use technological equipment to aid problem solving. To achieve a MERIT, student’s answers should display clear and appropriate respond to variety of information, legible, clear and neat written of work, clear variety of information sources used and confident in using equipment and gained knowledge from use of equipment. To achieve a DISTINCTION, student’s answers should display clear understanding, further research undertaken; work is well structured with evidence of planning, wide range of information sources used and willingness to use a variety of equipment to find best solution. 6 PRESENTATION 1. The assignment should have a cover page that includes the assignment title, assignment number, course title, module title, Lecturer/tutor name and student’s name. Attach four pages from 1 to 4 of this assignment with your report and leave them blank for official use. 2. Ensure that authenticity declaration has been signed. 3. Content sheet with a list of all headings and page numbers. 4. A fully typed up professionally presented report document. Use 12 point Arial or Times New Roman script. 5. Your assignment should be word-processed and should not exceed 2,000 words in length. 6. Exhibits/appendices are outside this limit. 7. The assignment should be not contain a bibliography – but should contain a list of any references used in the assignment. NOTES TO STUDENTS Check carefully the submission date and the instructions given with the assignment. Late assignments will not be accepted. Ensure that you give yourself enough time to complete the assignment by the due date. Do not leave things such as printing to the last minute – excuses of this nature will not be accepted for failure to hand-in the work on time. You must take responsibility for managing your own time effectively. If you are unable to hand in your assignment on time and have valid reasons such as illness, you may apply (in writing) for an extension. Failure to achieve a PASS grade will results in a REFERRAL grade being given. Take great care that if you use other people’s work or ideas in your assignment, you properly reference them in your text and any bibliography. NOTE: If you are caught plagiarizing, you could have your grade reduced to zero, or at worst, you could be excluded from the course. 7