The aim of this unit is to provide learners with an understanding of aspects of the law of contract and tort and the skill to apply them, particularly in business situations.
This assignment is designed to assess the learner’s knowledge of the all aspects of the unit
Task 1 covers AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC2.1, AC2.2 and AC2.3
Task 2 covers AC3.1, AC3.2, AC3.3, AC4.1 and AC4.2
Layout and referencing:
Present your work in one business report style which should include table of contents, reference list, foot or end notes and appendices if any
Include the reference code of this assignment on your assignment submission.
Each page must be numbered at the bottom right hand side.
Ensure your name is in the footer and the production date/version number of your assignment
Spell-check the document and make sure there are no grammatical errors.
Complete all the tasks.
Produce clear specific reasoning and arguments in support of your answers.
You must include a bibliography at the end to show where your information was sourced.
Your sources must be identified using the Harvard referencing system. The words used in your bibliography will not be included in your word count.
The learner must demonstrate usage of a range of sources of information throughout the completion of the assignment by using of appropriate referencing (All tasks).
Autonomy and independence must be demonstrated throughout the completion of all tasks. This will be evidenced by the level of formative feedback provided by the tutor.
Exceptional circumstances (e.g. learning difficulties such as dyslexia) will be taken into consideration
Assignment 1
Read the following mini-cases and answer the questions below
Mini-case A
On 13 September, Fiona, a newly qualified dentist, receives the following note from her uncle:
10 Park Street
LONDON
WI A54
Dear Fiona,
We talked some time ago about you buying some of my dental equipment when I retire from my London practice at the end of this month. I am prepared to let you have everything for £15,000. Let me know fairly quickly if you are interested because I’ve already had a very good offer from one of my colleagues.
Your affectionate uncle
Arnold
Fiona is keen to take advantage of her uncle’s offer but is unsure whether she can raise such a large amount of money by the end of September. She phones her uncle to find out whether she can have until after Christmas to pay. Her uncle is away at a conference and so Fiona leaves a message with his secretary. Two weeks pass by and, as Fiona has not heard from her uncle, she arranges a loan with her bank. On 28 September she writes to her uncle accepting his offer and enclosing a cheque for £15,000. On 30 September, her uncle phones to say that he has already sold the equipment to someone else.
Mini-case B
Mrs Smith promises to give a £10 reward for the return of ‘Lucky’ – black and white cat. David sees the advert in the local paper finds the cat and spends £15 for a taxi to return the cat to Mrs Smith. David explain this to Mrs Smith and claims £25. Mrs refuses to pay David.
Mini-case C
Mrs Harris, the owner of three rented houses in Extown, asks her next-door neighbour, Ted, to collect rent from the tenants for her while she is abroad on business. Ted collects the rents and when Mrs Harris returns, she says to him, “I’ll give you £50 for your work”. Later Mrs Harris refuses to pay Ted.
Mini-case D
Lynx Cars Ltd, the manufacturer of a revolutionary fuel-efficient small car, enters into a five-year dealership agreement with Roadstar Ltd, a northern-based company of car dealers, in November 2003. A clause in the agreement states: ‘This agreement is not intended to be legally binding but the parties honourably pledge that they will carry out its terms’.
Roadstar places an initial order for 2,000 cars to be delivered by the end of 2007, which is accepted by the manufacturer. One month after the successful launch of the car, Lynx Cars Ltd writes to Roadstar Ltd informing that, owing to production difficulties, the company estimates that it will be able to deliver only 200 cars by the end of 2007. It further states that it will be withdrawing from the dealership agreement from the end of 2007 to be able to concentrate its resources on its south of England car dealers. Roadstar Ltd is seeking some advice.
Mini-case E
Paul is looking for a second-hand car when he sees an advertisement in is local evening paper which reads:
SLICK CAR SALES LTD
Hundreds of used car bargains. Lowest prices you’ve ever seen. Definitely the lowest prices in Britain; All cars purchased this month will include Road Fund Tax, Radio, Stereo and a full tank of petrol. Paul visits the showrooms of Slick Cars and selects a car priced at £3,995 which the salesman tells him is a 1994 Mondeo which has done 30,000 miles and has had only one owner. Paul signs a sales agreement which describes the car as ‘1994 Ford Mondeo. Cayman Blue; Registration Number L931 AJU.’
Paul is unsure of which of these statements represent trader’s puff, representation, conditions or warranty. He also wants to know the implied terms in this agreement and the remedies available to him if any of these statements turns out to be false.
Mini-case F
While on holiday at the seaside, Jim agrees to take his family to ‘Fun Park’. He pays £1 to park his car on a car park run by the Stand Council. A notice at the entrance of the car park, which has been partly obscured by overgrown shrubs, states: ‘Cars parked entirely at owner’s risk’. Jim pays £7 for a family admission ticket to ‘Fun Park’, which is managed by Leisure Ltd. The back of the ticket contains the following clause: ‘The Company does not accept liability for death or personal injury to visitors, howsoever caused.’ Jim and his wife are watching their children on the ‘waltzer’ when a metal bar flies off, injuring Jim and his wife. After receiving hospital treatment, Jim returns to his car to discover that it has been damaged by a Strand Council refuse van. Jim and wife are seeking advice
Required:
1. Discuss the impact of different types of contracts (e.g. face to face, written, distance selling). Provide examples to illustrate your answer
2. Using the Mini-cases A, B, C and D, relevant principles and case law, explain the importance of the essential elements required for the formation of a valid contract. Reinforce your discussion by using relevant principles and case law
3. Using the Mini-cases E and F, relevant principles and case law, analyse terms in contracts with reference to their meaning and effect in the mini-cases above. Your analysis should specifically address the legality of exemption clauses and outline the remedies and damages available for breach of condition, warranty and innominate terms
Assignment 2
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Read the following cases and answer the questions below
Case 1:
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 House of Lords
Mrs Donoghue went to a cafe with a friend. The friend brought her a bottle of ginger beer and an ice cream. The ginger beer came in an opaque bottle so that the contents could not be seen. Mrs Donoghue poured half the contents of the bottle over her ice cream and also drank some from the bottle. After eating part of the ice cream, she then poured the remaining contents of the bottle over the ice cream and a decomposed snail emerged from the bottle. Mrs Donoghue suffered personal injury as a result. She commenced a claim against the manufacturer of the ginger beer.
Held:
Her claim was successful. This case established the modern law of negligence and established the neighbour test.
Lord Aitken: "The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question "Who is my neighbour?" receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who then in law is my neighbour? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question."
Case 2:
The control test: Who has control over the activity being performed?
Can Employer A be held vicariously liable for the injury cause to a person by its employees while these employees were performing a task on behalf of employer B?
The answer is that it is sometimes necessary to decide whether the employees, who are truly employed by Employer A have been temporarily transferred to another Employer B so that B (the temporary employer) and not A (the general employer) is vicariously liable for the injuries caused to a person by these employees.
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board v Coggins & Griffiths (Liverpool) Ltd (1946)
The board owned and hired out mobile cranes driven by skilled operators who were employees of the Board. Coggins & Griffiths, who were stevedores, hired one of the Board’s cranes and an operator, Mr Newell, to unload a ship.
In the course of unloading the ship, a person was injured because of Mr Newell’ negligence and the court had to decide whether the Board of Coggins & Griffiths were vicariously liable along with Mr Newell for the latter negligence. The matter was one of control because the Board was quite clearly the general employer. Actually, the answers given by Mr Newell to questions put before him by the counsel in court were highly important. At one point he said: ‘I take no orders from anybody’. Since he was not truly employed by Coggins & Griffiths and since he did not, so he said, take order from them, there was no way in which he could be regarded as under their control. Therefore his true employer, the Board, was vicariously liable for Mr Newell’s negligence. [Read about aspects of contract and negligence for business.]
Comment: It is presumed in these cases that the general employer continues to be liable and it is up to him to satisfy the court that control has passed to a temporary employer.
Required:
Contrast liability in tort with contractual liability (P3.1)
Explain the nature of liability in negligence and apply the elements of the tort of negligence and defences available. Use relevant principles, case law and cases 1 and 2 above to reinforce your arguments. (P3.2, P4.1)
Explain how a business can be vicariously liable and apply the elements of vicarious liability using relevant principles and case 2 above (P3.3, P4.2)
Extension and Late Submission
If an extension is necessary for a valid reason, requests can me made using a course work extension request form available from the college. Please note that the lecturers do not have the authority to extend the coursework deadlines and therefore do not ask them to award a coursework extension.
The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick.
Support Material
Unit 5: Aspects of Contract and Negligence for Business
(Y/601/0563)
Textbooks
- Elliot C and Quinn F – Tort Law (Longman, 2009) ISBN: 9781405899338
- Horsey K and Rackley E – Tort Law (OUP Oxford, 2009) ISBN: 9780199216376
- McKendrick, E – Contract Law: Text, Cases, & Materials: Text, Cases, and
- Materials (OUP Oxford, July 2008) ISBN: 9780199208012
- Peel E and Treitel G H – Treitel on the Law of Contract (Sweet and Maxwell
- 2007) ISBN: 9780421948402
Journals
- Law Society Gazette (The Law Society)
- New Law Journal (LexisNexis Butterworths)
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