The essay questions are in the file "exam questions"Answer both questions in an essay format
M3403 THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX LLB LEVEL 4 EXAMINATION May/June 2020 A2 Law of Contract Question Paper to be released: Sunday 31st May 2020 9:00 Work to be submitted via e-submission by: Tuesday 9th June 2020 16:00 EXAM ALTERNATIVE PAPER Must not exceed 2000 words. Please answer both questions. The questions are of equal weighting. M3403 Law of Contract 2 1. Falmer Decorating Services Ltd (‘FDS’) is a company providing decorating services to businesses and consumers. Its managing director is Faisal. FDS has standard terms which it regularly uses in the contracts with its customers. Clause 7 of the standard terms reads: ‘FDS reserves the right to use paint of a colour that is different from the colour requested by the customer if the two colours are similar.’ Clause 9 of the standard terms reads: ‘FDS is not liable for any damage to the customer’s property howsoever caused.’ Amy, a self-employed accountant, makes a telephone call to Faisal, saying that she wishes the rooms of her office to be re-painted. She also says that she has an expensive Persian carpet in her office and that FDS needs to take utmost care not to damage it in any way. Faisal assures her that the employees of FDS are very careful. Faisal (on behalf of FDS) and Amy agree on the work to be done and the price. Faisal then says that the contract will be subject to FDS’s standard terms and he provides Amy with the address of the website where those terms can be found. Amy says: ‘This is fine.’ During the decoration work, FDS’s employees carelessly cause irremovable stains to the carpet in Amy’s office. Amy is distraught and claims damages. FDS argues that Clause 9 of its terms and conditions absolves it from any liability for the negligence of its employees. Mia visits FDS’s office and says to Faisal that she wishes the living room of her house to be painted in French Beige colour. Faisal says that FDS could do this, and the two agree on a price. Faisal enters the detail on the first page of a document and asks Mia to sign it, saying that it contains FDS’s terms and conditions. Amy signs the document without reading it. When the work is done, FDS’s employees mistakenly use Light French Beige colour, which is lighter than French Beige. Mia is unhappy and claims damages for breach of contract. FDS argues that Clause 7 of its standard terms absolves it from any liability. FDS needs new ladders for its employees but does not have more than £400 to spend. Faisal sees an advertisement by Brighton Tools Shops Ltd (‘BTS’) for a set of five ladders of the type Freeman for a total price of £500. Faisal sends an email to BTS, saying that he (on behalf of FDS) is offering £400 for that set of ladders. BTS reply that they will not accept less than £500. Faisal does not M3403 Law of Contract 3 respond and buys ladders from another shop for a total of £400. BTS then contact Faisal and say that they are happy to sell the set of Freeman ladders to FDS for a total price of £400. Faisal replies that he is no longer interested in those ladders. Advise Amy, Mia and BTS. 2. Explain the circumstances in which a contract may be frustrated. Your answer should include a discussion of relevant cases. You are not expected to discuss the consequences of frustration. End of Paper Guidance for Law Students on Exam Alternatives (the work submitted online that will replace unseen or open book exams in A2 and A4) Background Following the university’s decision to suspend in-person teaching and assessment until the end of the academic year, Sussex Law School has decided that all unseen and open book in-person exams will be replaced with work submitted online. This has been the subject of discussion with student reps. These submissions are not ‘coursework’ in the sense that they are not essays that you will have a lengthy period of time to develop. These ‘exam alternative’ assessments are being designed by your module tutors and convenors to align with the criteria and expectations for an exam, and we can assure you that they will be assessed accordingly. This document provides guidance on format, word limit, expectations with respect to referencing, engagement with secondary sources, presentation and feedback. Please take the time to read this in full. When will each exam alternative be released? · Each exam alternative will be released on Canvas 10 days before the updated exam date showing for that module, ie taking into account that all assessment dates have been moved forward in time by 2 weeks. How many questions will be on the exam alternative? · Depending on the module, you will be asked to answer one or two questions. · You may have a choice of questions to choose from. Your module convenor will provide further details on whether you will get a choice of questions and on any particular expectations that are specific to that module. What is the Word Limit? · The word limit is a maximum of 2000 words for Level 4 (Year 1) and Level 5 (Year 2) exam alternatives. · For Level 6 advanced core modules (i.e. Criminal Law (Grad Entry) and Law and Policy of the EU (advanced)) the word limit is a maximum of 2500 words. · For Level 6 (final year) optional modules, the word limit is a maximum of 2500 words. · Questions will be equally weighted unless you are told otherwise. · The standard rules with respect to ‘failure to adhere to word limits’ applies and will be rigorously adhered to; this is essential in order to manage workload and ensure fairness. Expectations The following provides guidance on our expectations with respect to: 1. Referencing 2. Engagement with secondary source material 3. How long you should spend on the Paper; and 4. Presentation (some key points) 1. Referencing Whilst in exams we do not have strict rules on referencing, we do, for exam alternatives, require students to adhere to minimal standards of referencing to avoid plagiarism. If you quote directly from any source you must make this clear by the normal use of quotation marks and wording which makes it clear where the quote has come from. e.g. ‘A ‘tort’ is a civil (as opposed to criminal) wrong for which the law provides a remedy.’ (Horsey & Rackley, Tort Law, 1) Sources which are drawn upon but not directly quoted should also be properly acknowledged but no more than you would do if you were writing this under exam conditions. As you would do in an exam, you must also draw upon and use legal authority appropriately to back up the points you are making. In exams we do not expect you to give full citation details for all cases and legal instruments, but we do expect you to identify the case-name and the short title of any legislation etc. See further guidance below. Note that paraphrasing without acknowledgement of the source of the idea or argument is also plagiarism. Exceptionally, no footnotes or bibliography are required for exam alternatives (inclusion of either or both will be disregarded for marking purposes.) How to cite sources in an exam alternative: Cases: instead of citing Padfield v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food [1968] AC 997, you simply cite Padfield v Ministry of Agriculture, or even just Padfield in the main body of the text. [If you are struggling with word count, the obvious thing is just to use the shortest reasonable way of citing things like cases, so just use Padfield and save a few words]. If you quote directly from a case, use quotation marks as per guidance above and note page or para number after the case citation. e.g. (Padfield, 998) Legislation: you cite as the ‘Law of Property Act 1925’ or even just ‘LPA 1925’ and save a few words. Academic commentary: you cite the author’s name: ‘As Stirton argues...’; ‘Gray and Gray suggest…’ etc. Law Commission: ‘According to the Law Commission the law on….’ Page numbers For the avoidance of doubt, pages numbers to sources (e.g. a textbook, a case) are ONLY required for verbatim quotes. Accuracy It is expected that students will consult with module materials, including notes, textbooks, articles and online legal sources in writing their exam alternative Paper, therefore we do expect accuracy. For example, a reference in your Paper to the ‘ginger beer case’ will not suffice. There is no excuse for not citing the case correctly as Donoghue v Stevenson (or just Donoghue) when you have resources to hand. Turnitin: Your exam alternative submission will automatically go through Turnitin and the rules concerning academic misconduct, specifically collusion and plagiarism, still apply. Turnitin will identify, and alert markers to, similarilty with other student papers. You are advised to run your work through Turnitin before submission to see if there is any material identified that is taken verbatim from another source without acknowledgement through the use of quotation marks. 2. Engagement with secondary sources – what is expected? For core modules, in particular, we will be expecting students to engage with materials on the module reading list, (as we would do for an exam) but there is no requirement for independent research unless specifically instructed to do so by the module convenor. Please note that optional modules may require specific independent research as per learning outcomes. As with an exam, our standard expectation is that you do this as part of your revision time, and not, unless specifically instructed to, after the exam alterative has been released As outlined above, under referencing, all secondary sources should be acknowledged. 3. How long should I spend on the exam alternative? We would suggest that at most, one to two working days (or 5-10 hours) following a period of revision/reviewing module material should be sufficient to complete the exam alternative. We want to stress that even though you are being allocated 10 days to complete, you should not be spending 10 days on the exam alternative. A period of 10 days to complete is to allow you maximum leeway in relation to how you manage your time. The 10 day period also factors in a weekend, and allows you to plan for any issues that might arise with respect to internet access and managing other responsibilities such as caring