Short Essay Information
Length: 2500 words (max.) excluding citations and quotations, footnotes and bibliography.
1. The short essay is the second of the progressive assessments for this unit, summative assessment task 2. It is worth 20% of the final mark. Detailed information about the assignment will be given with the question.
In this unit you are required to use legal citation and referencing, not Harvard referencing style (which is used in most of your other units). The Australian
Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) is available online at
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/files/dmfile/FinalOnlinePDF-­-
2012Reprint.pdf . Please note that the file cannot be printed. Printed copies can however be bought online or ordered at the Unitext bookshop at your campus. The styles as set out in the Guide must be complied with and this will be taken into account in marking.
You will also find an introductory overview of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation on the Language and Learning website in the document ‘Referencing using law style’. Legal citation style is required by the Deakin Law School
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-­-students/study-­-support/study-­skills/handouts/lawstyle.php.
Note legal citation requires you to reference your sources in footnotes. Note that endnotes should not be used.
2. You must include a Bibliography at the end of your essay. The Bibliography should include all materials that you consult, including books, articles, and reports cases or legislation, even if you do not refer to that material in your essay.
3. You should select only seven (7) academic sources: articles or chapters from books to use as reference sources in your essay. You should cite them appropriately in your Bibliography. The prescribed textbook is not considered as reference material and will not be counted towards your 7 sources. The statutes and cited cases are also not counted as academic sources. You may read more widely than seven sources and if so the additional sources must be included in your bibliography.
4. Acceptable sources include academic journal articles, academic books. Unacceptable sources include websites (including Wikipedia), blogs, essay writing services, law Q and A sites and similar web sites. Unacceptable sources will not be counted towards your seven sources. It is the student’s responsibility to check that their sources are academic sources. Many academic sources are available the library databases.
5. The Short Essay may be based on a Chapter that has not been covered in class before the due date. It is expected that you do your own research on the topic before writing your essay.
6. The title page must include:
• your name and student number
• word count
7. Please refer to the Rubric (marking guide). Make sure that you follow the guidelines carefully to avoid losing marks for unnecessary mistakes and omissions. The mark will reflect an assessment of style, structure and the content.
8. Essays must be submitted online via CloudDeakin ONLY.
9. Due date:
• Online submission via CloudDeakin must be received by 11:59 pm of Friday September 11, 2015.
10. The CloudDeakin submission system will be opened from one week before
the due date.
11. The results and feedback will be released within 15 working days from the scheduled submission date.
Submission policy
1. The essay is to be submitted online in CloudDeakin in the area provided.
2. The essay should be typed and presented in a professional manner. The typed assignment MUST only be in ‘WORD’ format (no PDF or any other format).
3. No extensions will be considered for the essay unless a written request is submitted to and approved by the designated Unit Chair. Late submissions
will be marked subject to a penalty – 1.5 marks will be deducted for each day. Any work submitted more than 10 days overdue will not be marked. If you are given an extension, the 10 days will run from the last day of your extension. Submissions after 10 will not be marked.
4. Submissions sent by fax or email will not be marked.
5. The late submissions (with or without permission) will not be marked along with the other papers.
6. Late submissions (with or without permission) will be marked at the time of finalisation of the final results.
Late submission of an assessment occurs when not due to a fault of the CloudDeakin system a student submits an assessment after the due date and time without a prior permission for an extension from the Unit Team. An essay is submitted on the date and time that it is stamped as received by the submission system.
Short Essay Question
Australia has signed a number of trade agreements with other countries in relation to trade and investment and is currently considering signing a number of additional agreements. These agreements may be multilateral or bilateral, and may focus on trade or investment.
Commonly the agreements will include an ISDS (investor-­- state dispute settlement) clause, which provides for the settlement of disputes between investors and host countries.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has called ISDS clauses a “hot topic” due to the increased number of cases brought. There are also competing views as to the effects of ISDS clauses, and the merits of such clauses. Chief Justice Robert French AC of the High Court of Australia said:
… the significance of ISDS arbitral processes is global. They have general implications for national sovereignty, democratic governance and the rule of law within domestic legal systems.
Discuss the above statement. Include in your discussion:
• who makes law in Australia and the democratic aspect of the law-­-making process in Australia
• the international arbitral process
• the effect on the power of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament of an
ISDS clause in an FTA.