Recent Question/Assignment

Assignment Topic Semester Two 2014
“To create a binding agreement the acceptance must occur, and that ‘acceptance’ must be final and absolutely unconditional. This is clear under Australian contract law.”
Discuss the accuracy of this statement.
Your answer should include detailed explanation of ‘acceptance’ and the role it plays in contract formation, including explanation and discussion of the way the courts have responded to conditional or qualified ‘ acceptance’, citing the relevant judicial decisions.
Your answer should also discuss, by reference to reputable academic sources, whether Australian contract law should (or should not) provide greater clarity as to what does (or does not) amount to a valid acceptance.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS
1. This is an individual research assignment – students should not expect this material to be covered in class before the Due Date of the assignment. Students should accordingly commence their own research into the assignment topic Students must use texts, scholarly articles and reputable online resources for their research, and these items, together with relevant cases and legislation, should be referred to in the assignment.
2. The assignment is to be 2,000 words (+/-10%) in length. Students who fail to reach or exceed the word limit within the stated tolerance will have marks deducted. A word count (not including footnotes and bibliography) must be provided with hard copy of assignment.
3. The assignment must be typed or printed on one side only of A4 paper with 1.5 or double spacing and leaving a left-hand margin wide enough for examiners’ comments and corrections.
4. The completed assignment must be submitted with an “Assignment Cover Sheet” (obtainable from the unit’s VU Collaborate space) and duly completed in all respects, including Tutor’s name and day and time of tutorial. Students must retain a copy of their own assignment.
5. The assignment must include footnotes, a bibliography. Students are required to adhere to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) for footnotes, references and bibliography and must not employ an alternative method (e.g., the Harvard method).
Links to the AGLC guide are available on the unit’s VU Collaborate space and on the VU library web page. Marks will be deducted where students fail to adhere to the AGLC guidelines.
6. Students are strongly advised to study the notes on assignment preparation and the notes on plagiarism contained in this guide.
7. Assignments will be marked out of a possible 30 marks. Students are assessed on their demonstrated understanding of the issues, legal principles and relevant case law and legislation. Marks are also allocated specifically for breadth of research and compliance with the AGLC.

Students are expected to conduct research outside of the prescribed course materials and to use reputable academic sources.
8. Assignments submitted after the due date will incur a penalty for late submission of one mark for each day the assignment is overdue, unless an extension of time has been obtained from the subject lecturer or tutor prior to the due date.
Any application for extension of time must be lodged on the appropriate form obtainable from the College of Law and Justice office or VU website and must be accompanied by any supporting evidence of the facts upon which the application is based.
9. The completed assignment must be lodged with your tutor at your scheduled tutorial during Week 9 of semester, as well as being submitted electronically via the Assignment Dropbox/Turnitin link provided on the unit’s VU Collaborate page.

Important additional information for Students:
The topic of the assignment may not necessarily be covered in lectures or tutorials prior to the date upon which the assignment must be submitted. If this is the case - and even if it isn't - there is no point in delaying commencement of research into the assignment topic.
The assignment topic is available to students from the first week of semester and the assignment is not due for submission until the 9th week, (the exact date for submission will be clearly announced in lectures). There is really no excuse for unacceptable work being submitted. Similarly, applications for extension of time are not likely to receive sympathetic consideration. An early start is recommended.
There are no inflexible rules regarding the format of the assignment. It is acceptable to use headings, so you can break up your essay into sections with headings. You are required to write a logical and well-structured essay which includes a discussion of legal principles, relevant cases and, if required, statute law.
All pages should be sequentially numbered and the assignment securely stapled and submitted in an appropriate binding or folder. Do not “individually wrap” each page of the assignment, as this makes the exercise of commenting on the work very tiresome and time consuming.
NOTE: If it is established that the whole or part of the work of any student has been copied and submitted as original work by another student, neither student will receive any mark for the relevant work. Inevitably, both students will fail the subject and may, at the discretion of the examiner, be subject to other disciplinary processes within the University.
Please check the originality report on Turnitin and read the VU Plagiarism guidelines to ensure that your work is not plagiarised. It is solely students’ responsibility to ensure compliance with the above.
On the other hand, there is much to be said for joint or even group research and discussion of the topic, which can reduce the individual research commitment and enhance understanding of the issues. If students do undertake joint or team research with the intention of sharing the product of that research, this is quite acceptable so long as their written assignment work is original and exclusive. Sharing the research burden is acceptable. Sharing submitted assignment work is fatal. See and read carefully the notes on plagiarism that follow these instructions
Footnotes must be used to acknowledge the source or sources of information contained in the assignment, whether using direct quotes or paraphrasing.

Looking for answers ?