Instructions for Core Skills Assignment
In order to prepare for the Assessment Task 2, Core Skills Assignment, students should invest time into developing their statutory interpretation, case briefing, and legal research skills. Prior to commencing this assessment, students may wish to use the following checklist: Before you submit
• Have I completed my tutorial readings to date?
• Have I listened to the relevant skills podcasts?
• Have I familiarised myself with the 'fundamentals of legal research' available on the Law Library Guide?
• Have I attempted the optional self-study quizzes on statutory interpretation and analysing cases?
Before you submit
Double check all your citations against the AGLC4. Law students are expected to demonstrate a high level of precision in language and citing sources.
Instructions for your Task 2 Core Skills Assignment:
Using your legal research skills, locate the case Gardner; re BWV [2003] VSC 173 (29 May 2003) and compose your first Case Note (where you brief that case and then provide your own academic commentary). You have a word limit of 1500 words (which excludes footnotes and headings). Set out your answer as follows:
Citation: Provide the correct reported citation (AGLC4) for the Gardner case.
Jurisdiction: Correctly identify the Court (jurisdiction)
Procedural History: Set out the procedural history for this case.
Facts: Concisely state the relevant facts of this case.
Issues: Identify any factual or legal issues in contention.
Reasoning: Set out the Court's Reasoning (how it arrived at its conclusion). This section requires you to be methodical and draw upon your knowledge of statutory interpretation. In your answer you must include the following:
a) What legislation (and which sections in particular) required interpretation by the Court?
b) Which approach to statutory interpretation was applied by the court? You must provide evidence to support your answer.
c) Provide at least three examples of extrinsic sources referred to by the court and explain how each of these assisted the Court’s reasoning.
d) Provide at least one example of where the Court applied a principle of interpretation (Latin maxim, presumption or rule of semantic construction) and explain how this assisted the Court’s reasoning.
e) Identify the parties granted leave by the Court to submit amicus briefs? Explain how these assisted the Court’s reasoning.
Ratio: State the Ratio of this case.
Dicta: Provide two examples of obiter dicta from this case.
Order: What was the Court's ruling (holding)?
Analysis: In your analysis you must address the following questions:
a) Do you believe that the Court’s conclusion was correct? Provide reasons.
b) The relevant Victorian legislation has since been amended. Do you believe that these amendments have resolved the central! issuefs) in the Gardner case? Provide reasons.
c) What was the significance of the case? As a starting off point, locate and read the following journal article: Michael A Ashby and Danuta Mendelson, 'Gardner; re BWV: Victorian Supreme Court makes landmark Australian ruling on tube feeding' (2004) 181(8) Medical Journal of Australia 442. -
In the course of preparing your answer, review the Task 2 Grading Rubric which will be used to grade your work. You will need to satisfy all criteria to pass this assessment. Any criterion that is not satisfied will form the basis for resubmission or your
work.
You must support your answer with references in AGLC4 format. No bibliography is required.
Submit your work as a Word (.doc) file using Tumitin.
Last modified: Monday, 17 February 2020, 3:58 PM