Commercial Law

Part B: Course Detail Teaching Period RMIT Course Code RMIT Course Id RMIT Course Title School Career Campus Learning Mode Primary Learning Mode Learning will be primarily face-to-face with access to online materials provided through Blackboard. The course operates on the lecture-tutorial model. You are expected to complete significant amounts of independently directed reading and summaries. You are expected to frequently work with other students in study groups outside of class. Credit Points Teacher Guided Hours Learner Directed Hours Course Coordinator Course Coordinator Phone Course Coordinator Email Course Coordinator Location Offering Coordinator Offering Coordinator Phone Offering Coordinator Email Offering Coordinator Location Additional Staff Contact Details Pat Gazzana pat.gazzana@rmit.edu.au Alex Wong alex.wong@rmit.edu.au Jason Charles jason.charles@rmit.edu.au Clare Miller clare.miller@rmit.edu.au Belinda Clarence belinda.clarence@rmit.edu.au Tina Popa tina.popa@rmit.edu.au Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities None Course Description This course provides an introduction to commercial law fundamentals, relevant to business professions. The course provides you with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue further and more specific studies in the law discipline. Commercial Law is a compulsory core unit in the Bachelor of Business degrees, and is required for membership of CPA Australia and the ICAA for all students seeking this form of professional recognition. 12 36 per semester 120 per semester Andrew Vaitiekunas +61 3 9925 5881 andrew.vaitiekunas@rmit.edu.au Building 13 Andrew Vaitiekunas +61 3 9925 5881 andrew.vaitiekunas@rmit.edu.au 13.02.35 Sem 1 2014 LAW2442 002917 Commercial Law 660H Grad School of Bus and Law Undergraduate City Campus Face-to-Face

Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course you should be able to: 1. Identify, understand, distinguish, interpret and apply basic legal concepts 2. Analyse legal problems with an appreciation of the multiple issues impacting on those problems 3. Understand and apply relevant legislation and case law relating to business 4. Solve problems and construct legal arguments Overview of Learning Activities Lectures The idea of lectures is to explain difficult concepts in each topic and how topics relate with each other. However, lectures are not an effective substitute for reading your textbook. You are expected to complete the relevant readings before attending the lecture and the lecturer will assume that you have completed the reading for that week. Tutorials Tutorials are important and one of the most useful learning activities. Since the tutorial questions are mainly problem-type questions, tutorials will give you the opportunity to learn how to analyse legal issues and apply your legal knowledge. Thus, tutorials will give you the opportunity to learn and practise your skill in advising clients on various hypothetical scenarios. Preparation of the tutorial answers before class will allow you feedback on how well you understand and apply the law. It is highly recommended that you attend tutorials as you are encouraged to ask questions or seek clarification from your tutor. Home Reading and Exercises This is also a very important learning activity as lectures will not cover all the examinable material nor will it cover the material in the depth you are expected to demonstrate in the exam. Prior reading before the lectures will also assist you in understanding the lecture materials and reinforce the learning process. Students are expected to complete all assigned exercises prior to the following tutorial. Summaries The process of summarising your information is a vital open-book exam technique. Since you will not have the time to look for information during the exam which is extremely time-pressured, you are highly encouraged to have summaries of the examinable materials in an organised manner. Further, the process of summarising the information helps you to understand the information, to put it together and to organise it yourself, in your mind. Additional Materials Students are encouraged to use the additional resources available on Blackboard. Teaching Schedule Lectures cover the following topics: Week 1: Introducing the Law Week 2: Understanding the Australian Legal System. Exercising legal skills. Week 3: Causing Harm. Week 4: Causing Harm: Negligence Week 5: Making Deals: Forming a Contract Week 6: Making Deals: Negating a Contract Week 7: Enforcing Deals: Terms and Non-contractual Representations Week 8: Enforcing Deals: Remedies and Ending the Contract Week 9: Dealing with Consumers: General Protections

Week 10: Dealing with Consumers: Specific Protections Week 11: Starting a Business Week 12: Revision Please note that this schedule is subject to change, as some topics may take longer, and others may take less time. Overview of Learning Resources You will be advised of the prescribed text for this course and other reading materials upon enrolment. This course is supported online using the Learning Hub . The Learning Hub gives access to important announcements, staff contact details, the teaching schedule, assessment timelines and a variety of important teaching and learning materials. The Learning Hub can be found at http://www.rmit.edu.au/learninghub Learning Resources Prescribed Texts Nickolas James, Business Law, Wiley, 3rd ed, 2014 References Paul Latimer, Australian Business Law, CCH, 33rd edition, 2014 Michael Lambiris and Laura Griffin, First Principles of Business Law, CCH, 2014 edition Khoury D. & Yamouni Y., Understanding Contract Law, Butterworths, latest edition Vermeesch R B & Lindgren K E, Business Law of Australia, Butterworths, 11th edition, 2005 Des Butler and Tim Paine, Selected Extracts from BQA Contract Law 3rd edition and BQA Torts 2nd edition LexisNexis Custom Publication for RMIT University, Lexis Nexis, 2011 Crossling, G.M. & Murphy, H.M., How to Study Business Law, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2000 Other Resources Electronic Resources: There is a range of resources available through the links on Blackboard and the RMIT University Library. Overview of Assessment Assessment in Commercial Law may take the form of in-semester tests designed to test your comprehension and understanding of a specific legal issue. The end of semester exam is problem-based and will test the your ability to identify, understand and distinguish basic legal concepts as they are applied to different scenarios. You will also identify, appreciate, analyse and apply an array of possibilities of legal causes of actions as they may arise in problem based examination questions. In addition, and where relevant, you will be required to critically evaluate, reason and discuss legal argument based on differing legal perspectives or thought.

Assessment Tasks Method of assessment: The assessment activities in this course will comprise: Assessment Task 1: A multiple-choice test to be done in week 3 of semester. It is 30 minutes long and is worth 20% of the assessment.

Assessment Criteria Assessment Task 1: The assessment will primarily involve your demonstrating your comprehension and understanding of topics covered in the first three weeks of lectures, including defining law, how it is created and the different types and sources of law. Assessment Task 2: A 50 minute test to be done in week 7 of semester. It is worth 20% of assessment. Assessment Criteria Assessment Task 2: The assessment will primarily involve your identifying, analysing and applying an array of possibilities to legal issues and demonstrating legal reasoning in applying relevant legal principles to fact scenarios. The assessment will examine topics covered in the lectures of weeks 3-6 of semester, including negligence and formation of contract. Assessment Task 3: This is the final exam which is done in the examination period. It is a written exam of two hours with 15 minutes reading time. It includes problem questions and multiple-choice questions. It is worth 60% of the assessment. Assessment Criteria Assessment Task 3: The assessment will primarily involve your demonstrating your comprehension and understanding of the course topics. The assessment will also involve identifying, analysing and applying an array of possibilities to legal issues and demonstrating legal reasoning in applying relevant legal principles to fact scenarios. All of the topics of the course are examinable in the final exam. All of the above three assessment tasks are open book. Other Relevant Information Course Grades Available: Assessment is available at: HD High Distinction (80% and above) DI Distinction (between 70% and 79%) CR Credit (between 60% and 69%) PA Pass (between 50% and 59%) NN Fail (below 50%) A High Distinction involves exceptionally clear understanding of course matter and appreciation of issues; well organised, formulated and sustained arguments; well thought out and structured diagrams; relevant literature referenced, and; evidence of creative insight and originality in terms of comprehension, application and analysis with at least some synthesis and evaluation. A Distinction involves strong grasp of course matter and appreciation of key issues, perhaps lacking a little on the finer points; clearly developed arguments; relevant and well structured diagrams; appreciation of relevant literature, and; evidence of creative and solid work in terms of comprehension, application, analysis and perhaps some synthesis. A Credit involves competent understanding of course matter and appreciation of some of the main issues though possibly with some gaps; clearly developed arguments; relevant diagrams and literature use, perhaps with some gaps; well prepared and presented, and; solid evidence of comprehension and application with perhaps some analysis. A Pass involves some appreciation of course matter and issues; work generally lacking in depth or breadth and with gaps. Often work of this grade comprises a simple factual description (i.e. basic comprehension) but little

application or analysis. Work of this grade may be poorly prepared and presented. Investment of greater care and thought in organising and structuring work would be required to improve. A Fail involves evidence of lack of understanding of course (minimal or inadequate comprehension and little or no application) and inability to identify issues, and often inadequate in depth and breadth and sometimes incomplete or irrelevant. Marks between 45% and 49% will be double marked by the relevant teaching staff in conformity with RMIT assessment policy. Late Submission of Work Any late submission of work must be approved by the course co-ordinator in writing before the due date. An extension may be granted for 7 days after which special consideration must be applied for. There is a penalty of 10% for each day of late submission and after 7 days your work will not be marked. What do I do if I need help with deadlines or have become ill? Contact the course co-ordinator as soon as possible to discuss what measures can be taken. There are provisions for special consideration in the RMIT student procedures. Course Evaluation and Feedback How can I let you know about my experience of this course? Evaluation will be undertaken during the course. Academic Misconduct Plagiarism In preparing your assessment tasks you should read and draw on the work of other authors. However, in writing (or orally), you should take extreme care that you have: acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your assignment through the appropriate referencing methods, and provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader (or listener) can locate the source if necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites. If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate referencing, as if they were your own. RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct. The University Regulation 6.1.1 on Student Discipline states: A student will have committed academic misconduct if the student cheats or attempts to cheat by . . . plagiarising or otherwise submitting the work of another person as the students own work. Plagiarism can mean any of the following:

Direct copying of phrases and/or passages without a reference and/or quotation marks. Paraphrasing another writers work in your written work without citing the reference. Making a direct reference to an author/authors you have not read although you may have read about them. (You should reference the secondary source you have actually read rather than referencing the original that you have not read). Copying another students work, in part or in whole. Writing your work in conjunction with other students without prior permission. (This does not mean you should not meet with other students initially to discuss the essay topic and/or analyse the question). Submitting written work that has already been submitted for assessment in another course.

The possible penalties for plagiarism under RMIT regulations include:

recording of a failure for the assignment or course; cancelling of any or all results; suspension from the program;

expulsion from the program.

Examples of plagiarism include:

Copying sentences or paragraphs word-for-word from one or more sources, whether published or unpublished, which could include but is not limited to books, journals, reports, theses, websites, conference papers, course notes, etc. without proper citation; Closely paraphrasing sentences, paragraphs, ideas or themes without proper citation; Piecing together text from one or more sources and adding only linking sentences; Copying or submitting whole or parts of computer files without acknowledging their source; Copying designs or works of art and submitting them as your original work; Copying a whole or any part of another students work; and Submitting work as your own that someone else has done for you. Enabling Plagiarism: the act of assisting or allowing another person to plagiarise or to copy your own work.