Introduction to Commercial Law and Commercial Law

PART A. [45 MARKS] A. Find legislation that applies to your business plan. In this part you need to find legislation that is a. Criminal law - offences i. Provide one example of an offence that could potentially apply to your business. Reference the section and the Act. The offence can be either 1. an offence, (which is not a crime) or 2. a crime Set out the section title and reference act fully. eg. Supporting the commission of a plagiarism offence s. 32(b)(i) Plagiarism Act 2017 Explain whether your example is a non-criminal offence or a crime. Explain why this is criminal or not. 3 marks ii. Explain when this legislation could apply to your business and identify which person(s) may be prosecuted. 4 marks iii. Explain who would prosecute. 1 marks iv. Explain what must be proved by the prosecution. This requires you to set out the key elements that must be proved. You will find these in the section. (The section is the ONLY place you will find these). Do NOT write out the whole section. Identify only the key elements. 3 marks v. Provide a set of facts which would be sufficient to prove the offence. These are facts from your business that could possibly occur. You will invent these. The facts must ‘fit’ with the key elements you identified in the above question. 5 marks vi. Explain the standard of proof required of the prosecution. 3 marks vii. Outline the penalties that may apply if you (or someone in your business) is convicted. 2 marks b. Civil Law. i. Provide an example of civil private law that applies to your business. This also legislation but is not criminal law. You can use any NZ statute. 1 marks ii. Explain why this is civil and private law. Set out the definition of civil law, and, the definition of private law to answer this question. NOTE – the person suing can be another person or a company. It is better not to use government departments as they are usually seeking penalties (fines) which are not civil law. 2 marks iii. Provide a set of facts which would be sufficient to prove the case for the plaintiff. In this question you set out the key elements of the section, and then, invent facts from your business which would prove the law applies. 5 marks iv. Explain the standard of proof required of the plaintiff to win the case. 3 marks v. Explain the possible outcomes of the case if the plaintiff wins the case. This means compensation or other remedy that the court may award them. 3 marks c. Treaty of Waitangi [NOT business plan related] Explain how the treaty is incorporated into the law, and, its legal effect. Include whether it can be enforced in court. Give one example of a statute that includes the Treaty and explain how it is used in that law. 6 marks d. Constitution [NOT business plan related] i. Explain 1. The sources of the NZ Constitution. 2. Identify TWO laws that are part of the constitution. One for creation of the state, and one for the protection of individual rights. 4 marks PART B. [38 MARKS] a. Explain the process for the creation of new legislation. List the steps and explain in your own words the step and its purpose. The focus is on the purpose of the step 8 marks b. Find a bill that is currently before the house that could apply to your business i. Explain the purpose of the bill and a clause that may apply to your business 4 marks ii. Explain the types of bill and identify what type of bill this is. 4 marks iii. Identify the select committee that is involved and who is on the committee. 2 marks iv. Identify the stage the bill is currently and what must happen for it to become law. Note how long you think it will take to become law. 1 mark c. i. Explain what delegated legislation, the types of delegated legislation and when this type of law can be challenged in court 10 marks ii. Find an example of delegated legislation that applies to the business plan. Explain why it applies. 3 marks iii. Identify the empowering act. 1 marks iv. Provide a set of facts which show when this law will apply to the business and the implications for the business. 5 marks PART C – Interpretation [10 MARKS] OPTION A – This option is only for use with an approved business plan. For this part use a section from any one of the following - The Health and Safety at work Act 2015 - The Fair Trading Act 1986 - The Commerce Act 1986 – section on trade practices only - Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 - Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 - Other legislation – ask the lecturer first by reference to the section you want to use. a. Using any section from the legislation above which could apply to the business find a case where the courts have interpreted the legislation. Identify the legislation and section 1 marks b. Explain how the courts interpret legislation using s.5 Acts Interpretation Act 1999. 4 marks c. Apply the section to the business. Identify actions or events that might happen in the business where this interpretation will apply. Explain the implications of this. 5 marks OPTION B - This option is for use with the course case study. a. Explain how the courts interpret legislation using s.5 Acts Interpretation Act 1999. 4 marks b. Discuss the application of the section in the course case study. The instructions are with the case study. 6 marks Part D - Court made law: Precedent [18 MARKS] In this section you must find ONE case that applies common law that could apply to your business. This cannot be from legislation. a. Explain (10 marks) i. what is meant by precedent in common law ii. The material facts of the case. iii. Obiter dictum iv. Distinguishing cases v. The hierarchy of courts and when as will be binding or persuasive. b. Find ONE common law case relevant to the business and set out i. the citation of the case (1 mark) ii. The precedent. (3 marks) iii. How this could apply to the business. (4 marks)