Notes On How To Answer Problem Questions In Law


 


1.    Identify the relevant facts eg by highlighting, underlining etc But Do NOT Rewrite Them In The Answer – This Wastes Precious Exam Time And Words!


 


2.    Identify the legal issue eg is the scenario about offer and acceptance? Consideration? Intention to form legal relations? (Do write this in the answer).


 


3.    If possible try to avoid giving a legal definition and the relevant rules for the issue.  More marks can be obtained if you relate the definition and rules to the identified facts.


 


4.    State where you get your authority from when you give a definition or rule.  Since almost all authority for definitions and rules in Contract and torts law comes from legal cases which have been decided on by the courts, you must CITE THE CASES, eg the definition of an invitation to treat comes from the case Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists [1952] 2 QB 795.  In the exam you do not need to cite all the relevant details such as the Journal name, page number etc – simply refer to the Boots Cash Chemist case or the Smokeball case, etc.


Citations In Law

There are some conventions specifically relevant to legal writing. For example, law journals generally require referencing by way of footnotes, with specific rules regarding form.


However, for this course referencing should be consistent with the Harvard System, with references cited in the body of the text.


Citing Cases

As indicated above, cases should be cited within the text in the form illustrated by the following examples: FCT v Clarke (1927) 40 CLR 246; Coles Myer Finance Ltd v FCT 93 ATC 4214. All case names are to be put in italics or underlined. Where a reference is made to, or a quotation is taken from, a particular page of a case (say, page 249 of the Clarke case) that page should be cited thus: FCT v Clarke (1927) 40 CLR 246 at 249.


Quotations From Statutes

If the entire section of a statute is to be quoted, it must be identified by section number and then the quotation indented in the usual way. Where only a phrase is being quoted, this should be included within the text of the paper together with the title of the statute and number of the section. After the short title of the Act which is written in italics or underlined, give the year of enactment followed by an abbreviation of the appropriate jurisdiction in brackets. For example: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth); Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 (SA).


 


 


 


 


 


 



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