Ethics and Policy Questions

Duty of Care for Professionals

“Where professional advice may be relied on by one or both parties to a transaction, the professional must ensure that the advice is not only carefully prepared, but that the advice is open and unbiased. The professional must also ensure that their role (and particularly any personal interest) in the transaction is fully explained and brought to the attention of both parties. This is especially important if the professional has a financial interest in the transaction that is not readily apparent to the parties.” 

When the author refers to any personal interest or financial interest in the transaction, what specific duty of care is he referring to? 

Provide two examples of a scenario where such a duty exists for a specific professional (use different professionals).

1.Rules of Natural Justice

Describe the rules of natural justice.Why are they important?

Create a case study (a scenario) where one of the rules of natural justice is not complied with.  Describe what should have been done to comply with the rules.

2.Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

You have been invited to a university in the country of Zefield to give a 2 minute speech on “Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. Zefield is considering adopting a Constitution, and is eager to learn of the different perspectives. 

You have read pp. 17 -  25 of the Willes course textbook (12 th ed.), andrealize there aremany important rights and freedoms set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You are reminded at p. 27 of the textbook that almost every modern state has a constituition which sets out the rights of its citizens. 

Given time constraints for your speech,  you must choose only two rights or freedoms set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedomsto summarize.You must choose what you consider to be two of the most important or interesting rights or freedoms. 

Prepare your shortspeech, and provide some general examples of the application of the tworights or freedoms. 

The selected Case Study will be copiedon the Exam;  three questionson the Exam will relate to the selected Case Study. 

To avoid confusion, and in the event of randomization of questions, the selected Case Study will be embedded in all three relevant questions on the Exam; in other words, the wording is the same in the Case Study, regardless where it appears, and you will not have to go back and forth in the Exam to find the Case Study. It will be included for each of the three questions.  

Please read each Case Study below carefully before the Exam, and anticipate questions and answers, to save time during the Exam.

On October 10, 2021 a student posted the following contribution in the Unit 3 Class Discussion forum:

“Contracts can be described as any agreement or promises which is enforceable by law. Contracts are made between two or more than two parties in which one party offer and other party accept that offer. Offer + Acceptance = Contracts. In our daily life we come under various contracts for instance when we board a bus we made a contract with the bus driver that he will reach us to the destination…”

What are the six elements of a valid contact that would apply to this scenario? In other words, drawing from p. 135 of the Willes textbook and Chapters 7 to 10 generally  (see Required Readings), what requirements must be met before any agreement related to the above creates rights and duties that may be enforceable at law?  Discuss each element of a contract and provide an explanation or an example of the requirement related to the scenario described by the student.  Feel free to speculate on the specific details of each element as you consider appropriate.