Advice on Negligence and Liability in Libertas Conference Tragedy

This assignment requires you to advise the parties using case law.

The annual party conference of Libertas, a (fictitious) political party in the United Kingdom was being held at Mottley Towers Conference Centre.  As the audience listened to the previous Party Leader, Kenny Charles give a rousing speech, heavy lighting collapsed and fell, killing several leading members of the party who were seated behind him.  These included Sharmi the spokesperson for education, and Jeremy the spokesperson for pensions. Eoin, the next Party Leader, was injured but survived with minor injuries.  In the audience was Boris who Jeremy had met in the previous six months through a dating app.  The two had been inseparable since.

Also watching the disaster unfold on a television monitor was Tariq, Sharmi’s husband of two years. Eoin’s son, Connor was just outside the conference hall. On being wrongly told, by Mottley Towers’ staff that his father had died, he joined in with the voluntary rescue team that tried to pull the bodies out from under the debris.

Boris, Tariq and Connor have all suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.  Kenny who had been a recovering alcoholic, has started drinking alcohol again and has not been well enough to return as the Party’s Leader.

Advise Boris, Connor, Eoin, Kenny, and Tariq of their rights against Mottley Towers.

Criteria for Assessment - How you will be marked

You need to show that you:

1. Understand the general principles of negligence; particularly duty of care focusing on claimants who have suffered a mental rather than physical injury.

 

2. Can present a coherent written argument that follows a logical pattern from introduction through to conclusion.

 

3. Can explain the difference between primary and secondary victims, demonstrating an understanding of the policy reasons behind the criteria for each type of victim to succeed in their claim.

 

4. Have the ability to research using primary sources i.e. case law retrieved from respected media such as Westlaw and / Lexis

Have the ability to explain and apply the reasoning behind leading cases on psychiatric injury.

 

5. In advising the parties, you have demonstrated problem solving skills through deductive reasoning, having selected and evaluated appropriate research material; that is then effectively applied to the problem(s) identified in the scenario.

 

Further information on University mark descriptors can be found here. 

This assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes: 

Assessment Criteria

a. Demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the general principles of tortious liability

 

b. Demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the role of policy in the development of the Law of Tort

 

c. Demonstrate a capacity for deductive reasoning, evaluation and application, in particular through the medium of problem solving.

 

d. Demonstrate an appropriate ability to present competent and coherent written arguments

 

e. Demonstrate an appropriate ability to handle primary source material

 

f. Demonstrate an appropriate ability to work independently.

 

Assessment Details

1. Please state the word count on your assessment. There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

2. The word limit includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but excludes footnotes and the bibliography.

3. The assessment must be submitted by . No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

4. Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.

 

5. Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader

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6. All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason will be subject to the University regulationson late submissions.

 

7. If an assessment is submitted up to 14 days late the mark for the work will be capped at the pass mark of 40% or 50% for post-graduate modules

 

8. If an assessment is submitted beyond 14 calendar days late the work will receive a mark of zero per cent

The above applies to a student’s first attempt at the assessment. If work submitted as a reassessment of a previously failed

 

9. assessment task is submitted later than the deadline the work will immediately be given a mark of zero per cent

If an assessment which is marked as pass/fail rather than given a percentage mark is submitted later than the deadline, the work will immediately be marked as a fail

 

10. The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict.  If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the re-sit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

LL.B students apply for extensions using the webform here – https://balstudents.our.dmu.ac.uk/ask-bal-extensions-and-deferrals/ 

a. Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.

 

b. Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

 

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have feedback returned to you on 17/01/2022 (20 working days). If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. It is important that you access the feedback you receive as this will help to make improvements to your later work, you can request a meeting with your Module Leader or Personal Tutor to discuss your feedback in more detail.

Marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review. More information on assessment and feedback can be found here.