Class Participation 10%

The second part of the unit of study will involve student participation. We will not cover every provision in the UNIDROIT Principles, only topics which illuminate legal issues that require a resolution of conflicting positions and from which general principles of law can be drawn. This is individual, not group assessment. Students will be allocated to a class where they will be on-call to make comments, answer inquiries, explain items in the Required Reading. 

Students should seek to learn an overall understanding of the topics on which they comment, and the legal questions that they raise. They need not have a detailed understanding of every element of the topic.

Essay Plan with Annotated Bibliography 20%

Students will prepare an outline of their chosen research essay topic in 1,500 words which is due 10 October 4pm Sydney, Australia time (topics will be circulated on the first day of class).  Must contain:

• An identification of  the issues or possible solutions to those issues.
• Annotated bibliography (identifying why the resource is to be used and which part if a lengthy document).
• To be substantially based on international contract law principles, not a national law (except by way of comparison).
• To be one only of the possible topics provided and only using the materials in the Reading Guide.
• If cases are cited, copies of those cases are to be provided.

Students will learn to articulate in short form the main outlines of the topic chosen and how to plan a work program suitable for a post-graduate student research assignment.

Research Essay 70%

6,000 words.  A choice of topics to be circulated on first day of classes and is due 13 November 11.59pm (Sydney, Australia time).

Students will learn to articulate in depth the principles relevant to the chosen topic and to write them in a clear manner, with practical applications and examples where relevant.

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will include all footnotes and any bibliography (if required). 

Use of editors or proof-readers: The use of assistance in preparing and editing assessment tasks in this unit of study is strictly prohibited. Assistance includes human and automated writing tools (not including spell checking).  The use of Studiosity does not breach this rule but must be acknowledged.

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate.

Assessment requirement to pass a unit of study

A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.