Functions of the Western Australian Law - Essay Example

Chicago referencing style: Cold chisel convoy I hot water. Media article Source: The Western Australian Friday, 2 December The Western Australian The law has various functions. It: Allows people to organize and plan; According to the information on article one; the cold chisel band members would have organized for better means of transport that would not involve the police cars. However, the security risks involved in the concert would have been solved earlier through deployment of security personnel directly through application to the police officer commanding station where the concert was to be held, to intensify security. The police officers should have obeyed the law through adhering to the required speed used by the drivers along the specified route. In addition, the police should have obeyed the laws and obtain permission from their base commander before agreeing to transport the Cold chisel band to the concert venue. Encourages or discourages particular activities; Criminal Law The law discourage activities that would likely cause accidents. These includes, over speeding and careless driving, misuse of warning lights to indicate a form of danger especially when a dignitary is on a special trip of high importance that requires punctuality; the police officers transporting Jimmy Barner and the band pretended to be an important group of government officials late for an urgent meeting. Despite having come from the airport, the legendary Cold Chisel Rock band was not supposed to use government vehicles; any government property is subject to questions when used outside the required obligations. The taxes that are involved in the management and maintenance of the government owned properties including vehicles are sourced from taxes remitted by the common man. The police officers breached the laws governing government properties (Gans 2012). While not on an official duty, the police officers were not supposed to drive with emergency hazards lights on. The speed limits were to be observed, like any other passenger or private vehicle on the specified road (Church 2009). Creates rights and duties that can be enforced; Property law Law that governs property is based on the ownership of such properties. Government property is different from personal property hence should be handled with due respect. Any state property should be handled within the state laws of property management; hence the officers should have faced more charges for allegedly mishandling government vehicles. The police assisted unauthorized users to not only travel in the government vehicles, but also to gain security from public properties (Gans 2012). Since there is no link or contract between the Australian legendary Cold Chisel Rock band that would enable them to ride in state owned vehicles, the legendary Cold Chisel Rock group also committed an offence as they did not use the right means to the concert (Gans 2012). Despite the fear of attack at the concert, the band management team had assented to the invitation to entertain the audience during the party hence it was within their jurisdiction to request for an assignment so that they would be accorded police escort (Church 2009). The permits The legendary Cold Chisel Rock would have also obtained a permit from the police base within the area where the concert was to be held. The police officers would have accorded the required patrol force within the area to enhance adequate security. (Lanham 2006). On the other hand, legally assigned police officers would be held responsible, and are subject to remitting duty reports to the patrol base to showcase the security surveillance during the function. Such reports would be further used to rate the security of specific areas, so that incase such functions occur in the future, the officers commanding stations within the periphery would determine the force required to suppress the rowdy crowds (Lanham 2006). The rights to life and property are protected by law; For instance, through restricting speed limits within specified roads, as observed in article 1 is aimed at curbing road accident and destruction of property. Provides remedies when right are interfered with or duties are not discharged. When the laws are not followed as required, the remedy would be accusation and cases, with options that defendants could state the reasons behind acting against the stipulated laws. This would be aiming at controlling every aspect that would lead to violation of either life or property rights among other rights, as was evident when the police officers were accused of driving above the allocated speed limits for the specified roads. The motor cycle rider was charged for allegedly riding at 129km/h on a road designed for speed limit of 80km/ h while the other police officers were charged for driving at 110km/h and 116km/h respectively (Lanham 2006). With reference to the legal issues reported on in the chosen media report describe why it is important to know the law in these circumstances? Police force forms part of a government that is charged with maintaining law and order within the assigned jurisdiction. In order for the whole country to realize the need to obey the law, the responsibility should begin with the law makers and implementers so that the common man would realize the need to abide by the same laws (Gans 2012). However, in the article extracted from a twitter posting, it indicated that an incident occurred on a Saturday night where a speeding camera captured a senior police in reckless driving. There were also other two police offices in the same vehicle along with the Cold Chisel Convoy that was headed to a concert at Margaret River (Church 2009). Nevertheless, the picture captured by the speed camera was not the only offense committed, instead another picture of the Cold Chisel front man Jimmy Burner captured showed him smiling on the front seat of a police car, the driver of the police car, Dunsborough Sgt Craig Anderson, was supposed to be fined (Gans 2012). The involvement of the police officers in such a case resulted when they were requested to escort the Australian Legendary Rock band from Busselton Airport to Sandalford for a weekend. Often the police are not supposed to attend to such functions since it breaches the law that governs the police force (Church 2009). The long stay at the concert till the party was called off was an offence since they were not on an official duty and the decision to stay at such functions rested within the jurisdiction of their commander who was not informed. Knowing the law requirements is essential as it controls individuals from engaging in activities that would result into being on the wrong (Gans 2012). Part B - Case analysis 1. In which court was the reported case decided? The case against Joanne Elizabeth Clark was decided on 18th February 1999 at the Halifax County Court. 2. Will this decision be treated as either binding or persuasive by a Western Australian State Supreme Court and why? The plaintiff was a student in the University; she should be well acquainted with the University rules regarding examination. There was no evidence that supports the university’s decision to take such action against her. Hence the Western Australian State Supreme Court backed up the judge’s decision to strike out the case and allow Joanne Elizabeth Clark to appeal on the ground of non justifiability. The case involved allegations that the university had new laws, Joanne Elizabeth Clark was allowed to appeal further since the university never had evidence against the specific university laws breached. Why? Western Australian State Supreme Court requires evidence based claims that would be supported by stipulated university laws, to make a decision against the student. Unless the university proves the reasons for their harsh action against the student, the court is determined to fight it in favor of the offended provided that there are tangible proofs of the same. 3. What were the names of the judges who heard the case? The names of the judges who heard the case included judge Walker of Halifax County Court, Judge Sedley L.J., Judge Lord Woolf and Judge Ward L.J. 4. What were the full names of the parties? What are those parties called and why? The full names of the parties were the University, The Higher Education Corporation and Joanne Elizabeth Clark. The student, who was the claimant studied in the university, which was created by the statute. The judiciary is the arm of government responsible for implementing laws through making decisions between the plaintiff and defendants 5. What were the material facts of the reported case? The material facts of the reported case were that, the plaintiff was awarded a third class degree after a repeat of examination since she had failed twice during an appeal for remarking. The university automatically awarded her a third class degree claiming that it was within the university reform rules. The rules stated that once a student fails an exam, the repeat would be an automatic third class degree. This was found out to be just allegations to intimidate the plaintiff hence the court allowed her to appeal further. 6. What was the main legal issue to be decided? The main legal issue to be decided was that the appellant made a breach of contract against the university. There was also a dispute of examination marks which affected her education since the University failed her when she attempted to defend her ability to perform better despite losing data while using her father’s computer. Due to lack of back up, the student lost all her data before presenting her work to the University. In the process of repeating the class, she was automatically awarded a third class degree, which hinders her from pursuing further education. This was against her wish to continue with her academic career to the next level. However, the major reason why she had reached this far was that she did not back up a copy of the work that she was to submit on 14th April, 1995. The abrupt data loss a day before the deadline forced her to copy some notes from Methuen commentary, which showed an indication of plagiarism, which is against the university statute. 7. What was the decision of the Court? The Halifax county court stroke out Joanne Elizabeth Clark’s claim since it was not justifiable. However, Joanne further appeal was authorized since the university had no proof of changing examination rules to automatically award any student who failed an examination twice with an automatic third class degree after repeat the class. 8. concentrating on the judgment of how would you express the ratio decided of the reported case (the reason)? The case having been heard by four judges without contradiction, it is adept to support the student since the university had no contractual evidence to showcase their decision to award the plaintiff an automatic third class degree, despite her efforts to achieve and pursue further her education. However, when comparing the statements from both the student and the university, it is evident that the university decided to intimidate the plaintiff despite her efforts to adhere to the recommended option after failing to meet examination educational requirements. Reason The plaintiff’s examination would have been marked as any other student’s work since the curriculum is the same for the course pursued. 9. How many precedents can you identify in the decided case? How important are the decisions from courts of other jurisdictions? There are two precedents in this case; the first one was the decision by Judge Walker indicating that the case was not justifiable which called for further appeal from the plaintiff. However, during Judge Sedley L.J. session, The court found no evidence from the university to support their harsh decision against the plaintiff, this also led to a further appeal since the university had no obligation to automatically award her a third class degree after repeating the course. Works Cited Chalifour, Nathalie J. Land Use Law for Sustainable Development. Canberra- Australia: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Church, Fran. Explore Australia: the complete touring companion. Darwin- Australia: Pennsylvania State University, 2009. Fisher, Douglas Edgar. Australian environmental law: norms, principles and rules . Canberra: Thomson Reuters Australia, Limited, 2010. Gans, Jeremy. Modern Criminal Law of Australia. Adelaide- Australia: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Gilpin, Alan. Dictionary of environmental law: Elgar Original Reference Series . Darwin- Australia: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2000. Lanham, David J. Criminal laws in Australia. 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