Law2410 - Property Law A Major Assignment

Assignment Task

Assessment

This year, the University’s Human Research Ethics Committee has invited a law student to support the Committee. The law student will work under the supervision of one member of the Committee who is a legal practitioner. The Committee is responsible ‘for ensuring that all University of Notre Dame Australia research involving human participants complies with State and Federal Government standards and is conducted with the highest possible ethical integrity.’ You have accepted the University’s invitation.

At your first meeting with the Committee, you are told that the Committee has received several applications for full ethical review of a research project involving samples of human tissues. Sometimes this will involve dead human tissue, and other times living non regenerating tissue (e.g., a kidney or cornea). While the Committee members tell you that they are aware of the relevant legislation in NSW and WA regulating human tissue,2 this is not what they are wanting you to consider. Instead, they direct you prepare a memorandum of advice to the Committee on:

(a) Whether human tissue (dead or living) is subject to property rights under Australian law as considered by Australian Courts In answering (a) you must consider the Australian Prescribed Cases, and

(b) Whether considering your analysis of the Prescribed Materials you are of the view that human tissue (dead or living) should be subject to property rights in Australia. In answering (b), you must include a consideration of Prescribed Cases from at least one (1) nonAustralian jurisdiction (i.e. select either the United Kingdom or the United States). 

Directions to Students

This is not a research assignment where I am wanting you to go and find secondary sources (e.g., law journal articles) on the topic. Instead, you are to focus on the Prescribed Materials, especially the Australian Prescribed Cases and the Prescribed Cases from your selected non-Australian jurisdiction, thereby demonstrating to me that you have read and analyzed them.

You will need to make a judgment as to how much weight to attach to the various Prescribed Materials; obviously some Prescribed Cases are much more relevant than some of the other Prescribed Cases. Don’t feel overwhelmed by the volume of the Prescribed Materials, instead focus your attention on the matters critical to answering the question you have been given. Matters such as relevance, authority and currency are matters you might weigh up, for example, in deciding where to put your focus.

Your analysis should assiduously avoid an historical review of the law on the relevant issue; nor should your analysis be confined to providing many quotes extracted from Prescribed Cases (although you should strive to demonstrate that you have read the Prescribed Cases and not just read a summary from the Prescribed Text where mentioned therein may be made). You should take care to ensure that your analysis and argument is balanced, with both sides of a problem or issue being considered objectively. You should also avoid stating any proposition without supporting authority, which should almost always be from case law or statutory provisions; if you draw the case law principle from your textbook, then you must also mention the textbook in your footnote, and not just the case itself. Finally, don’t forget to bring your analysis to a conclusion which clearly states your final position, even if a firm conclusion on the facts given is not possible.

Of less relevance in your answer is whether you are “right” or “wrong”; indeed whether or not to recognize property rights in human tissue remains controversial. What is essential is that you can demonstrate that you understand the key legal issues raised by this problem, and that you are able to analyse those issues, having regard to relevant legal issues presented by this problem. It is your analysis which must be done well to receive a Distinction mark or above. If further information is needed for you to better advise the Committee, state this and the reasons for requiring this information.

Purpose and basis of this Assessment

This research assignment is intended to encourage you to analyse and critically evaluate the legal concept of property and things that may be subject to property, in this instance, human tissue. This assignment is also intended to develop your ability to carry out informed and independent legal research of case law, a generic skill essential to the successful study and practice of law.

This Law2410 - Law has been solved by our PhD Experts at My Uni Paper.