Case Study Coursework Law Component
| Word Count: | 1000 words |
| Font: | Work must be typed: Arial or Tahoma format |
| Font size: | 12 |
| Line spacing: | 1.5 |
| Presentation | Coursework must be accompanied by a coursework cover sheet |
| Referencing: | You must reference sources used in the body of your answer. You
MUST use the Harvard method |
| Bibliography: | Full bibliography at the end of the written work |
| Cases cited: | In the body of the written work in bold with the full citation
e.g. Smith v Jones (2001) 2AER 19 |
| Statutes cited: | Use capitals for the name of the statute or legislation e.g. The
General Product Safety Regulations 2005. You may use an abbreviated form of the title after the first citation e.g. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR) |
| Sections of
Statutes: |
Sections of a statute may be quoted as follows:
section 12 as S.12 section 12 paragraph/subsection 2 – as S.12(2) |
| Submission: | Use a single staple, top left hand corner. Do not put sheets in
separate folders |
Overall Quality:
The written work submitted should be clear and coherent, correct in spelling and grammar, proficient in flow, and demonstrate professional academic standards of presentation and style. Use of the first or second person will be severely penalised.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA – Guidelines
You should consult the guidelines before submitting any written work
To achieve a D grade
Research should be conducted, which is in the main appropriate to the topic
Appropriate material should be selected
Some explanation of the legal issues
Material should have some sense of structure and be referenced
There should be some attempt at analysis of the issues raised
Conclusions should be drawn
To achieve a C grade
Appropriate research should be conducted
Appropriate material should be selected
The legal issues should be explained
Material should be structured, presented and referenced appropriately
There should be some analysis of the issued raised
Conclusions should be drawn
To achieve a B grade
Appropriate research should be conducted using a variety of sources
Appropriate material should be selected
Clear explanation and understanding of the legal issues
Well structured, arguments presented in a coherent manner
The issues raised should be critically analysed
To achieve an A grade
In addition to that outlined for B grade above students should demonstrate
Comprehensive coverage of the legal issues
Originality of thought/argument
For details of assessment criteria, plagiarism guidelines – see module booklet
(WebLearn)
CASE STUDY: “Indesit Washing Machines “explode” in several homes”
Watch the following video and answer the questions that follow http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/indesit- washing-machine
If you cannot access Flash etc this is a transcript of the film.
“On Watchdog we get to hear about lots of freak incidents involving household goods. When we received a complaint from an Indesit washing machine owner about an explosion we assumed it was a one off freak incident
– but when the number of complaints started rising we knew there had to be a problem.
Last June Ellie Wharton from Suffolk was at home playing with her two children in the lounge, when she heard an almighty bang from her kitchen. Her Indesit washing machine WIXL143 had exploded.
When she went to investigate she found that the top of the machine had been raised, the front dials had been pushed out of the machine, the door had been blown open, and the impact of the force had lifted the top of the kitchen cabinet and moved her oven. Inside, the drum had come loose and was left buckled and twisted.
Thankfully neither her, nor her two children were in the kitchen at the time, but they were all shocked.
Rachel Davies also had the same problem with her washing machine, the same
model as Ellie’s.
Her family’s machine was in their utility room on spin cycle when they heard a loud bang. They saw that the top of the machine had been pushed upwards, and the dials and drawer on the machine had shattered and blown by force across the room and onto the floor. Rachel told us,
“…that’s a huge hazard if you’ve got young children because they’re the height of that washing machine and the front where the dials are and obviously that is something that could cause a serious injury.”
The problem isn’t confined to the WIXL143 model.
Tim Cumming had the same experience with the more expensive Indesit model W1X E167. After hearing a loud crash, he walked into his kitchen to find that it was covered in pieces of what he describes as ‘shrapnel’.
During the spin cycle it appeared that the drum had split open and moved the concrete balancing block inside the machine up. Tim said,
“…it tried to fire this concrete block out of the top of the machine. Had there been no worktop or anything above it, potentially, this concrete block could’ve gone up into the base of the gas boiler resulting in quite a bigger bang.”
So what is happening to these washing machines?
Graham Watkinson electrical engineer explains, “I believe what happens is the seam actually splits open then what will happen is the actual drum itself will open just like a can, when it splits, it then hits the outer drum and breaks through the outer drum.”
Indesit has agreed with this analysis, apologised to all of our contributors and paid for replacement machines and damage to their kitchens.
But why are Indesit not recalling these washing machine models?”
Required
As the newly appointed legal advisor, you have been asked to consider the legal issues raised in the video and to give legal advice to the parties. Using the IRAC
system you are required to address the legal issues presented in the video. You are reminded that you must refer to relevant legislation and case law in your answers and to reference sources used.
Question
June Ellie Wharton, Tim Cumming and Rachel Davies are clearly concerned about their Indesit washing machines. Advise them as to their rights regarding the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
Additionally, you are required to explain the legal principles regarding excluding liability in relation to the sale and subsequent use of the washing machines.
In your answer you are required to refer to the relevant sections of the Sale of Goods
Act 1979 (SOGA), Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) and case law.
END OF PAPER