The University of the South Pacific

Final Examination

Semester 2 – 2003

Emalus Campus & Online Students

SCHOOL OF LAW

COURSE NAME: LEGAL SYSTEMS II

COURSE NO: LA101

TIME ALLOWED: Three (3) Hours

READING TIME: Ten (10) Minutes

NUMBER OF PAGES: Four (4), including cover page

NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ON PAPER: Eight (8)

NUMBER OF QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED: Five: the compulsory question in section “A” and any four (4) in section “B”

MARK ALLOCATED FOR EACH QUESTION: All questions in this paper carry ten (10) marks each.

TOTAL MARKS: Fifty (50)

MATERIALS PERMITTED IN EXAMINATION ROOM: Unannotated or unmarked copies of LA 101 Reader Volume 1-3 or printouts thereof. For ONLINE students, please ensure that you do not include commentaries or discussions of the course contents in the printouts that you bring into the Examination Room.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Do not forget to cite legal authorities for your answers.

Approved by Head of School: ………………………… Date:……………………….

SECTION A

This section has only one compulsory question and carries ten (10) marks. The recommended length of answers to this question is around six paragraphs or two pages of the examination answer book.

QUESTION ONE

Assume that you are a lawyer in private practice in a country within the USP region. A client called Bob has just finished talking to you about his recent run-in with the courts.

Bob is the headmaster of the local high school and is also the rugby coach of the school. He informed you that yesterday the Magistrates Court convicted him on a charge of common assault and sentenced him to two years imprisonment but suspended that sentence and placed him on a two-year good behaviour bond. This arose from an incident last weekend where he punched the referee during a game of rugby. The Penal Code prescribes “assault” as follows:

Assaults

244. Any person who unlawfully assaults another is guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.

During the trial, several of the prosecution witnesses gave evidence in the local language, which Bob does not know well. This was made worse because the court-provided interpreter spoke English very poorly. As a result, so Bob says, he was not able to clearly understand what the witnesses for the prosecution said and that the interpreter may have failed to properly convey his questions in cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses. Bob gave evidence on his own behalf and when he tried to call his witnesses the magistrate intervened saying that this was not necessary because he felt that the witnesses would not have anything useful to add to what Bob already said.

Bob is afraid that the conviction will prejudice his teaching career. So he asks you to bring an appeal against his conviction to the principal court.

Identify and explain two (2) possible legal grounds that you could raise in your appeal. In your discussion refer to relevant statutory provisions from Pacific Island countries or common law cases to support your arguments.

(10 marks)

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SECTION B

This section contains seven (7) questions of which you are required to answer only four (4). Each question in this section carries ten (10) marks so the total number of marks for this section is forty (40).

QUESTION TWO

During the Medieval times in England, many Royal courts were established to deal with matters concerning the common law. Hence, the Royal Courts came to be known also as Common Law courts. Identify four (4) of these courts and briefly explain:

(a) The main matters which each of these courts dealt with, and

(b) Two changes in the way that these courts functioned.

(10 marks)

QUESTION THREE

Explain the current court structure of any country of your choice in the USP region. In your discussion, also explain the ordinary jurisdiction of each court and how the doctrine of stare decisis (also called doctrine of precedent) operates within the structure.

(10 marks)

QUESTION FOUR

In December 2000, Atu caused the death of a tourist at the main market of your capital city. The tourist had a heart attack and died while he was wrestling with Atu over the tourist’s carry bag and camcorder. Subsequently, Atu was charged with murder under the laws of your country but was acquitted by the principal court due to insufficient evidence. During the trial, the principal court did not consider manslaughter as an alternative charge to murder.

You are the Director of Public Prosecutions. Would you recommend for fresh charges of manslaughter and robbery to be laid against Atu? Please explain your answers.

(10 marks)

QUESTION FIVE

With reference to decided cases and statutory provisions, discuss what is meant that written constitutions and statutes must be read in their context.

(10 marks)

QUESTION SIX

With reference to decided cases and statutory provisions, explain the literal and purposive approaches to statutory interpretation. Also explain which approach you prefer and why?

(10 marks)

QUESTION SEVEN

In English common law, the courts have long recognised that a husband can bring a civil case to claim damages against another person whose actions injure his wife and thereby render her incapable of providing help and companionship to the husband. The House of Lords in Best v. Samuel Fox Co Ltd (Reader 2, page 765) declined to extend that rule to claims by wives. Explain:-

(a) Whether this ruling is binding on courts within countries in the USP region, and

(b) Some arguments that you would raise if you were to invite courts in regional countries to depart from this decision.

(10 marks)

QUESTION EIGHT

In one or two paragraphs, explain the meanings and, where appropriate, give an example of any five of the following words or phrases as used in the context of the LA101 course:

(a) Appellate jurisdiction

(b) Original Jurisdiction

(d) Discretion

(e) Ratio decidendii

(f) Stare decisis

(g) Obiter dicta

(h) Binding precedent

(10 marks)