MLC710 Sport and the Law - Assignment 3

Overview of this assessment

This is an individual research assessment.

Your task includes four parts.  The first (Part A) is a case summary, which will require students to research legal resources to select cases (decided court decisions or where relevant tribunal decisions) for the purpose of designing Part B.  You will be required to provide case summaries of those cases, from one or both of the topics below.  The second (Part B) is to design a hypothetical fact situation, based on the selected cases in Part A.  The third (Part C) is to apply legal reasoning skills to the HFS designed in Part B, and the final part (Part D) is to write a critical reflection on the area of law your HFS is based on. 

Each week during seminars for MLC710 we have tackled problem questions (HFS) in Sport and the Law.  Your first assessment required you to advise parties of their legal positions in relation to two HFSs.  Your second assessment required you to critically analyse/evaluate and reflect on legal and ethical issues that arise in Sport and the Law (CTE as well as ongoing themes in Sport and the Law/ Sports Law).  This assessment requires you to apply the combined skills developed from the first two assessments, with the addition of a case summary research component and a case design component. 

This assessment is a research task that will require you to do independent research.  The materials you should refer to when preparing your portfolio include the textbook, books, legal databases (case law and statutes), journal articles, and other academic resources and materials. 

The maximum word count for this assessment task is 3000 words in total. In other words, please keep your word count under 3000 words.  

Please ensure that you read all of the instructions contained in this document.

Assessment 3 - Case Design Research Portfolio

Topics

1. Misconduct (Topic 9)
2. Discrimination (Topic 10)

You may select cases and write a HFS based on issues that arise in one or both these topics. You may also request to write your portfolio from outside these areas.

Part A

Case research summaries - ULO1&3

You are expected to search for and write brief summaries of FIVE cases in relation to your selected topic/s. This part should be done in conjunction with Part B and C, as your case selection will be critical to the design of the HFS in Part B, and the legal analysis in Part C. 

This part is a research exercise.  You may use the textbook as a guide, however reciting the case facts from the textbook will only gain you a pass mark for this part.  In other words, students will be rewarded for going beyond the textbook.  Your case selection will be critical in your design of Part B and these cases should also be used and applied in Part C.

Suggested word count: Maximum 800 words

(7.5 marks)

Part B

Case Design – ULO 1,2&3

You are expected to design a HFS based on the cases that you have selected in Part A and any relevant legislation (including Codes of Conduct).  The HFS should include facts that allow for the application of legal principles derived from the selected cases (Part A) and any relevant legislation.  This part should be done in conjunction with Part A and C, as your case design must contain facts that allow for the:

• Application of legal principles derived from the cases in Part A and any relevant legislation (including Codes of Conduct).
• Legal analysis in Part C.

This part is not a research exercise per se.  Rather, it requires you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of how legal principles apply to any given HFS, through the design exercise.

Suggested word count: Maximum 500 words

(7.5 marks)

Part C

Legal Analysis – ULO 1,2&3

You are expected to apply legal reasoning skills (IRAC) to the HFS designed in Part B.  Your legal analysis will include the application of the cases selected in Part A and other legal principles derived from legislation (including Codes of Conduct).  The quality of your legal analysis will be reflected in the design of the HFS, and the relevance and correct application of the cases selected in Part A and any relevant legislation. 

The legal analysis will be marked in accordance with the following criteria:

• Identification of the issues.
• Identification of the applicable legal rules (principles of law derived from cases (Part A) and legislation).
• Analysis of the facts and application of the law to the facts.

Suggested word count: Maximum 800 words

(15 marks)

Part D

Critical reflection – ULO1,3&4

For this final part you are expected to write a critical reflection on the area of the law selected for your case design.  The area of law you select for the HFS will likely determine the quality of your critical reflection, as some areas of the law are more contentious than others.  Critically reflective writing requires students to demonstrate critical reading, thinking, and writing skills.  You will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Identification of legal and ethical issues.
• Identification of relevant laws that relate to the issues.
• Critical reflection of the legal/ethical issues and the laws that relate to those issues.

Suggested word count: Maximum 900 words

(15 marks)

NB the other 5 marks will be for organization, communication and style (2.5 marks); and research and referencing (2.5 marks).

Guidelines for Completing Assessment 3

The objective of this task is for students to demonstrate critical legal reasoning skills (Part A, B, and C – ULO1, 2 and 3) and general critical academic skills (reading, thinking, and writing) to legal and ethical issues that arise in Sport and the Law (Part D – ULO1&4).  In addition, this task requires students to demonstrate digital literacy skills (ULO3), by searching for, and identifying quality resources to support the research parts of the portfolio. It is important to recognise that the portfolio parts cannot be done in isolation.  Each part of the portfolio requires reflection on the other parts before and during the research and writing process.   Marks will be awarded for your ability to identify the parts’ requirements, and execute each part with this reflective approach in mind.    

Referencing

Referencing standards for this assessment will be in accordance with the Harvard referencing style (https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study-support/referencing/harvard).  JD students who have become accustomed to AGLC referencing may adopt this standard. 

Marking Criteria

Assessment 3 is worth 50% of your final grade for this unit.  The assessment will be marked in accordance with the following broad criteria:

• Selection of relevant cases from chosen topic/s and quality of summaries.
• HFS design – relevance of facts of the HFS to the selected cases.
• Legal analysis – the application of legal reasoning skills to the HFS.
• Critical reflection of the legal and ethical issues related to the HFS.
• Organisation – communication and style.
• Digital literacy – research and referencing.

You will receive an individual mark for these criteria. These criteria will be defined by way of a rubric (attached to this document for your reference).

Submission Instructions, Due Date, and Extension / Late Submission Policy

• Your assessment should be submitted in Microsoft Word (or rich text) format - .doc, .docx or .rtf. Please do not submit your assessment in PDF format, Apple Pages format, or in any other format. It is your responsibility to ensure that the file you submit is readable. Files that are not readable will be treated as non-submissions. Additionally, please take care to ensure that you have submitted the right version of the file (i.e., your final version, and not a draft version) and that you have submitted the assessment for this unit (and have not mistakenly submitted an assessment that was written for another unit). You are not able to ‘take back’ your submission and upload a fresh (correct) version of your assessment, however this should not be a concern, as only your most recent submission will be marked, provided it is submitted before the due date and time. Any further submissions beyond the due date and time will attract a late penalty. Please observe the following format:
• You do not need to provide a cover sheet.
• Use a font no smaller than 11 point and line spacing of 1.5.
• Use Calibri font.
• Use margin 2.54 cm on all sides.
• You must provide a word count at the beginning of your assessment and for each part. All pages of the assessment must be numbered and your student ID number included in the header or footer.  The word count includes in text referencing but NOT the reference list.
• The due date and time for this assessment is 8 PM (AEST Melbourne time) on Friday, 10th June 2022. Your assessment must be submitted via CloudDeakin. If (and only if) there is a CloudDeakin system failure, you may submit your assessment via email to the Unit Chair (Jay Gul) at gul@deakin.edu.au as evidence of timely submission, and your assessment must then be submitted to CloudDeakin once it becomes available (it is a university requirement that all assessments are posted to CloudDeakin). You should not submit a hard copy of your assessment. Please note that missing the assessment due time is not a reason to submit via email – please read the extension/late submission policy (below) very carefully.
• To obtain an extension, please see Extension option under the Assessments tab (Covid-19 is such an exceptional circumstance).

Requests for extensions must ordinarily be made at least 3 working days before the assessment due date. Requests should only be made after this time where there are exceptional reasons for doing so. Extension requests cannot be made after the due date, unless there are highly exceptional reasons that prevent you from applying for an extension at the regular time.

• Late submissions for which no extension has been granted will attract a late penalty. Late submissions will be dealt with in accordance with cl 46 of the University Assessment (Higher Education Courses) Procedure. Clause 46 provides:

Penalties for late submission of assessment tasks

(46) A due date and time will be set for the submission of each summative assessment task. A marking penalty will be applied where the assessment task is submitted after the due date without an approved extension as follows:

1. 5% will be deducted from available marks for each day up to five days. 

2. Where work is submitted more than five days after the due date, the task will not be marked and the student will receive 0% for the task. 


'Day' means working day for paper submissions and calendar day for electronic submissions.

Feedback

You will only receive your final grade for this assessment (the total combined marks for the entire Trimester), but you will be able to request feedback after the final results for the Trimester are published.

Plagiarism and Collusion

By clicking the ‘submit’ button in the assessment submission area, you are declaring that the attached work is entirely your own, except where otherwise acknowledged, and you are also declaring that it has not been submitted for assessment in any other unit or course.

Plagiarism and collusion are taken very seriously in the Faculty of Business and Law, and in this unit. Instances of plagiarism and collusion will be reported to the Faculty Academic Progress Committee. You are advised to familiarise yourselves with the plagiarism and collusion information contained in your Unit Guide and contained on CloudDeakin. In essence, plagiarism occurs if you pass off as your own work (or copy without acknowledgement) the work of another person, while collusion occurs if you obtain the agreement of another person for a fraudulent purpose, with the intent of obtaining an advantage in submitting an assessment or in other work.