Magistrates Court Assignment 2022

STUDENT
STUDENT - KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT TASK
Task Number 2 of 3 . Task Name Magistrates Court
Assignment
National unit/s code LAW5721 National unit/s title Analyse and Apply
Civil Procedure
National qualification
code
22276VIC National qualification
title
Advanced Diploma of
Legal Practice
RMIT Program code C6141 RMIT Course code C6141
Section A - Assessment Information
Duration and/or due
date:
Available in Canvas: 26 August 2019 (Week 8)
Due: 11:59pn on 27 September 2019 (Week 12)
Task Instructions
There are three parts to the Magistrates’ Court Assignment. You must demonstrate your
competence in all parts to be deemed competent and satisfactorily complete this unit. This is
the only assessment based on the Magistrates Court.
Part A: You are a paralegal working with a Legal Practitioner representing a PLAINTIFF in the
Magistrates Court.
Part B: You are a paralegal working with a Legal Practitioner representing a DEFENDANT in
the Magistrates Court.
Part C: You are required to provide your client with information about Mediation and
Arbitration as alternative ways to attempt to resolve their dispute.
The assignment requires you to:
 Draft court documents ready for filing in the Magistrates Court and service on the other side.
 Draft correspondence to your client.
 Answer short answers questions about alternative actions or steps your client can take in an
attempt to resolve their dispute.
Use this as a checklist to ensure you complete all the tasks that make up this
assignment.
Part A: Paralegal working with a Legal Practitioner representing a plaintiff
1. Draft a Magistrates Court Complaint Appendix 1
2. Draft an Affidavit(s) of Service Appendix 1
3. Draft a letter to your client Appendix 1
Part B: Paralegal working with a Legal practitioner representing a defendant
4. Draft a Notice of Defence Appendix 2
5. Draft a Counterclaim and set off Appendix 2
Part C: Paralegal working with a Legal practitioner – providing information on
Mediation and Arbitration
6. How mediation might assist resolve your client’s Section C
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dispute
7. How arbitration might assist resolve your client’s
dispute
Section C
Conditions for assessment
Summary and Purpose of Assessment
This assignment is one of three assessment tasks you need to complete to demonstrate your
competence in this unit.
To successfully complete this assignment, you must demonstrate your ability to identify
(research), interpret and apply the legislation, Court Rules, and Court Practice Notes relevant to
commencing and defending a civil action in the Magistrates Court of Victoria.
Assessment context
This assessment task focuses on the rules and procedures that relate to the conduct of civil
proceeding in the Magistrates Court of Victoria. It aims to provide a series of tasks that enable
you to demonstrate your ability to:
 Take as series of steps on a simulated case you are likely to experience in legal practice.
The focus of the scenario is commencing and responding to proceedings in (civil litigation)
in the Magistrates Court.
 Read, analyse, interpret and apply legislation, Court Rules, and Court Practice Notes
relevant to the conduct of civil proceedings in the Magistrates Court of Victoria, including
mediation and arbitration.
Assessment Instructions
1. Assessment task
You must demonstrate your competence in all parts of this assignment. You will do this by
submitting a portfolio of documents typically prepared in legal practice. You are also
required to answer a series of short answer questions citing relevant legislation and Court
Rules.
The work you submit must be of a standard considered to be acceptable if you were working
in legal practice. That is, court documents must be ready for filing and serving on the other
side... and letters to your client must be ready to put in the post!
2. Research necessary to complete the task
A
Research Guide has been prepared to help you identify (research) relevant legislation,
Court Rules and Court Practice Notes. Researching relevant law is an essential step in
completing this assessment task and working as a paralegal. The
Research Guide has been
designed to assist you with this process.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT THE RESEARCH GUIDE... it is simply a tool to help
you undertake the research necessary to complete this assessment task.
Only credible legal sources should be cited to justify the advice you give a client or a
particular procedural step, legal opinion or submission you make in court. You are required
to JUSTIFY your answers in this assignment with relevant law and court rules – ‘primary’ legal
sources of information.
Google searches that provide commentary or secondary opinions should not be relied on to
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justify your answers.3. Where do you complete this assessment task?
An overview of this assignment will be provided in class, however you are required to
complete the task outside of class time.
Whilst you may collaborate with others to undertake the preliminary research necessary to
complete the assessment task (eg. complete the
Research Guide) the WORK YOU SUBMIT
MUST BE YOUR OWN. This is not a group assignment.
Assessment decisions
Each part of this assessment task will be assessed according to the criteria in the guide in
Section B – Assessment Guide (below).
To demonstrate your competence in this assignment you will need to demonstrate your
competence (knowledge and skills) in each of the criteria in Section B – Assessment Guide.
Instructions on submitting your knowledge assessment
This assignment is to be submitted via Turnitin in Canvas by 11:59pm on 27 September 2019.
Please do not submit hardcopies to your teacher.
You will have an opportunity to resubmit any part of the assessment task that is considered to
be “
not yet satisfactory”.
Equipment/resources students must
supply:
Equipment/resources to be provided by
RMIT or the workplace:
Computer and internet access
Relevant legislation, Court Rules, Court
Practice Notes, class notes, and PowerPoint
presentations
You should also transfer the knowledge and
skills you developed completing activities
and tasks on the Supreme and County
Courts (Weeks 1-5) to this assignment – in
particular, your ability to read, analyse and
interpret statutory instruments.
Other secondary sources (eg text books or
articles) to support your interpretation of
relevant legislation and court rules. This
forms part of your research in preparation
for completing the task.
Section A – Assessment Information
Section B – Student Answer Sheet for Part C
of the Assignment
Part C: Paralegal working with a Legal
practitioner – providing information on
Mediation and Arbitration
Section C – Assessment Guide
Appendix 1: Part A: You are a paralegal working
with a Legal Practitioner representing a
PLAINTIFF in the Magistrates Court.
This contains:
Client instructions
Directions from your supervisor –
Legal Practitioner
Appendix 2: Part B: You are a paralegal working
with a Legal Practitioner representing a
DEFENDANT in the Magistrates Court.
Client instructions
Directions from your supervisor –
Legal Practitioner
Research Guide to help you identify (research)
relevant legislation, Court Rules and Court
Practice notes prior to completing the
assessment task.
Canvas: You must access and submit your
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STUDENT
completed assessment task via Turnitin in
Canvas.
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Section B – Student Answer Sheet for Part C of the
Assignment
Student
Name
Student ID
Students provide your responses to this part of the assignment in the boxes below
Complete these questions AFTER you have completed all the other
questions / task in this assignment.
Satisfactory
(S) Not Yet
Satisfactory
(NYS)
1. Explain how mediation may assist Jamie and Mia resolve their dispute. Your
answer should include a description of:
(a) Nature of mediation / the mediation process: mediation is
an alternative dispute resolution method to court systems. It
involves a neutral and impartial third party called Mediator who
facilitates negotiation between the disputants. It is provided
under Magistrates’ Court Act 1989 and the Rules thereunder.
Under order 22 of the said rules, depending on complexity of a
matter it may be referred to pre-hearing conference for
mediation. It is noteworthy that as opposed to previous regime
where consent of the parties was mandatory, currently it is
immaterial.
S NYS
(b) Whether the matter is likely to be referred to mediation: it is
likely to be referred to mediation. This is because the jurisdiction of the
Magistrate to refer a matter to mediation is not subject to consent of the parties
as initially was the case.
S NYS
(c) Roles of the parties in mediation: the parties provide
suitable environment for mediation by cooperation and
compromising so as to reach a middle ground that is
acceptable
S NYS
(d) Legal status of outcomes achieved in mediation: it is non-
binding and may need to be subjected to enforcement
mechanism of the court after it has been reduced to a contract
or settlement agreement.
S NYS
2. Explain how arbitration may assist Jamie and Mia resolve their dispute. Your
answer should include a description of the:
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(a) Nature of arbitration / the arbitration process: under
Magistrates’ Court Act 1989, arbitration is alternative to litigation. It
involves a third party called arbitrator who adjudicates over a
dispute and gives a binding award. It is a bit relaxed rule of
evidence and may result to a relatively lower award to the
successful party as compared the court awards
S NYS
(b) Whether the matter is likely to be referred to arbitration: it
is likely to be referred to arbitration. This is because under
section 102 of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1989, any claim that has a monetary
value of less than $ 10000 must be referred to arbitration.
S NYS
(c) Roles of the parties in arbitration: the role of parties is
limited to presenting evidence and complying with
determination of the arbitrator. This is the case because the
court monitors the process to ensure it is accorded the best
practice possible.
S NYS
(d) Legal status of the outcomes of arbitration: arbitral award
has a binding effect; its enforcement is -merely by registration
in court which gives it the legal force as a judgment of the
court.
S NYS
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