Analysis of Apartment Residents' Obligations: A Legal Case Study

This case study analyzes a legal scenario involving an apartment owner, Ben Benson, who transfers his responsibilities to Kate Little. Kate violates apartment regulations by allowing excessive noise and smoking, leading to a complaint from a neighbor, Mrs. Granville. The case explores the legal concepts of obligation, actus reus, and the application of noise and public health acts. The analysis examines the actions of Kate and Karam, considering their intent and the impact on neighbors. The report discusses the legal procedures, including warnings and potential penalties under the Noise Act and Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. The conclusion highlights the importance of fulfilling obligations and adhering to established rules to avoid legal repercussions. References include books, journals, and online resources, providing a comprehensive overview of the legal context.

Legal Case Brief

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................1
Issue:...........................................................................................................................................1
Rule:............................................................................................................................................1
Application:.................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion:.................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Obligation is the duty or liability which has to do something under the term of contract
and it usually involve a penalty for non fulfillment of specific work. It is necessary for an
individual to fulfill all given task in proper manner. In this assignment, the Northern Territory
government proposed new legal law for dealing with certain problems (Rossi and et. al., 2016).
This report mainly focus on Apartment and Unit Residents obligations in which Ben Benson is
the owner of the “Darwin city” apartment who gave his responsibility to Kate Little. Breach of
some laws were made by Kate and therefore the following report will discuss the scenario of
same.
TASK
Issue:
In Darwin city, Ben Benson is the owner of apartment who went for a holiday so he
transfers his duties and responsibilities to Kate Little for 4 weeks. As per the current regulations,
no one can create a nuisance with doing some annoying activities after 10 pm to 6 am in the
resident place. But Kate breach the norms and rules by doing constant loud discussion with his
student Karam till 10.30 pm and both were smoking cigarette as well. Then Mrs Granville who is
living in the Unit 2 was disturbed by their loud noise and activities such as cigarette smoking so
she calls police immediately. After that, police arrived at around 10:40 pm and found that Kate
and Karam were smoking by seeing their ashtray which was overflowing (Reichard, 2016). The
police issued the infringement notices under the section 3 and 4 of the Act. However, major issue
which is going to represent in front of the court is “representation of facts or figures in the
favour of Karam and Kate in order to defend her from the charges of section 3 & 4 of the
act”.
Rule:
Actus reus is the term which can be used for explaining the criminal act. It can be defined
as a criminal act which was resultant of voluntary bodies movement. It describes a physical
activity which can damage an individual or another person. Actus reus occurs when criminal
action is involuntary. If anyone is creating noise from within the premises or houses, so law
defines a penalty which has to be accepted as per the night hours rules (Karpoff and Wittry,
2018). A person does not exceed the noise with the acceptable level if do so, then district council
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can examine this situation and take action. There is a certain process of filing complaint against
making of noise in the residential place or in apartment area. According to the Noise Act, when
council investigate the noise complaint, they need to issue a warning notice to the party who is
guilty. If a person ignores the notice so they can charge penalty for creating loud noise at the
restricted location. When any act which can disturb the other person living next door like
smoking or loud noise in the case is done the first action to be taken should be to make complain
to the society secretary against guilty. Then if it is ignored by the person at fault involvement of
police should be made (Bolton, 2018). Under the Noise Act, if nuisance activity continues after
the warning council may issue an Abatement Notice on the name of guilty or owner of the
premises. It involves an order of stopping the noise and information about the maximum time
limits a person can enjoy loud noise at his resident. The penalty which is charge against breach
of rule is $400 for causing undue noise. According to the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act,
this act provides a strong warming on cigarette packages which effect on individual health. Due
to smoking, there are various disease caused such as lung cancer, asthma, and heart attack to the
people. If any person ignore such rule so they have to pay fine to the government.
Application:
In this case, owner of Darwin city went to a holiday and transfer his obligation to Kate
who is active volunteer of their society. Usually she teaches his student Karam from 8-9 pm in
her spare time. But on Wednesday, 30th March 2018, she was teaching his student over 10 pm.
In this case, Kate and Karam are discuss regarding its subject topic as they does not realise the
time. Also they are creating noise which is not allowed in their apartment after 10 pm but they
are continuously make sound that disturbs others. It is a big mistake of Kate that she did not
realized what time it is and continues the loud voice along with smoking cigarette which is also
restricted in the premises. Though Kate is at fault but Mrs. Granville could have personally
requested Kate before calling police. She should have corrected her against the nuisance to stop
the sound which disturbs. Apart from this, she was call police which is not appropriate under the
law because it is not the right way to stop the noise. In this case, the Ben Benson who is the
owner of the company gives their duties to the Kate and she is not fulfilment of all given duty in
better manner. They are doing guilty activity intentionally but their mind is not guilty
(Chervenak, McCullough and Chervenak, 2015). On one hand, they are discuss about their
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subject in which they does not realise that their loud noise disturbs other so they have to pay
penalty amount according to the rule.
Conclusion:
Kate and Karam are doing unlawful activity intentionally but their mind is not guilty. It
can be analysed that they do not realise their voice as loud which disturbs their neighbours which
is not criminal act. Other hand, they were also smoking cigarette which is prohibited in their
apartment. Moreover, this will create major issue then they require to paid penalty regarding
making loud noise.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it can be analysed that obligation is the duty which
are transfer by one person to the another. It is necessary for an individual to fulfill all task or
work in proper manner. This study is focus about loud noise situation which create major issue
for an individual. Along with this, person does not exceed the noise with the acceptable level if
do so the district council can examine or take necessary action. All the people should follow
norms and rules which are developed by government under the Noise Act.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Chervenak, J., McCullough, L.B. and Chervenak, F.A., 2015. Surgery without consent or
miscommunication? A new look at a landmark legal case. American journal of
obstetrics and gynecology. 212(5). pp.586-590.
Bolton, J., 2018. The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First. The Wall Street Journal, 28.
Rossi, G., and et. al., 2016. Is legal protection sufficient to ensure plant conservation? The Italian
Red List of policy species as a case study. Oryx. 50(3). pp.431-436.
Reichard, M., 2016. The EU-NATO relationship: a legal and political perspective. Routledge.
Karpoff, J.M. and Wittry, M.D., 2018. Institutional and legal context in natural experiments: The
case of state antitakeover laws. The Journal of Finance. 73(2). pp.657-714.
Online
Actus reus. 2017 [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/criminal-law/actus-reus/>.
Noise nuisance and neighbours. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/noise-nuisance-and-neighbours#skip-link>.
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