HOLMES INSTITUTE

FACULTY OF
HIGHER EDUCATION

Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines

Trimester T1 2019
Unit Code HI5015
Unit Title Legal Aspects of International Trade & Enterprise
Assessment Type Group Assignment
Assessment Title Research paper and presentation
Purpose of the Students are required to research an International Law Case of your choice from the
assessment (with ULO list below and explain in a report format on the background of the dispute, facts, legal
Mapping) issues, individual parties’ arguments, tribunal’s decision and the importance of the
case in international law.

Weight 30% of the total assessments

Total Marks 20 marks – research paper and 10 marks for presentation
Word limit Not more than 2000 words
Due Date Friday Week 10 – 11.59pm
Submission  All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed
Guidelines Assignment Cover Page.
 The assignment must be in MS Word format, no spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm
margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page
numbers.
 Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately
at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing style.

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Assignment 2 Specifications

Purpose:
This assignment aims at ensuring that students have familiarised themselves with their chosen
International Case law and are able to explain the background of the dispute, facts, legal issues,
individual parties’ arguments, tribunal’s decision and the importance of the case in international
law.

Details:

Topics and presentation schedule:

Please organise yourselves into groups of not more than 5 students and not less than 3 students.
The assignment consists of 2 parts;

A. Written report – worth 20% and must be submitted – Friday Week 10 at 11.59pm.

1. Select a case from the list of International Law Cases below.

2. Advise your lecturer by email of your group members with student ID numbers and chosen case.
Please note: your lecturer’s prior approval of your case is required.

3. Select the party you wish to represent (ex. China in the “Philippines v. China in the South China sea”
case; or Canada in “Canada v. Australia – Measures Affecting Importation of Salmon”).

4. Research, read and understand your selected case.

5. Prepare and submit a written report discussing the following:

 background of the dispute
 brief facts of the case
 the legal issues presented
 the individual parties’ arguments, with particular emphasis on your selected party’s
arguments
 the tribunal’s decision
 the importance or significance of the case in international law (i.e. why the case is important
in the development of international law). You can also discuss any other developments
following the court or tribunal’s decision.

Assignment structure is to be written as a report format. It must include;

 Cover page
 Executive summary
 Table of contents
 Section headings
 Paragraphing
 Page numbers
 Reference list at the end of the report

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B. Group Presentation – worth 10% and will be presented / submitted in week 10.
Strict adherence to the 10 minute limit is expected.

1. Present and discuss the summary of your report in 10 minutes.

2. The Presentation will be done in class or video recording. Your lecturer will advise which is more
appropriate. Whether in-class or video presentation, all members must present. The group will be
marked down if not all members present.
3. Video link must be uploaded to a publicly-viewable video sharing platform (ex. Youtube, Dropbox,
Google drive) and the video link uploaded on Blackboard.
4. A video presentation consists of both images and audio. For this reason, a plain Power Point
presentation showing slides even with accompanying voice recording is not considered a video and,
hence, not allowed.

Important Reminders:

Lecturer approval of chosen case:

1. You must email your lecturer your list of group members and chosen case by week 4.

2. You must obtain approval by email from your lecturer of your group and chosen case before starting
work on it. You must NOT start work on your group assignment until your lecturer approves your
group and case. Please note: failure to obtain lecturer approval will result in a failing mark for the
entire group for this assignment.

Submission:

1. All group report submissions must be done online and run through SafeAssign. No hard copies are to
be submitted. Only one group member needs to submit for the whole group.

2. Please fill in the “Group Report cover sheet” (available in Blackboard under “Assignments and Due
dates) and attach as a cover sheet to your group report and upload on Blackboard.

3. Each group must email to their lecturer a “Peer Evaluation of Individual Participation in Group
Assignment” sheet (available in Blackboard under “Assignments and Due dates).

4. Non-submission of either the group report or video presentation link (if a group is doing a video) on
Blackboard/SafeAssign (if doing a video presentation) is equivalent to non-submission, which will
merit a mark of 0 (zero) for the group assignment.

5. This is a group assignment and is meant to be worked on in groups. Groups of less than 3 and more 5
members will receive a penalty of 10 marks (50%).

6. Reports must be submitted via SafeAssign on Blackboard and show a similarity percentage figure.
Any group report that does not show a SafeAssign similarity percentage will not be marked and be
required to re-submit.

7. Late submissions will be subject to Holmes Institute policy on student assessment submission and
late penalties (please refer to subject outline and Student handbook).

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Citation and referencing:

1. The group report must have a minimum of 6 scholarly, academic references, which are appropriate
for a Masters Level assignment.

2. Assignments are expected to observe proper referencing in accordance with a generally accepted
system of citation (ex, Harvard System). A properly referenced assignment showing in-text citation is
critical to passing and obtaining a good mark in the group assignment.

SafeAssign similarity percentage:

1. Plagiarism in any form, shape or manner is unacceptable under any circumstances and will be dealt
with according to Institute policy on plagiarism.

2. In general, for written reports, a SafeAssign similarity percentage of 25% or below is acceptable.
Regardless of the similarity figure, all group reports must use in-text citation and observe proper
referencing rules.

INTERNATIONAL LAW CASES

Please choose from one of the following topics from the list (see below).
Note:
Where possible, groups are expected to refer to the texts of the original cases and conduct additional
research. Do not rely merely on the case summaries as it is not possible to write a 2,000 word report based
only on case summaries.

1. De Sanchez v. Banco Central De Nicaragua Textbook (August, Mayer & Bixby 6th ed): pp. 63-65
2. Chattin v. United Mexican States Textbook: pp. 93-96 3.
3. Islamic Republic or Iran v. United Sates of America http://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/79
4. Commission of the European Communities v. Federal Republic of Germany Textbook: pp. 51-53 .
5. Sandline International Inc. v. Papua New Guinea Textbook: pp. 73-76
6. The M/V Saiga Case (Merits) Textbook: pp. 98-103
7. In the matter of the Loewen Group Inc. and Raymond L Loewen vs USA Textbook: pp. 145-147
8. Bumper Development Corp. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Others Textbook:
pp. 150-153
9. Abbott v. Republic of South Africa Textbook: pp. 163-167
10. Bank of India v. Gobindram Naraindas Sadhwani and Others Textbook: pp. 172-175
11. Jorge Luis Machuca Gonzalez et al. v. Chrysler Corporation et al. Textbook: pp. 177-179
12. Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Co. (Belgium v. Spain) Textbook: pp. 187-189 http://www.icj-
cij.org/en/case/50
13. Metro Industries v. Sammi Corp. Textbook: pp. 200-205
14. United States v. Blondek, Tull, Castle, and Lowry Textbook: pp. 225-229
15. Arab Republic of Egypt v. Southern Pacific Properties, Ltd., et al. Textbook: pp. 249-250
16. Brady v. Brown Textbook: pp. 257-262
17. Nissan Motor Mfg. Corp., U.S.A. v. United States Textbook: pp.264-266
18. The Bhopal Case – Charan Lal Sahu v. Union of India Textbook: pp. 277-281
19. Batchelder v. Kawamoto Textbook: pp. 288-290
20. Wilson, Smithett & Cope, Ltd v. Terruzzi Textbook: pp. 315-319
21. Hunt et al. v. Alliance North American Government Income Trust, Inc. et al. Textbook: pp. 344-345
22. Vishipco Line et al. v. Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. Textbook: pp. 351-354
23. Finance Ministry v. Manifattura Lane Marz Otto, SpA Textbook: pp. 378-379
24. Canada v. Australia – Measures Affecting Importation of Salmon
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds18_e.htm
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25. Japan—Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages Textbook: pp. 381-384
26. Duberg v. UNESCO Textbook: pp. 452-454
27. State v. Nagami (Japan 1968) Textbook: pp. 470-472 6
28. Spiess et al. v. C. Itoh & Co. (America), Inc. (US 1979) Textbook: pp. 480-482
29. Performing Right Society Limited v. Hickey Textbook: pp. 494-496
30. Amar Nath Sehgal v. Union of India Textbook: pp. 499-501
31. Starbucks and Ethiopia Dispute Coffee Trademark Issues Textbook: pp. 513-515
http://www.wipo.int/ipadvantage/en/details.jsp?id=2621 https://www.ictsd.org/bridges-
news/biores/news/ethiopia-and-starbucks-reachcoffee-agreement
32. Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. v. Hammerton Textbook: pp. 516-521
33. Treibacher Industrie, A.G. v. Allegheny Technologies, Inc. Textbook: pp. 576-579
34. Chicago Prime Packers, Inc. v. Northern Food Trading Co. (US 2005) Textbook: pp. 595-598
35. M. Golodetz & co. v. Czarnikow-Rionda Co., Inc. (The Galitia) Textbook: pp. 62-632
36. Great China Metal Industries Co. Ltd. v. Malaysian International Shipping Corp. Textbook: pp. 635-
639
37. Mair v. Bank of Nova Scotia (Eastern Caribbean States 1983) Textbook: pp. 671-673
38. Far East Realty Investment, Inc. v. Court of Appeals et al. (Philippines 1988) Textbook: pp. 676-677
39. Trans Trust Sprl v. Danubian Trading Co., Ltd. (UK 1952) Textbook: pp. 687-689
40. Sztejn v. J. Henry Schoeder Banking Corp. Textbook: pp. 695-696
41. Philippines v. China in the South China Sea https://pca-cpa.org/wp-
content/uploads/sites/175/2016/07/PH-CN-20160712- Award.pdf
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/philippines-vs-china-in-the-south-china-sea-thedispute-so-far
42. In the arbitration proceeding between Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide (Claimant)
and Republic of the Philippines: International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes,
Washington, D.C.)
https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw4114.pdf

Marking criteria

Marking criteria Weighting

Written Report
Introduction to chosen case 4%
Identification of legal issues 6%
Tribunal’s decision 6%
Organisation or structure 2%
Referencing 2%
TOTAL 20%

Presentation
Discussion on the content of the topic 3%
Overall presentation clarity 3%
Overall impression 4%
TOTAL 10%

TOTAL Weight 30%

Assessment Feedback to the Student:

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Marking Rubric – Written Report

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Introduction of Demonstration of Demonstration Demonstration Demonstration Demonstration

case, background thorough of a very good of a good of satisfactory of little or no
and facts of the knowledge of the knowledge of knowledge of knowledge of knowledge of
case chosen case the chosen case the chosen case the chosen case the chosen
(4 marks) (4 marks) (3.5 marks) (2.5 marks) (2 marks) case and
discussion has
little or no
relevance to
the case
chosen.
(1 mark)

Identification of Accurately and Identification of Identification of Identification of Failure to

legal issues succinctly all of the issues most but not all some of the identify any of
presented and identified all of and sub-issues of the issues issues and sub- the issues and
individual parties’ the issues and confronting the and sub-issues issues sub-issues
arguments, with sub-issues parties so as to confronting the confronting the confronting the
particular confronting the resolve the parties so as to parties so as to parties so as to
emphasis on parties so as to problem. resolve the resolve the resolve the
selected party’s resolve the (5.5 marks) problem. problem. problem.
arguments. problem. (4.5 marks) (3.5 marks) (<2 marks)
(6 marks) (6 marks)

Explanation of Accurately and Explained all of Explained most Explained some Failure to
the tribunal’s succinctly the tribunal’s but not all of of the tribunal’s explain any of
decision and explained all of decision and the the tribunal’s decision and the the tribunal’s
significance of the tribunal’s significance of decision and the significance of decision and
the case in decision and the the case in significance of the case in the significance
international law significance of the international the case in international of the case in
(6 marks) case in law. international law. international
international law. (5.5 marks) law. (3.5 marks) law.
(6 marks) (4.5 marks) (<2 marks)

Overall Report is Report is well Report is Report is Poorly

presentation and exceptionally structured with somewhat structured with presented.
quality of report structured with clarity, use of structured with some clarity, Report is not
(2 marks) clarity, use of paragraphs and clarity, use of and use of some structured with
paragraphs and subheadings. paragraphs and paragraphs and any clarity, and
subheadings. (1.75 marks) subheadings. subheadings. does not use of
(2 marks) (1.5 marks)) (1 mark) paragraphs and
subheadings.
(0.5 mark)

Referencing Clear systematic Clear systematic Clear systematic Limited attempt Poorly
(2 marks) referencing using referencing referencing at formatting presented, no
Harvard style for using Harvard using Harvard references. apparent
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all sources. At style for all style for all References structure. No
least 6 relevant sources. At sources. At largely use of Harvard
references were least 5 relevant least 4 relevant unrelated to the referencing
used from good references were references were topic area. style.
sources. used from good used from good At least 3 References
All in-text sources. sources. references were were unrelated
referencing done All in-text Most in-text provided. Most to the topic
correctly and referencing referencing in-text area. Only 0 r 1
relevant. done correctly done correctly referencing relevant
(2 marks) and relevant. and relevant. done correctly reference given
(1.75marks) (1.5 marks) and relevant. (0.5 mark)
(1 mark)

Marking Rubric - Presentation

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Excellent Very Good Very Good Satisfactory Little or no

Discussion on the discussion from discussion discussion from discussion from discussion
content of the topic all speakers. from all most speakers. all speakers. from speakers.
(3 marks) Discussion was speakers. Discussion was Discussion was Discussion not
relevant and Discussion was relevant and relevant and relevant to the
insightful at all relevant and insightful some provided no topic being
times. insightful most of the time insight discussed.
(3 marks) of the time (2 marks) (1.5 marks) (1 mark)
(2.5 marks)
Overall presentation Excellent use of Very good use Good use of Satisfactory use No visual aids
clarity visual aids. of visual aids. visual aids. of visual aids. used.
(3 marks) Presentation Presentation Presentation Presentation Presentation
structured well structured well structured well structured had no
to ensure that all to ensure that to ensure that whereby most structure and
topics were all topics were all topics were topics were most topics
covered equally. covered mostly covered covered were not
(3 marks) equally. equally. (1.5 marks) covered.
(2.5 marks) (2 marks) (1 mark)
Overall impression Outstanding Very good Good Satisfactory No impression
(4 marks) impression left impression left impression left impression left left on
on audience. on audience. on audience. on audience. audience.
Each speaker had Each speaker Each speaker Most speakers Most speakers
a thorough had a had a had some had little
knowledge of the somewhat somewhat knowledge of knowledge of
areas discussed thorough thorough the areas the areas
and contributed knowledge of knowledge of discussed and discussed and
equally. the areas the areas contributed did not
Exceptionally discussed and discussed and somewhat contribute
professional contributed contributed equally. equally. No
delivery and somewhat somewhat Somewhat professional
audience equally. Very equally. professional delivery or
engagement. professional Professional delivery and audience
Adherence to the delivery and delivery and audience engagement.
time constraints audience audience engagement. No adherence

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of 10 minutes engagement. engagement. Adherence to to the time
(4 marks) Adherence to Adherence to the time constraints of
the time the time constraints of 10 minutes
constraints of constraints of 10 minutes (1 mark)
10 minutes 10 minutes (2 marks)
(3.5 marks) (3 marks)

HI5015 Legal Aspects of International Trade & Enterprise