Relief under Consumer Protection Law and Policy

There was a major change for Australian Consumer Law. Within this paper, the differences on the old and the new system will be discussed further.

There are two instances where unconscionability comes into question by reference to cases bought forward under statute. The first being that under section 20 and the next being under section 21 both from the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). To understand these sections, both equity and the scope of unconscionability need to be examined.

Tort reform has intense arguments to both sides and creates a myriad of concerns. On one side of the tort reform movement, defendants such as corporations and medical professionals want limits on the damages awarded to the plaintiff. The benefit of tort reform for defendant is the financial savings. However, a cap placed on medical malpractice cases and other cases that are of negligence would standardize the monetary compensation regardless of the damage. In my opinion, Medical malpractice tort reform is a gray area, for each breach of the standard of care involves a different story and person, therefore the damages vary and should be evaluated fairly. In this essay, both sides of the argument are discussed, with a focus on medical malpractice tort reform.

Finally, because lawyers assume the financial risk of litigation, the number of speculative or unmeritorious cases may be reduced. In terms of access to justice, Conditional Fee Arrangement have provided for many who could not qualify for legal aid. From 2000-2005 alone, personal injury cases saw a jump in a million consumers seeking redress Conditional Fee Arrangement. This is likely because of a few reasons. For one, the strict means test introduced by the Access to Justice AJA 1999 has led to the middle income group not qualifying for legal aid, but they are not able to afford legal services either. Secondly, the Access to Justice AJA 1999 has taken away certain civil cases from its funding, personal injury as an example. Thirdly, claims management companies CMCs have been actively educating the masses as to seeking redress for personal injury cases especially, thus promoting a culture that citizens fight for their rights, and the Conditional Fee Arrangement is one avenue that they can do it for free. The statistics speak for themselves. Especially in road traffic accidents, sometimes it is not proportional the damage to apply for legal advice but now it is made possible without the burden of bearing those legal costs. Conditional Fee Arrangement has increased accessibility to justice in a way

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was established to protect consumers in any legal trading activities in Australia. A set of guarantees has also been introduced for those consumers who are acquiring goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers. The guarantees are intended to ensure that consumers will receive the goods or services they have paid for. If they have problems with the products and services they bought, they are entitled for remedies, such as repair, replacement, and refund.

One approach to minimize large amounts of tort claims for medical malpractice is to put a cap on non-economical awards. Tort reform is the response; a tort is a civil lawsuit for damages over private wrongs other than breach of contract. According to Lau and Johnson (2014), a tort can be categorized into three categories: intentional tort, when tortfeasor acted with intent, negligence, if the tortfeasor did not act intentionally, but failed to act as a reasonable person, and lastly, strict liability, if the tortfeasor is engaged in certain activities, which caused injury or death due to it. The massive medical malpractice cases across the nation have made defending frivolous lawsuits is a national problem; ultimately, the general public

Furthermore, as discussed in chapter 3 there is inconsistent application of the legal rules to determine the liability of the medical professional. Therefore, as previously discussed solicitors are usually hesitant to pursue clinical negligence claims by the means of SFA. With SFA being the only means for claimants to afford to pursue clinical negligence claims the removal of civil legal aid for clinical negligence claims has meant that many claimants are unable to access the necessary legal representation and in turn access courts for their civil rights to be determined. Consequently, many claimants are not compensated for medical injuries inflicted due to the negligence of the medical professional, thus the current system is failing to meet its primary aim. More importantly, the practical difficulties in accessing and in turn using the civil justice system for clinical negligence claims has meant that the Scottish Government is failing to meet its obligation under Article 6 and 8 of the

This essay will argue that the decision reached in Cattanach v Melchior [2003] was the correct one. Supporting this argument is the courts departure from the principles established in McFarlane v Tayside Health Board [1999].Additionally, Cattanach extends itself by attempting to address and give legal clarity to the idea of compensable harm in relation to negligence of medical practitioners. This has ultimately led to Cattanach establishing a positive framework, previously not recognised by the courts, to award damages for the torts of wrongful birth and wrongful life. Finally, the reaction to Cattanach on the judicial and executive branches of government have had significant impact on shaping public policy in relation to these complex issues.

In the United States justice system, a tort is best defined as an injury or loss that was committed deliberately or negligently by a single person or an entity (Crane). The history of tort law can be traced back to the initial trespass of property or person, but it was not until the 18th century that the distinction between intentional and unintentional acts was made (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). In recent years, tort law has become the center of scrutiny through the increase in tort costs, insurance liability costs, and the number of frivolous lawsuits made. This scrutiny has lead to the creation of tort reform. Tort reform is a movement to reshape the way consumers can access the courts by restricting their right to sue and

Tort law is a considerably old branch of English law, covering a wide range of areas within such as defamation, nuisance, trespass and, most importantly, negligence. The latter set out the modern concept of negligence by means of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562. Furthermore, in twentieth century a number of fundamental elements were established in negligence, elevating its significance above all other areas of tort law. Most problematic and difficult subgroup of negligence is clinical negligence, where doctor are held to another standards. Nonetheless, the old foundations were disturbed by the enforcement of the Human Rights Act 1998, which was a successful attempt to incorporate the European Convention of Human Rights into English domestic law. It is applied directly or indirectly into many areas of law, clinical negligence in torts in particular, adding multiple complications as it has to comply with the new Act. The influence of the HRA is yet to be fully researched professionally and amended. In attempt to explore the impact of the HRA 1998 on clinical negligence this essay examines the reasons for integration of the HRA and issues it came with and compares various types of negligence, liability of public authorities and remedies before and after the HRA came into force.

The Wrong Act 1958 is a law most closely related to people 's daily life, that means it is a legislation dedicated to set lawful regulation when someone in Victoria suffers from injuries of kind, he or she shall be lawfully compensated for his injury that may related to financial losses. After hundreds of years of development, Anglo-American tort law has formed a very sound legal system with negligent torts occupies a very important position in Anglo-American tort law. Negligence infringement is the core areas of The Wrong Act 1958 as well as the main forms of infringement.

Studmaster Pty Ltd was a landlord that owned a shopping complex in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Mrs Tran operated the “Vietnamese Lunch Box” outlet in the food court. She had little ability to speak or read English, which the representatives for Studmaster knew about. Studmaster proposed a three year renewal of her lease at $48,000 per annum plus GST for the first year and CPI increments in the second and third years.

I agree with the points Emma raised above. Whilst the Australian Consumer Law provides relatively adequate protection for consumers there are ethical issues that the law fails to consider. Emma raised a very noteworthy example in that false or misleading conduct is deemed to illegal under section 18. However, advertisements which are deemed legal contains ambiguity, concealment of relevant facts, exaggeration and phycological appeals which are all unethical techniques that advertisers use. Furthermore, Australian Consumer law does not prevent advertisements from being targeted at young children who are particularly susceptible to the unrealistic images portrayed in the commercials. Harvard business professor Theadore Levitt argues advertising

The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the creation and application the case law resulting from the decision in Donoghue v Stevenson . This decision is often cited in relation to the tort of negligence and a duty of care. As such it could be misunderstood as being the preeminent case for the principles of negligence or duty of care alone. It is however the landmark precedent case for the tort of negligence outside of a contract when taking into account ‘duty of care’ and the ‘neighbour priciple’.

Perhaps the greatest insight provided by my colleague's discussion is the deconstruction of the process by which the concept of negligence did ultimately emerge as a new tort standard. Here, the discussion illustrates the challenge before a judicial body when a legal conflict appears to bring about a new and previously unforeseen point of contention. In this case, as my colleague highlights so effectively, the charge of fraud would be the only theretofore existent way of legally addressing liability for a business or organization such as the defendant in this case. The great insight provided by my colleague is in acknowledgement of the exhaustive review of existing legal documents engaged by the ruling parties and arguing parties. This process demonstrates well that even where no precedent existing for what would become the charge of negligence,