LAW EXTENSION COMMITTEE

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WINTER 2017

01 LEGAL INSTITUTIONS

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ASSIGNMENT 2

INSTRUCTIONS

In Legal Institutions, there are TWO COMPULSORY ASSIGNMENTS. The first assignment is for practice and feedback. Comments will be provided, but no marks assigned other than ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory’. The second assignment will be marked.

Assignments must be submitted by the due date unless an extension has been granted. Extensions need to be requested by email prior to the assignment due date and specific supporting evidence provided. Late assignments attract a penalty of one mark out of 20, or 5% of the total marks available, per day. A pass mark is 50%. Assignments that are received more than ten days after the published due date will not be accepted. Please note that students granted an extension must still submit their assignment within ten days of the original assignment due date.

Assignments are assessed according to the “Assignment Grading and Assessment Criteria” outlined in the Course Information Handbook. Prior to the examination, assignments will be returned to students and results posted on students’ individual Results screen of the LEC Webcampus. Students are responsible for checking their Results screen and ascertaining their eligibility to sit for the examination.

The rules regarding the presentation of assignments and instructions on how to submit an assignment are set out in the Guide to the Presentation and Submission of Assignments available on the LEC Webcampus. Please read this guide carefully before completing and submitting this assignment.

The maximum word length for this assignment is 2000 words (inclusive of footnotes but not bibliography). Penalties apply for exceeding this limit by 10% or more.

Completed assignments should be lodged through the LEC Webcampus and received by 11:59pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) on Sunday 9 July 2017.

Please download the Assignment Coversheet. The coversheet will be the first page of your assignment. Save it with the name you intend to use for the assignment, and begin your answer on the second page. Make sure you complete the Assignment Coversheet by entering in your Full Name and Address Details and the Date you lodged your assignment on the Webcampus. Next to “Signed”, type your name to acknowledge that the assignment is your own work.

COMPULSORY ASSIGNMENT 2

In July 2015, a delegation from Australia participated in the United Nations conference on “The Safe Navigation of the Seas” in Genoa, Italy. Participants at the conference drafted and settled the terms of United Nations Convention on Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons (the “Convention”).

Australia is a signatory to the Convention.

The objectives of the Convention include the following:

·  To protect existing lighthouses as items of cultural and maritime heritage significance;

·  To regulate the design, placement, construction and operation of new and existing lighthouses and maritime navigation beacons;

·  To ensure that all lighthouses and maritime navigation beacons are maintained and operated to a standard that guarantees safe navigation of ships at sea.

In compliance with the Australian Government’s obligations as signatory to the Convention, the Federal Minister for Transport and Infrastructure introduced the Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Bill into the House of Representatives. During the course of the second reading speech to the Bill, the Minister said:

“The Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Bill is intended to fulfill our obligations under the United Nations Convention on Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons. For too long now, there has been uncertainty about the standards we should adopt for ensuring the safety of ships that sail the seas around our shores and preserving the cultural significance of our maritime navigation infrastructure. This bill will protect and enhance the operation capabilities of lighthouses and maritime beacons to service vessels that sail off the coast of this great country of ours.”

The Bill passed both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament and received the Royal Assent on 16 October 2016.

The Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Act 2016 (Cth) includes the following provisions:

1.  Long Title

An Act to regulate lighthouses and maritime beacons, utilized by shipping in the seas surrounding Australia.

2.  Definitions

“Convention” means the United Nations Convention on Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons 2015 as amended from time to time.

“lighthouse” means any building or structure located on land that emits a beam of light at regular intervals toward the sea to guide mariners.

“maritime beacon” means any floating device that emits an electronic signal at regular intervals to help guide mariners, sea farers, or any other pilots who navigate the coastline of Australia.

“Minister” means the Minister for Transport of the Commonwealth of Australia.

6. Preservation of Lighthouses

Any person who demolishes, de-commissions, dismantles, damages, or otherwise disturbs any lighthouse in Australia, without the prior consent of the Minister, shall be guilty of an offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison or up to $2 million fine.

7. Operation of Maritime Beacons

Any person who causes to be operated a maritime beacon without a licence granted under this Act, shall be guilty of an offence punishable by a fine of up to $1 million.

Peter Clunies and George Ross are cousins and have both been charged with offences under the Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Act 2016 (Cth) (the Act).

Peter and George have been under surveillance by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) for several years because of suspected links to Chinese counter intelligence agencies.

Peter Clunies lives on his family property on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. He is married to Nancy Yee a dual national of Australia and Taiwan. Peter operates his family’s large coconut plantation on West Island in the Cocos island group and, in recent years, has been modernizing its operations.

In December 2016, Peter cleared a field of coconut trees bordering the beach of his property. In amongst those trees was an old wooden A-frame tower erected during World War II by the government of Ceylon for the safe passage of its naval ships. The tower had a light on top of it and, although old, the light still operated and could be seen (albeit barely) from the waters off the beach. As part of his clean-up activities, Peter disconnected the electricity from the tower. He resented the cost of providing electricity to the tower since the light was no longer needed for harvesting his coconuts and knew that passing naval ships now relied upon a new lighthouse constructed by the United States government on their base on a nearby headland.

Much to Peter’s surprise, during a trip to Sydney this week to visit his cousin George Ross, Peter was arrested and charged by Australian Federal Police at Sydney Airport for committing an offence under section 6 of the Act.

At the same time as Peter’s arrest, George Ross was also arrested adjacent to his dairy farm at Central Tilba, on the far south coast of New South Wales.

George, lives on and operates a dairy farm at Central Tilba. His property enjoys spectacular views of the sea and borders Tilba lake, a large estuarine lake that flows into the sea. George owns a sea plane and uses Tilba lake for take-offs and landings of his sea plane. At the time of his arrest, he was about to take off in his plane, to fly along the coast to Sydney, to meet his cousin Peter. Federal police intercepted George’s plane prior to take off and took George to Bermagui Police Station where he was charged.

The police charged George with breaching section 7 of the Act. They allege that George was operating a maritime beacon without a licence under the Act. Apparently, the police were tipped off about the beacon by ASIO officers who had picked up beacon signals near George’s property as part of their intelligence surveillance of George and his communications with Peter.

George tells you that the only ‘beacons’ he uses are floating light and radio markers that he has positioned on Lake Tilba a few years ago. He uses them to guide him on his approach and take off of his sea plane. But due to a violent storm that hit the far south coast of New South Wales in mid-November last year, the markers haven’t been working consistently and so he has only been taking off and landing during daylight hours.

Advise Peter and George.

Note:

1.  The Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Act 2016 (Cth) is fictitious.

DO NOT CONTACT THE LIBRARY SEEKING HELP LOCATING THE TEXT OF THIS LEGISLATION OR ANY OTHER MATERIALS RELATING TO IT – AS THESE DO NOT EXIST.

2.  Although these are criminal offences – there is no need to consider issues of mens rea.

3.  You may assume that the Lighthouses and Maritime Beacons Act 2016 (Cth) is within the Constitutional power of the Commonwealth government and that the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are subject to Australian law.

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