Assessment Information

This assessment requires you to read the hypothetical facts below and prepare your Skeleton Argument in line with the instructions after the facts.

Facts

Alfred is the beneficiary of a trust fund holding £400,000 in HSBC Bank (UK), €200,000 in Deutsche Bank (Germany), and €60,000 in ABN AMRO (Netherlands), respectively. His trustee is Benjamin, an investment analyst, who has lost his way, becoming a careless rogue when once he had been a trustworthy friend to Alfred.  Feeling as though he has not yet lived his life to the full, Benjamin decides to make use of the trust fund for his own benefit.

(a) Benjamin had hired John to install a Jacuzzi in his house in the UK at a cost of £10,000.  Whilst John was happy to complete the work on credit, his patience has been growing thin since completion of the work.  Benjamin therefore withdraws £10,000 from the fund in UK and hands the notes over to John as payment.

(b) Benjamin on a whim decided to treat his mistress Sarah who currently resides in Germany.  He told her all about his position as trustee for Alfred and boasted as to how much money he handled.  Sarah hinted that there was €140,000 left on her hypothec with Deutsche Bank (Germany) which she would love to have paid for her.  Benjamin obliged, instructing Deutsche Bank (Germany) to transfer €150,000 to discharge the hypothec and cover an early repayment fee.

(c) Benjamin withdraws a further £500 from the UK bank and makes of it a birthday gift to his sister Jane.  Not having any reason to suspect her brother of any misconduct, she spends £300 on a spa weekend in the honest conviction that Benjamin had a good title to the money.

(d) Earlier in the year Benjamin had a current account which stood at £500 credit.  He then took a further £10,000 of the trust fund in the UK and transferred it into this account.  He then adds some of his elderly mother Janet’s money without her permission, a total of £2000.  With £12,500 in the account, Benjamin decides to live a little.  He first buys an old car for £3000 from Harry.  The old car turns out to be a classic, worth £15,000 to any car enthusiast willing to repair it.  Benjamin then pays off the £4000 debt for a hire purchase agreement he had taken out to acquire a quadbike last year from Stephen.

 (e) Benjamin then decides to dabble in some property investment of his own, deciding to buy a small flat in Netherlands from Mr. Akkermans, a Dutch citizen, using the €60,000 in ABN AMRO (Netherlands).  Mr. Akkerman’s lawyer in Netherlands, Mrs Keijser, also serves as Alfred’s lawyer in the country, and handled all the paperwork surrounding the transfer.  Shortly before the purchase is completed, Mr. Akkermans comments to Mrs. Keijser how surprising it is that Benjamin has managed to purchase without the use of a Dutch hypothec.  Mrs. Keijser thinks nothing of it at the time, but the observation nags at her over the coming weeks.  However, she took no action regarding her suspicion.

Alfred sued at the High Court. His suit was dismissed by Smith J on the grounds that the claims lack merit. Alfred is dissatisfied with the decision and is now appealing against that decision to claim proprietary and personal remedies against Benjamin, John, Jane, Harry, Stephen, Sarah, Mr. Akkermans and Mrs. Keijser.

This assignment requires you to prepare a skeleton argument of your submissions to the Court of Appeal.

Senior Claimant and Senior Respondent 

• Senior Claimant (Alfred) and Senior Respondents (Benjamin, John, Sarah, Deutsche Bank and Jane) will prepare a skeleton argument on the claims/defences in respect of transactions A , B and C

Junior Claimant and Junior Respondent

• Junior Claimant (Alfred) and Junior Respondent (Benjamin, Harry, Stephen, Mr. Akkermans and Mrs. Keijser) will prepare a skeleton argument on the claims/defences in respect of transactions D and E

Important Instruction:

Although you will all be placed in pairs for the moot, you will be assessed individually. 

You are required to prepare your own skeleton argument for the party you are representing. In your skeleton argument, you should address both the claims and available defences. For example, if you are preparing the argument in favour of the Claimants (Alfred), you should  address the likely claims and defences; likewise if you are preparing the argument for the Respondents, you should address both the claims and possible defences in your argument.

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Compare and contrast the remedies available within the taxonomy of the Common Law’s private law rules in both a domestic and international context;

2. Critically understand the normative rationale and substantive requirements of claims in unjust enrichment, contract, tort or the law of trusts;

3. Evaluate the law of damages, breach of trust, account and equitable remedies;

4. Apply the main defences to private law remedies - including change of position, bona fide purchase and the equitable ‘bars’ - in an adversarial context;

5. Provide sophisticated but pragmatic analysis of the commercial remedies available in an international context

Criteria for Assessment

a. Use of authorities 

b. Legal content of arguments

c. Application of the law to the moot problem

d. Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of Commercial remedies

e. Ability to present the legal issues and principles in a coherent and articulate way