prepare answers for the following questions (all parts) by the end of Unit 9.
Question One:
Consider the following story and the questions based on it.
Mrs Smith claims that one day last year, she saw Dan point a gun in the direction of his
girlfriend and pull the trigger. The gun failed to fire because the mechanism was faulty, but
Dan had not been aware of that until after he had pulled the trigger. Dan is now being tried
for the attempted murder of his girlfriend, under the provisions of the Criminal Attempts Act
1981. He claims that he did not point the gun in his girlfriend’s directions alleged and that
Mrs Smith is mistaken or is lying. Secondly, he claims that the act of pointing a gun in this
way is not legally capable of falling within the relevant section of the 1981 Act.
(a) Who has decided whether Dan should be tried for his offence and by what procedure? [20
marks, approx. 300 – 400 words]
(b) In which court would this case be tried and by whom? [10 marks, approx. 150 – 200
words]
(c) Who will decide whether Dan or Mrs Smith is lying about what happened? [10 marks,
approx. 150 – 200 words]
(d) Who will decide whether Dan’s alleged actions are capable as a matter of law of being
within the ambit of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981? [20 marks, approx. 300 – 400 words]
Note: You must support your answer with reference to primary materials i.e. primary
authority.
Question Two:
Alisha has separated from her husband. They agreed that they should seek for divorce but
cannot agree on her husband’s contact time with the children, or on the division between
them of some of the furniture in their home.
Alisha has also just been dismissed from her job because she took a day off to care for her 3
years of son when he was ill. She believes that her employers have unfairly dismissed her.
In the light of the above facts advice Alisha on:
(a) The best method(s) of dispute resolution for the problems she faces. [20 marks, approx.
300 – 400 words]
(b) The advantages and disadvantages of resolving dispute in this way. [20 marks, approx.
300 – 400 words]