Question 1
Parties Involved and Situation:
Miss Ruth Jones ; The Librarian Head
J & P Joinery ; A Small Construction Firm
John Lenon ; Partner in J & P
Paul McCartney ; Partner in J & P
Richard (Ringo) ; Final Year of three Year Partnership (leaving the firm)
Heather : College Student sitting in Library ( who was injured in next part)
Anthea ; Assistant Librarian.
Thelma ; Assistant Librarian, who is been injured.
Billy ; A reader in the Library who is been injured.
Dr. George Harrison ; A Doctor who was returning books in the Library (also injured)
Introduction of Scenario:
Miss Ruth Jones, the head librarian of the library situated on the high street of Whitbourn Village, put in a request a few months ago for some new shelves to be fitted into a corner of the library. The council considered a number of tenders which had been submitted to complete the work, but ultimately decided to use a small, local firm of joiners, J & P Joinery to carry out the construction of the shelving units. J & P Joinery is a partnership concern consisting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, both very experienced joiners with many years experience between them and Richard (known by his nickname Ringo) who is in the final year of a three year apprenticeship with the firm. The firm has completed a number of council jobs on previous occasions and had always worked to a very high standard of skill and professionalism.
On the Scene;
On Monday 31st March 2008 Paul and Ringo arrived at the library to begin their work. They cordoned off the area where they were going to install the shelves and put up notices informing the users of the library that work was going on and they were not to enter the area for safety reasons. Paul and Ringo then began drilling the wall in order to put up the fixing brackets to which the new shelving unit would be secured. As the morning went on, Ringo noticed that a number of young girls from the local college had come into the library to do some work and had seated themselves at a table just outside of the cordoned off area. One girl in particular, Heather, was constantly looking over towards him and smiling which distracted Ringo from his work.
He was reprimanded on a couple of occasions by Paul to get on with his job and to stop encouraging the girls. After two hours, the job was almost complete. The shelving unit was in place and only required the top part to be secured firmly to the wall.
Paul was about to complete this task himself when he received a call on his mobile telephone. John had received an enquiry about another job and rang Paul to ask him to accompany him to give an estimate. Paul, realising the library job was almost complete said he would and made arrangements for John to pick him up outside the library. Paul told Ringo he was going to leave and sort out an estimate with John and told him to put the final fasteners into place. Paul had been quite explicit in his instructions to Ringo about the type of fixings which were needed to fasten the bookcase to the wall, insisting that five inch screws were necessary. As Paul left, he gave Ringo the keys to the firms van, which was parked outside and told him to go straight back to the joiners yard in it as soon as he’d finished in the library.
Once Paul left the library, Ringo began chatting away to Heather as he worked. As he was not fully concentrating on his job he inadvertently used three inch screws to fasten the book case instead of the five inch ones Paul had told him to use. It was not until he was securing the last screw into place that he noticed his error. Realising his mistake, Ringo removed the three inch screw he had almost completed putting in and replaced it with the correct sized one.
He was about to replace the five other incorrectly sized screws he’d used, when he realised Heather was packing up her books in readiness to leave the library. Ringo asked Heather if she’d like a lift home as he’d almost finished (despite him being aware it was a strict policy of the firm that the van was to be used for business purposes only) and she said she would, so he told her to hold on a few moments. Once he’d packed the tools away and tidied up, Ringo gave the shelving unit a good shake and concluded that it looked secure.
Putting his arm around Heather, they walked towards the exit. As they passed the library counter Ringo spoke to Miss Jones and told her that the shelving job was complete and the unit was now ready to be used.
Miss Jones thanked him as they left. Outside, Ringo opened the passenger door of the van and Heather got in. He asked her where she lived and when she gave her address, Ringo realised it was in the opposite direction to where the joiners yard was, but remembering that neither John nor Paul were actually at the yard, he started to drive Heather home.
The Event of Injury in Library
Anthea and Thelma, the two assistant librarians were given the task by Miss Jones to stock the newly erected shelving unit. As Anthea collected the books from a storage cupboard, Thelma positioned a pair of library steps up against the shelves. As soon as Anthea returned with a trolley full of books, Thelma climbed up the steps and Anthea began handing the books up. Soon, the top shelf was full and Thelma began to put books onto the next shelf down.
For the next thirty minutes Anthea and Thelma continued collecting and placing books onto the new shelving unit until finally only the two rows of shelves nearest to the floor remained to be filled. As Anthea once again returned to the cupboard to fill the trolley, Thelma climbed down to the floor and removed the steps. As she did so, the shelving unit began to come away from the wall and she realised it had only been her weight on the steps that had kept the shelves in place. Now she was no longer on the steps the screws holding the unit up proved to be totally inadequate and the shelving unit fell forwards. As the books rained down, Thelma was hit in the face and she fell unconscious to the floor with blood pouring from a deep gash to her forehead. A shelf broke free from the unit and crashed onto a table where Billy was reading, breaking his right hand. As the other library customers realised what was happening, George Harrison, the local doctor who was returning some books, ran over to where Thelma was lying bleeding. Realising she was in need of urgent medical help he attempted to ease her away from the area where the books and shelves were still falling. However, the whole shelving unit was balanced in a very precarious position and as he moved some of the fallen books and shelves in an attempt to drag Thelma away, it finally collapsed completely and they were both trapped underneath it. As other library users attempted to lift the heavy shelves off Dr. Harrison and Thelma, Miss Jones rang for the fire and rescue services.

Question 2
Bertie is in the construction industry and asks for advice concerning the following events: He agrees to supply his next-door neighbour, Fred, with some timber for building a shed in his garden. Since Fred has been such a good neighbour, Bertie states that he will reduce the agreed price of the timber from £500 to the special rate of £300. Fred, thrilled at the special rate, promises that he will fix Bertie’s garden fence which has been in need of repair for some time. Bertie delivers the timber. Fred, however, has a particularly busy period at work and doesn’t find time to do the repairs. Bertie is extremely upset by this and demands that he do so.
Bertie contracts with Liam, a bricklayer, to work on one of his construction projects. Liam is known for his fast, yet precise, bricklaying skills and so Bertie agrees to pay Liam £30 per hour, which is above the average rate for such work. A few days after starting work, Liam is approached by a rival company to work for them at a rate of £50 per hour. Liam informs Bertie of this offer and says that if he doesn’t match the price he will unfortunately have to resign. Since Bertie is running behind schedule on this project and fears incurring a penalty, he agrees to the wage increase and, thanks to Liam’s fast bricklaying, the work is finished on schedule. However, Bertie regrets agreeing to increase Liam’s hourly rate and refuses to pay more than the £30 originally agreed.
Bertie has a longstanding business relationship with Harold, a supplier of paint. The recession has created financial problems for Harold’s paint business and he is having difficulty paying Bertie the £1,000 that he owes him. Since Harold has often given discounts to Bertie over the years, Bertie decides to return the favour by accepting £600 in full payment of the monies owed. However the recession begins to hit Bertie too. He now wants to claim the further £400. Advise Bertie.

Question 3
Michael is a British farmer. He has been producing and selling his cheese and yoghurt throughout the UK with great success.
Michael now wishes to export his brand of cheese and yoghurt to the rest of the EU. He has encountered the following difficulties.
• In France, all imported dairy products are subject to a charge. The proceeds of this charge go to fund young French dairy farmers start up their business.
• Michael is banned from selling his fruit yoghurt in Portugal. The Portuguese government considers that only natural yoghurt is healthy and to sell his fruit variety would be bad for health.
• In Italy, shops are closed on a Sunday. The reduced trading is affecting Michael’s business.
• Following a recent milk contamination at a UK farm, the Romanian government has decided to ban all British milk products, including cheese and yoghurt, indefinitely.
Advise Michael as to the application of EU law on the free movement of goods to all of the above situations. Your answers must be justified on the basis of relevant Treaty articles and all decided cases.

Question 1 Parties Involved and Situation: Miss Ruth Jones ; Th...