UTM

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

FINAL EXANIINATION SEMESTER II

2009/2010 SESSION
COU RSE CODE

SHP 1363

CO URSE

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MALAYSIAN LA \"

PRO G RAM ME

BACHELOR DEGREE

DURATION

2 HOURS

DAT E

APRI L 2010

MARKS

40

INST I UCT IO N T O CANDIDATES

Answer TWO (2) questions onl y.

Stud ents MAY refer to relevant Acts and Statutes
Answer in the answer boo klet provid ed

Tl-IrS EX AM rN AT rO
TI-IIS PAGE ).

PAP ER CON SIST S OF ..A-

PAGE S ON LY (l NCLUDr.

COLLEGE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

EXTRACT FROM ACADEMIC REGULATIONS

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1.0

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
1.1 Students are proh ibited from committing any of the following :
(a)

Distributing , receiving or possessing any information in electronic,

printed or any other form that is related to the subject being tested in the
examination whether within or outside the examination Hall/Room,
unless with the permission of the Chief Invigilator.

(b)

Using any information obtained, as mentioned in Item 1.1(a) for the

purpose of answering any of the exam ination questions.

(c)

Cheating or attempting to cheat or do anything that may be alleged as

cheating or attempting to cheat while the examination is in progress.

2.0

PUNISHMENT
2. 1

If a student is found violating anyone of the rules and regulations of the

examination, after being prosecuted by the Faculty's Academic Committee
and is found guilty, the Senate can decide on anyone of the penalties , or a
combination of two or more penalties as listed below:
(a)

To award ZERO (0) for the overall result of the examination for that
particular subject . (Including the course work)

(b)

To award ZERO (0) for all subjects registered in the semester.

(c)

To suspend the student for any duration deemed appropriate by the

Chairman of the Senate. The number of semester(s) suspended will be
counted as part of the total number of semesters that the student has to
complete ' his stud ies.

2 .2

Students who violate the regulations may also face disciplinary actions under
the

Un iversity and

College

University Act

1971 , Universiti Te knologi

Malaysia 's Guidelines (Students' Regulation) , 1999 .

1.

(a)

Explain the purpose of exemption clause, its effect on a contract and the
pre-conditions that must be satisfied before it could be fully enforced by a
contract.
(10 marks)

(b)

Azim received an offer dated I st Jan 2009 from MUT for a job of his
dream. The offer stated that Azim must reply in writing as soon as possible
if he decides to accept the offer. At the same time Azim is waiting for
another offer from MIT, for the same job but hopefully with a better pay.
Six months pass by and there is still no letter of offer from MIT. Az im
finally decided to accept the offer from MUT. On 2 nd June Azim then
wrote a letter to MUT informing the manager of MUT of his acceptance.
In his letter Azim also asked the manager whether he could start working
on the 14 th June 2009. After waiting for more than three weeks, Azim
decided to personally tum up at MUT and starts working immediat e ly. lI e
was very upset when he discovers that MUT has given the job to someone
else. Azim alleged that there is a breach of contract by MU T. Advise
Azim.
(10 marks)

2.

(a)

Section 3 and Section 5 of the Civil Law Act 1956 are the gatekeepers to
the applicabilility of English law in Malaysia. Discuss the abo ve two
sections in relation to the types of English law that are applicable in
Malaysia, the extent of their applications and the pre-conditions of each
section.
(10 marks)

(b)

Lee agreed to sell his house to Gan at a certain price. T he offer was made
by email on 1SI January 2010. Gan was unable to read the email since there
was no electricity supply at his house for fo ur days. Gan on ly read the
th

email on 5 January 2010, upon which he imm ediately decided to accept

the offer. Gan qu ickly emailed Lee , accepting the offe r. Ho wever he cou ld
only affo rd to buy the house at a much lower price than the asking pri ce.
He also mentioned that he would only agree to buy the ho use if Lee

conducts several renovations and adds in new features to the house to

make it more beautiful. Unknown to Gan, on the 2
a change

f mind. He wrote a letter dated 4

th

nd

January 2010 Lee had

January 2010 to Gan,

withdrawing his offer. Lee posted the letter on the same day and the said
letter only reached Gan on the

t h January 2010.

Without waiting for any

reply from Gan, Lee, on the 6th January 2010 then sold the house to Tong
for a higher price. Advise all parties involved in regards to their rights,
liabilities and legality of the above transactions.
(10 marks)

3.

(a)

Under the law of tort, an infringer is liable to pay damages as

compensation when he negligently injures his neighbour. Discuss the
concept of neighbour and it relevance in the context of duty of care under
the law of tort.
(10 marks)

(b)

The doctrine of frustration will apply when the contract is impossible to

implement due to unexpected changes which consequently affects the
elem ent of the contract fatally. Support your answer with the provisions of
law and decided cases.
(10 marks)

4. (a)

A n offer in a bilateral contract would not lead to a binding contract

w hereas an offer in a unilateral contract would lead to a binding contract.
Explain.
( 10 marks)

(b)

H, an architect enters into two separate contracts with X and Q without the
knowledge of each other. Under both contract, H is expected to exclusively
desi gn commercial building for the parties he is contracted with . Both
contra cts also bar H from working or designing building(s) with any other
party while under employment. H's scam was first discovered by Q and
foll owed by X, a few weeks later. Upon the discovery of his secret , H stops
going to work to both places. After waiting for a few weeks for H to tum
up at work, Q sends him a letter, demanding him to complete his design
that is 40 % left unfinished. On the other hand, X issues H a letter,
demanding him to stop working for Q.

Resolve the above problem by

stating the most appropriate damages for the parties invol ved .
(10 mark s)