Referencing

Wherever possible, relevant authorities (such as cases and/or legislation) should be included as part of

your answers and referred to in support of your statements and assertions. Appropriate referencing of

such authorities in your answer can contribute to the marks you receive for a question.

1

LAWS 1018 Business Law Assignment April 2021

Your written work should use the referencing styles set out in the Harvard Referencing Guide - user

friendly or the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, published by the Melbourne University Law Review

Association (for which there is a link on the Business Law Moodle course site). These are listed on the

Portal for Business Law.

Instructions

Read the following factual accounts and answer ALL of the questions with reference to the

principles of law covered in the following lectures:

Topic 6: Australian Consumer Law

Topic 7(1): Contract Law - Part 1

Question 1

Chan owns a popular Chinese restaurant called the Jade Palace located in a busy shopping area in

Adelaide. There are also some other competing Chinese restaurants in the same street. Chan's

restaurant had been operating for 12 months, and to attract more customers to his restaurant he

recently placed a large sign in the window of his restaurant advertising his food as follows:

Adelaide's Best Traditional Chinese Food

All Made with Locally Sourced Ingredients.

Lee, the proprietor of the Chinese restaurant called the Silver Dragon in the same street as the

Jade Palace, believes that Chan's sign contains inaccurate information, particularly where it

states 'locally sourced ingredients'. Lee says it was not possible to obtain many of the traditional

ingredients used in Chinese food from local sources. For example, many of the sauces and spices

are often imported. Also many dried foods such as mushrooms, prawns and other seafoods

cannot be obtained locally because there is no industry in Adelaide that makes them there.

Near Chan's restaurant is a wholesale business called "All Chinese Imports". Lee knows that Chan

often obtains many of the ingredients that he uses in his Chinese food from All Chinese Imports.

However, whenever possible, Chan also buys the vegetables he uses in the restaurant from local

growers. As far as Chan is concerned, if he tries to buy his vegetables from local growers he is

supporting local industry and therefore entitled to use the words 'locally sourced ingredients' in

his advertising.

2LAWS 1018 Business Law Assignment April 2021

3

Lee is threatening to report Chan to the 'consumer complaints watchdog' since he believes that

Chan's sign is false, and that Chan is trying to deceive members of the public and so is breaching

the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

(1) Explain whether Lee and his Silver Dragon restaurant are entitled to take an action against

Chan and his Jade Palace restaurant for misleading or deceptive conduct.

[1 mark]

(2) In support of Lee's argument that Chan has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct refer

to the specific wording of section 18 of the ACL and apply it to the actions of Chan and the Jade

Palace.

[3 marks]

(3)

With reference to the legal principles outlined by the Federal Court in Taco Company of

Australia v Taco Bell Pty Ltd [1982] ATPR 40-303 discuss whether or not Lee is correct in claiming

that Chan's advertisement is in breach of the ACL.

[2 marks]

(4)

If Lee succeeds in any legal action against Chan, what remedy or remedies will he seek?