END-OF-SEMESTER EXAMINATION SEMESTER II, 2007/2008 SESSION

AHMAD IBRAHIM KULLIYYAH OF LAWS

Programme : Bachelor of Laws Level of Study Date : Third

Reading Time Duration Answering Time Duration Course Title

: : :

9.00 a.m. 9.15 a.m. ( 15 minutes ) 9.15 a.m. 12.15 p.m. ( 3 hours ) Equity & Trusts I

29.3.2008

Section(s)

All Sections

Course Code :

LAW 3710

This Question Paper Consists of 7 Printed Pages With 6 Questions.

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOU ARE ASKED TO DO SO. Answer FOUR (4) questions only.

REFERENCE ALLOWED Specific Relief Act 1950 / Selected Malaysian Statute on Equity & Trust

Any form of cheating or attempt to cheat is a serious Offence which may lead to dismissal
Statutes should be free from any form of annotation.
APPROVED BY

QUESTION 1

a)

Equity varies according to the Chancellors foot

Discuss the application of the above statement during the period of the Chancery Court and in its effect under the Specific Relief Act 1950. (7 marks)

b)

The Court of Judicature Act 1925 was enacted to solve the conflict between common-law and equity during the 16th and 17th century in England. Briefly illustrate the event that led to the conflict and in what way the conflict was resolved. (8 marks)

QUESTION 2

In January 2007, the Government announced that a company by the name of SPE Q (SQ) will be undertaken a project to build a few government buildings in the district of Tanah Merah. These include offices for the defence ministry and immigration department. Through an exchange of letter, SQ entered into an agreement with Faber Composites Berhad (FCB) for the supply of 400 composites lamp poles to be used in the project. It was later agreed between these two parties that the payment for the supply of poles will be made by the Public Works Department (PWD)(the fund-holder for the government) with the authorization from SQ. SQ allowed the payment to be deducted from the progress payments due to them

FBB wrote to PWD demanding for the payment but the latter refused on the ground that SQ has directed PWD to make such payment to them instead.

Advise all parties. (15 marks)

QUESTION 3

a)

Legal maxims are theoretical abstractions that are expressive of the goals and objectives of Shariah. Some legal maxims are of general application whereas others might apply to some particular areas of Islamic jurisprudence(fiqh) such as worship, transactions, contracts and courts proceeding. Explain and illustrate the following legal maxims. i) ii) iii) Harm must be eliminated Acts are judged by the intention behind them Hardship begets facility. (9 marks)

Apply suitable maxims to the following scenario:

b)

Aman entered into a tenancy agreement with Goh Showmaster (Goh) for cinema rental for 3 years with an option to renew it. Goh however, refused to give the option, instead sent a notice to vacate in the following month together with an amount of compensation offered to Aman. The agreement provides that all tenants must receive adequate notice. Advise Aman whether equity would have a ground for him to challenge the notice. (3 marks)

c)

Richard, the owner cum Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company was alleged to mistreat the employees. They claimed that most of the perks were enjoyed by him alone. Jason, one of the employees who believes that he has been denied of the perks took some of the equipments in the office in order to compensate what he supposes to benefit from the company. Jason has tried to discuss with some of his friends about the mistreatment but all of them seem to accept the situation and furthermore believe that nothing much can be done as a staff. (3 marks)

QUESTION 4

a)

The main purpose of

Mareva injunction is to prevent the defendant from

dissipating or removing the assets out of jurisdiction of the court before trial, so that if the judgment is in favour of the plaintiff, there will be assets to satisfy the judgment. Nevertheless, Mareva injunction is a purely discretionary remedy and may be granted only when it is just and convenient to do so.

Explain the position of the Mareva injunction in Malaysia, its obstacles and principles. (8 marks)

b)

Prem is an owner of or exclusive licencee under the copyright of Warner Sisters Ltd, an overseas company, which specialised in various recording album in Malaysia. He discovered that the Doreme was selling and distributing infringing copies of these recordings. Prem has brought an action against Doreme and at the same time prior to trial the court granted Prem with Anton Piller Order, in order to obtain incriminating materials from Doreme to be used during trial.

Can Doreme use any privilege to protect him from being incriminated for other offences? (7 marks)

QUESTION 5

a)

Imagine that you are a defence counsel in a claim by the plaintiff for specific performance of a contract. Explain with reference to SRA and decided cases on the following:

i)

Two characteristics of specific performance

(4 marks)

ii)

Three defences that you may invoke to defend your client against such claim. (6 marks)

b)

Ali agreed to sell his Malay Reservation land in Kulai to Kamar. Last month Ali got to know that Kulai will be declared to be a halal hub under the Iskandar Development Region thus decided not to proceed with the sale. He offered an attractive amount of compensation to Kamar.

Advise Kamar. (5 marks)

QUESTION 6

English law defines it as: "a principle of justice and of equity. It comes to this: when a man, by his words or conduct, has led another to believe in a particular state of affairs, he will not be allowed to go back on it when it would be unjust or inequitable for him to so." Moorgate Mercantile v Twitchings [1976] 1 QB 225, CA at 241 per Lord Denning MR.

Based on the above statement, discuss the types, the differences as well as the application of equitable estoppel under the Malaysian land law. (15 marks)