Testing the Law

Once, when it took me too long to submit a law assignment for a law course I was taking, I toyed with the idea of applying some of the rules I learnt in the course in an attempt to beat the deadline, technically speaking.

In the instructions to students it was clearly stated that the assignment was to reach the instructor's desk on or before the deadline. With only a few days to go and without enough time to mail the assignment (emailed assignments were not accepted then), I decided I would apply the 'posting rule'.

In the law of contract a communication item is deemed to have been accepted by the recipient after it is 'received' by the receiver. Generally, this means that it is only when the receiver 'sees' the intended communication that the information is deemed in law to have been received. The 'posting rule' introduces an exception and the receiver is deemed to have received the communication as soon as the sender posts the actual letter containing the relevant information.

My idea was to claim to have submitted the assignment as soon as I posted it at Musoma thus, in law, beating the deadline. I then decided that the professors would not share my idea of a humorous diversion from the deadline.

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