The main objective of this unit is to provide a critical understanding of the fundamental principles of legal theory and philosophy of law. The unit will discuss, in particular, the concept of law, the notions of obligation, authority, and legitimacy of law; the main theories of legal interpretation; the special role of the concept of "rights" in legal theory, and the principles determining the moral limits of legal coercion.

This unit looks at the role of plain English in legal writing, with particular emphasis on contract drafting, property documents, statutes, and advice-writing. It examines the reasons for the 'traditional' style of legal writing, the research into the advantages and disadvantages of plain English, and the techniques for writing law in plain English. Particular topics include the assumptions behind using plain English in law, the problems with terms of art and judicially-defined words and phrases, the causes of ambiguities in legal documents, and aspects of document design.

The aim of this unit is to examine the policy and legislative approaches to pollution control and the wide range of management tools employed to prevent harm and promote ecologically sustainable development. The history and framework of international laws regulating pollution will be examined before exploring a range of topical international law issues in this area, including hazardous substances and wastes, e-waste and marine pollution. The unit will also survey the implementation of international law under domestic environmental law. The unit will then examine a range of regulatory measures for pollution control, waste management and contaminated land in Australia and particularly within New South Wales.

This introductory unit is designed for students who have not previously undertaken any formal study of Intellectual Property. The unit will cover the fundamentals of law and theory in the main areas of contemporary intellectual Property: copyright, patents and trademarks.

Principles of Oil and Gas Law explores the distinctive legal issues presented by oil and gas exploration and production and examines the legal and regulatory responses of oil producing states. This unit also explains the international legal principles that apply within the sector and sets the Australian experience against a broad comparative background. For the first time in 2016, this course will be offered in the home of the North Sea oil and gas industry, Stavanger, Norway. This unit will draw on the expertise of international experts in oil and gas law, as well as take advantage of our location with excursions to the Petroleum Museum, oil companies and government. On completion of the unit, participants should be able: to explain the specific legal problems posed by the physical characteristics of oil and gas; to identify different approaches to the resolution of those problems, their strengths and weaknesses; to identify and analyse the special issues presented by offshore oil and gas resources on the one hand, and onshore resources on the other; to compare the approaches of different states to the exploitation of their oil and gas resources, and the different legal vehicles used to support and control the involvement of private capital is involved in this task; to identify the problems that may arise at each stage of the exploration, production and disposition of oil and gas, and to analyse their legal solutions; to outline the legal approach to any special environmental and occupational safety problems posed by oil and gas operations; and to consider how legal regimes for oil and gas exploration and production may be evaluated in terms of political and legal risk.

The aim of the unit is to provide an understanding of the role of government policy within the analytical framework of welfare economics. Questions of central interest include: What are the conditions that justify government intervention? How can policies be designed to support basic principles of social justice? What kinds of reforms promote economic efficiency? Applications will range from taxation and social security to environmental regulation and protection, and will cover the following specific topics: The structure of the Australian tax-benefit system; Uncertainty and social insurance; Unemployment, health and retirement income insurance; Externalities, environmental taxes and tradeable permits; Monopoly and environmental regulation; Utility pricing and access problems; Cost benefit analysis, intergenerational equity and growth. The unit will provide an overview of the main empirical methodologies used in evaluating policy reforms in these areas. Students may select to specialise in one or more of the policy areas.

The objective of this unit is to explore punishment, sentencing and penalty in modern society, particularly through an understanding of the relationship between punishment and social structure and the significance of punishment within the social and political order. The unit will adopt an interdisciplinary approach which draws on history, law, literature, sociology and criminology. Topics which will be covered include new sentencing regimes (such as mandatory sentencing), women in prison, juvenile imprisonment, inequality and punishment, privatisation, immigration detention and various new forms of involuntary confinement, and the impact of law and order politics on punishment.

This unit provides an intensive introduction to quantitative data analysis, with an application to criminology and empirical legal research. The unit is intended for students with no previous experience of quantitative methods or statistics. It covers the foundations of descriptive statistics and statistical estimation and inference. At the end of the unit, students should be able to carry out univariate and bivariate data analysis and have an appreciation of techniques such as multiple linear regression. The computer classes give 'hands-on' training in the application of statistical techniques to real criminological and legal research problems using the SPSS computer package (no prior knowledge of SPSS is necessary).

This unit will examine, from a comparative (particularly United States and United Kingdom) perspective, the current debates over the regulation of corporate crime from both legal and policy perspectives. Different theoretical perspectives on the nature and causes of corporate crime, and the role of the state in regulating corporate behaviour will be examined, with a view to determining the reasons for the failure of the criminal justice and regulatory systems to respond to corporate crime. The role of criminal, civil and regulatory sanctions in deterring corporate crime will also be examined. Offenses covered will include fraud, bribery, corruption, money laundering, revenue offenses, competition law offenses, corporate manslaughter and various offenses under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). With this foundation, students will be encouraged to think critically and to apply the principles they have learned to case studies.

This unit considers the significance of anxiety, 'fear of crime', risk and insecurity in the late modern world. It uses sophisticated analytical tools to discuss both the supposed growth in 'fear of crime' and the emergence of an array of technologies aimed at the reduction of crime risks. It also critically examines just what 'fear of crime' might actually be and how newspapers, security products, and insurance can be sold to us using the hook of our own anxieties. It also examines the anxieties related to terrorism and threats to national security and sovereignty.

This unit examines the structure and regulation of markets for financial products, with particular emphasis on corporate securities, following the introduction of the Financial Services Reform Act. The study is primarily a legal analysis, but also explores some financial theory relevant to legal response to market operation. Particular topics covered include: structures, institutions and participants in Australian financial products markets and current developments in such markets; co-regulation of financial products markets, including the role and powers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Stock Exchange; the licensing of financial services professionals; the conduct of securities business, including the legal structure of stock exchange transactions and the incidents of the broker-client relationship; abusive trading on financial products markets, including market manipulation and insider trading.

The unit objectives are: Examine the common problems experienced by members of various types of company; Understand strategies for preventing or remedying those problems without recourse to litigation; Understand the litigious remedies available to combat those problems; and Explore likely trends for future development of the law. The unit examines shareholders' remedies, exploring both litigious and non-litigious remedies. Litigious remedies include: class actions and recent developments in derivative litigation, as well as oppression, winding up, alteration of the constitution, dilution of equity stakes and compulsory acquisition of minority shareholdings. Non-litigious remedies include: the role of advance planning, drafting issues in relation to shareholders' agreements and constitutional provisions, and the scope for activism by institutional and retail shareholders in listed public companies.

This unit will involve detailed study of the requirements of chapters 6A, 6B and 6C of the Corporations Act with respect to the acquisition of company shares and takeovers. It will also examine selected aspects of the law concerning corporate reconstruction where a change of control is involved (including schemes of arrangement, selective reductions of capital and other forms of compulsory acquisition of minority holdings). The unit is taught by lawyers with extensive experience in takeovers and reconstructions.

This unit examines the pervasive phenomenon of tax avoidance, and the design (and effectiveness) of common judicial and legislative responses to it. The unit starts by deconstructing typical examples of avoidance to elicit the common design features of avoidance practices. We will also examine the inter-relationship between the process of statutory interpretation and the opportunities for avoidance. A particular focus of the unit will be on the scope and operation of Australia's general anti-avoidance rule (Part IVA), but the unit will also consider the various judicial anti-avoidance doctrines and some of the specific anti-avoidance rules found in Australia's tax legislation. The unit will also consider the kinds of approaches to tax avoidance and the anti-avoidance regimes employed in other countries. Finally, the unit will examine some of the procedural regimes used to curb the offering of tax avoidance products to taxpayers.

This unit is designed to study the policy, detailed rules and practical application of Australia's international tax treaties against the background of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital. Upon successful completion of this unit a student should have an advanced understanding of the policies underlying the Australian tax treaty position in relation to the taxation of various kinds of income, as well as a detailed knowledge of the law applicable to interpretation of Australia's treaties. The unit includes a study of: principles of tax treaties; interpretation of tax treaties; and selected articles of the OECD Model and Australian tax treaties.

This unit of study considers a number of specialised topics in the area of tax treaties, largely reflecting the work of the OECD and United Nations on tax treaties currently and in the last decade. Topics covered include a selection of: OECD and UN policy development processes, the new Article 7, business restructures and intangibles, high value services, expatriates, superannuation and pensions, entities (companies, partnerships, trusts and collective investment vehicles), beneficial ownership, triangular cases, conflicts of qualification, non-discrimination, tax avoidance and treaties, base erosion and profit shifting, dispute resolution and international administrative cooperation.

This unit offers a detailed examination of the regulatory and tax rules affecting the superannuation industry in Australia. The unit will analyse the statutory regulatory framework and the background rules of trust law, how they apply to different industry segments such as SMSFs, APRA regulated funds and constitutionally-protected funds, and how they affect issues such as fund structure and management, duties of trustees, benefit types, investment strategies, the resolution of disputes and so on. The unit will also consider in detail how the income tax, FBT and SGC regimes apply to amounts flowing into and out of the superannuation system (contributions, fund income and expenses, and benefits provided in various forms) for the various participants in the industry (employers, trustees, members, their dependents and estates, external providers). The unit will be taught through the analysis of a series of case studies discussed in detail in each seminar.

This unit, along with LAWS6841 Taxation of Business and Investment Income B, is designed to provide an advanced study of the tax treatment of various important business transactions. It provides a detailed examination of the income tax and capital gains treatment of selected complex commercial transactions and their impact on the tax base. The goal of the unit is to develop an understanding of the policies, detailed rules and current practical problems involved in this area of taxation, through the analysis of a number of specific problems discussed in each seminar. Because of continual change to the taxation system, recent legislative amendments and judicial decisions will be examined in detail where applicable. The unit will cover the following topics: core income and expense rules and operational concepts underlying the income tax system; treatment of realised business income and the differentiation of capital gains; treatment of business expenses and the differentiation of expenses recoverable under depreciation, CGT or not at all; issues in the treatment of trading stock; issues in the tax treatment of the costs (and revenues) associated with business equipment and intangibles. This unit can be taken alone or in conjunction with LAWS6841 Taxation of Business and Investment Income B.

This unit, along with LAWS6840 Tax of Business and Investment Income A, is designed to provide an advanced study of the income and capital gains tax treatment of various complex commercial transactions. The goal of this unit is to develop an understanding of the policies, detailed rules and current practical problems involved in this area of taxation, through the analysis of a number of specific problems that will be discussed in the seminars. Because of continual change to the taxation system, recent legislative amendments and judicial decisions will be examined in detail where applicable.
This unit will cover the following topics: issues in business financing, including asset leasing; tax issues related to the use and development of land and buildings; the treatment of 'black hole' expenses; tax accounting for income, expenses and profits; and specific and general anti-avoidance rules. This unit can be taken alone or in conjunction with LAWS6840 Tax of Business and Investment Income A.

The unit will analyse the current law on the tax treatment of the principal forms of raising corporate finance from sources both in Australia and offshore, in Australian and foreign currencies, and of hedging the various exposures that a taxpayer may have from of its fund-raising and investments. The unit will consider the taxpayer's position both within and outside the TOFA regime. Common forms of innovative financial instruments will be examined, including debt, equity and hybrid instruments, forward and futures contracts, derivative instruments, and various asset-based forms of corporate financing. Selected non-resident withholding tax issues will be examined.

The object of this unit is to examine the policy and practical issues that arise in the tax consolidation regime in Australia. The unit covers: policy and history of grouping and consolidation; entry into consolidation; effects of consolidation; exit from consolidation; losses and bad debts in consolidation; and international rules in consolidation including MEC groups.

The unit will focus on the tax issues arising on the takeover or re-organisation of a corporation. Unique and complex tax issues arise for the corporation, its existing shareholders and, in the case of a takeover, its acquirer. These issues will influence the method of effecting the transaction, the method of financing it and indirectly the price paid. For takeovers, the unit will examine the impact of a takeover on the various tax attributes of the target company, the computation of its income in the year of change, the recovery of its losses and the limits on losses available to shareholders because of the anti-duplication rules. We also consider how the tax system might influence the method of financing the takeover. The unit will also examine the impact for shareholders and the corporation of undertaking the merger of two or more corporations. The unit will also examine the impact for shareholders, intermediaries and the corporation of the de-merger of a corporation from a group of corporations. For reconstructions, the unit will examine the impact for shareholders and the corporation of selected transactions: conversion into corporate form, change of corporate form and the re-capitalisation of a corporation.

This unit examines Australia¿s rules for taxing the income earned from offshore operations. The unit examines the taxation of conducting business and holding investments offshore through foreign branches, companies, trusts, partnerships, and hybrid entities. It also examines the repatriation of profits from these entities, the treatment of the cost of financing these operations and the consequences of offshore reorganisations and relocations. The unit examines in detail Australia¿s CFC rules, transferor trust regime, the FITO regime, thin capitalisation rules and foreign hybrid rules.

The objective of this unit is to examine the policy and practical issues that arise in Australia by virtue of the rules for the taxation of income derived through unincorporated entities. The focus is on partnerships, corporate limited partnerships, trusts, unit trusts, deceased estates, corporate unit trusts and public trading trusts. The goals of the unit are to develop a detailed understanding of the policies, technical rules and practical problems involved in the taxation of these arrangements. Upon successful completion of this unit, students should have an advanced understanding of the technical rules underlying the taxation of partnerships and trusts in a variety of forms and in a variety of commercial situations. The unit covers: problems of taxing entities, partnerships and trusts contrasted with companies; classification of entities for tax purposes; taxation of partners; taxation of trusts other than unit trusts and their beneficiaries; taxation of unit trusts and their beneficiaries; taxation of limited partnerships, income splitting and assignment involving partnerships and trusts.

This unit will exam they key aspects of the application of taxes to real property transactions, with an emphasis on property development. The unit will commence with an introduction to the underlying principles of the law of property and basic entity structures commonly used in the property development industry. The application of taxes to typical property transactions will then be considered. In addition to focussing on the acquisition, development, sale, and leasing of real property, the unit will consider tax issues for the development of commercial, residential, hotel/serviced apartment complexes, and retirement villages. Practical case studies will be used to draw out the impact of income tax, CGT, GST, stamp duty (primarily NSW), and land tax on real property transactions. Students who do not have a basic working knowledge of Australian income tax and GST should consider taking LAWS6825 Introduction to Australian Business Tax and LAWS6214 Goods and Services Tax Principles A. If in doubt, please contact the unit coordinator for advice

The common law is an essential part of the Australian legal system, as well as many others around the world. This unit of study examines the nature of the common law from the point of view of jurisprudence. We will begin with a survey of the classic Common Law Theories developed in England during the seventeenth century; from there, a variety of problems surrounding the common law which these theories made salient, and which still puzzle us today, will be examined. Topics include: the nature and authority of precedent, the distinctiveness of legal reasoning, the nature and questions surrounding the validity of customary law, the relation between the common law and the ideal of the rule of law, among others.

The judge has long been an important legal actor in common law countries, but over the past several decades, there has been a rise in judicial power globally, with the proliferation of constitutional courts and the strengthening of judiciaries in countries around the world. This seminar will consider views in jurisprudence which examines the judge, the activity of judging, and the proper role of the judiciary within a legal system and a just society more generally. Among the goals of the seminar are to determine the nature of judicial obligation, how judges ought to decide cases, the arguments for and against judicial review, the role of the judiciary in establishing and maintaining the rule of law, and the relation between the business of courts, politics, and morality.

The unit examines transfer pricing law and practice in Australia and globally. Transfer pricing continues to be rated by tax directors as the number one international tax issue they face. The release of the revised OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations in 2010 and the ongoing projects, the rewrite of the Australian transfer pricing legislation, and the substantial transfer pricing rulings program of the Australian Taxation Office, have together significantly increased the international and Australian materials available on the law and practice in transfer pricing. Students will gain an understanding of the policy, and detailed application of transfer pricing rules within Australia and an understanding of the international framework.