This unit covers the domestic provisions of UK direct tax law dealing with international transactions, as well as UK treaties and the impact of EU law on the UK tax system. The UK remains one of Australia's major trading partners. UK taxation thus has significant effects for inbound and outbound investment between Australia and the UK. This unit will be of interest to tax professionals who have dealings with the UK. The objective of the unit is to provide an overview of the UK tax system focusing on cross-border investment and expatriate employment issues and a detailed analysis of the most important legislative and treaty rules of the UK in the international direct tax area, especially in dealings with Australia. Upon successful completion of the unit, participants will have an advanced understanding of the policies of the UK rules for taxing international transactions as well as a detailed knowledge of the principles of company and personal taxation applicable to inbound and outbound transactions in the UK. The unit includes a study of: 1. Overview of the UK tax system; 2. Taxation of inbound investment in the UK; 3. Taxation of outbound investment in the UK; 4. Transfer pricing in the UK; 5. UK tax treaties including the Australia UK Tax Treaty; 6. EU tax law as it affects the UK.

The objectives of this unit are: understand the history, structure and operation of US corporate law and corporate governance; to examine the common law, statutory provisions; and to explore the tension between state and federal law, including recent regulatory developments under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Act 2010. Specific issues discussed in the course include the "race to the bottom" vs "race to the top" hypotheses; the US approach to veil-piercing; the governance role of shareholders under US law; directors' duties, including the duty of care and the duty of loyalty; the operation of the business judgment rule; derivative litigation; the law relating to closely held corporations; judicial review of tender offer defences.

The object of this unit is to provide an overview of the income tax system of the US with a focus on the most important legislative and treaty rules of the US in the international income tax area, especially in dealings with Australia. The unit will examine both the policies behind the US taxation of international transactions as well as the rules and principles of income tax law applicable to inbound and outbound transactions in the US.

This unit of study situates the management of Australia's water resources within an International Law context including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, International Water Law principles and an internationally recognised human right to water. The unit examines the ecologically sustainable management of water resources in the context of climate change, with Australia being the driest inhabited continent. According to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, climate change could halve the productive capacity of the Murray Darling Basin, which produces one third of Australia's food supply, by 2050. In May 2012, the Murray Darling Basin Authority released the controversial Draft Basin Plan which proposes to allocate more water for the environment. At the same time, the Council of Australian Governments is pursuing a decade long process of water reform to establish a national water trading market by 2014. Consequently, the unit examines water resource management from the interdisciplinary perspectives of law, science and within the context of broader economic reform and the National Competition Policy framework. The corporatisation of water utilities and competition in the water service market is also discussed. Key legislation covered are the Water Act 2007 (Cth) and the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW).

In this unit we examine laws that regulate work-family balance, looking at employer duties to provide 'family-friendly'' working conditions and employee rights to have caring responsibilities accommodated in the workplace. We look at gender norms about work and care and how law reflects, reinforces and sometimes challenges these. The focus is on workplace laws - Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), anti-discrimination legislation (in respect of discrimination on the basis of sex and caring responsibilities), and the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth). We will, however, also touch on a range of other laws that regulate work and care, including laws governing paid parental leave, social security, and tax laws (including child care subsidies and family assistance). Comparisons will be made with alternative legal regimes for work and care in other countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Sweden.

Lawyers and HR/IR practitioners are increasingly required to deal with complaints of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination, and address suspected misconduct such as Code of Conduct breaches, fraud/theft, and safety and other breaches. In order to take, and if necessary defend, disciplinary and other action, a proper factual and legal foundation must be established, through a workplace investigation. We also specifically consider how concepts of 'procedural fairness' and 'natural justice' impact a workplace investigation. The unit explores the various stages of a workplace investigation, including: (1) establishing the scope of the investigation and particularizing the alleged complaint or misconduct; (2) conducting interviews and gathering other information; (3) managing participants, including stand down/suspension; (4) evaluating information and making findings applying the relevant standard of proof and legal test(s); and (5) implementing investigation findings.

This unit is a comprehensive introduction to the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to the context of economics and politics within which the law operates. It also offers some comparisons with regulation under bilateral and regional trade agreements. It can be taken as either a stand-alone introduction to WTO law or to acquire a solid basis for further study of WTO law. (Students may wish to continue on to take LAWS6249 World Trade Organization Law II which builds upon the knowledge gained in this unit and considers some additional topics of WTO law.) The introductory topic considers the functions of the WTO through the consideration of some basic economics of trade and of public choice. We review the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the creation of the Agreement Establishing the WTO ending with a review of the institutions of the WTO and of the framework of rules applying under the GATT (and comparing with some bilateral and regional trade agreements). There follows a detailed study of the WTO dispute settlement system, under the WTO Understanding on Dispute Settlement, its concepts, procedures and enforcement. We study the framework of rules under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and compare it with the negative list approach used under some bilateral and regional trade agreements; and the rules of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), emphasizing patents, copyright and trademarks, and noting some TRIPS plus aspects of some bilateral and regional trade agreements. The unit analyses in more detail some of the fundamental rules of the GATT: rules on tariff bindings and customs duties, national treatment, non-tariff barriers, the MFN rule on non-discrimination and an introduction to the rules on subsidies. We conclude with a synopsis of WTO developments to the present day. This unit is assessed in two ways: an essay on the object and function of the WTO system and its dispute settlement system; and an exam requiring students to apply the basic rules of the GATT, GATS and TRIPS to fact situations.