This unit analyses the Personal Property Securities legislation, drawing attention to how it has changed the pre-existing law regulating the rights of secured creditors. The unit focuses on the concepts of security, attachment and perfection. It examines the nature of security interests regulated by the legislation, together with the registration, priority and enforcement regimes. In discussing the Australian position, the unit compares similar legislation in Canada and New Zealand.

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 critically examines the power relations that are policing (public and private). It recognizes and builds upon the essential and often problematic role of policing in crime control and security. Major aspects of police work and the discretion on which it depends, are analysed in order to understand the dynamics of social control in an age of risk and security.

The aim of the unit of study is to provide an introduction to the framework, concepts, sources and techniques of pollution control law and corporate environmental liability. The history and framework of international laws regulating pollution will be examined before exploring a range of legal and regulatory measures for pollution control and corporate environmental liability at both the Commonwealth level and within New South Wales. An overarching theme will be the need for effectiveness in implementation and enforcement of pollution control and governance measures that have been developed to prevent harm and promote ecologically sustainable development.

The financial crisis of 2007-9 revealed serious failings in the regulation of financial institutions and markets. This prompted a fundamental reconsideration of the design of financial regulation, which governs a financial system that has become ever-more complex and interconnected, and which evolves at an ever-accelerating pace. This course presents a holistic overview of the key principles underpinning financial regulation. It draws on economic theory to explain the way in which the financial system functions, and then to analyse the goals of financial regulation. This analytic framework is then applied to a series of substantive topics in financial regulation, spanning the traditionally-separate fields of banking, markets, and consumer finance. The unit also considers the operation of the new tools of 'macro-prudential policy' and the international coordination of financial regulation in the global financial system. While the substantive topics are considered in terms of EU and US rules, the analytic tools developed are of more general application. Topics covered in this unit: The financial system; Goals and challenges of financial regulation; Consumer finance; Market regulation; Bank capital and liquidity regulation; Bank governance and resolution; Shadow banking and Macro-prudential and international coordination. Students who complete this unit successfully will have an overview of the economic principles underpinning financial regulation, to be able to understand and critically evaluate the principal substantive aspects of financial regulation in the US and EU, as well as their international coordination.

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 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. 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 Securities Exchange Limited and other market operators; the licensing of financial services professionals; the conduct of securities business, including the legal structure of securities exchange transactions and the incidents of the broker-client relationship; and 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 considers the Australian law and regulatory policies governing corporate control transactions. We examine the requirements for a successful acquisition by a bidder of 100% of the issued securities of a target corporation; why 100% ownership of the target is desirable; and how to achieve it if the bid falls short. We consider regulated takeover bids under Chapter 6 of the Corporations Act, and the available alternatives to a regulated bid, including members' schemes of arrangement and other control-affecting transactions such as selective reductions of capital and share buy-backs. We also look at corporate control transactions from the target's point of view, considering the available defensive measures and how the law and regulatory policy impose limits on defensive strategies. We review the respective roles of the Takeovers Panel and courts. A special feature of this unit is the extensive experience in corporate control transactions that our team of lecturers will bring to the classroom, overseen by Dr Austin, a barrister and retired judge who is Challis Lecturer in Corporate Law.

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, 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.

This advanced 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.

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 for the taxation of income derived through partnerships and trusts which are generally transparent for tax purposes. The focus of the course is twofold. First, it looks at the use of these vehicles by small business and in the case of trusts by high wealth individuals. Secondly it looks at the use of these (and other effectively tax-transparent) vehicles for collective investment. Given the recent focus by the government on rewriting the existing rules and developing new vehicles for collective investment, and the failure over many years to rewrite the rules for small business tax-transparent entities, the main emphasis of the unit will be on the recent and on-going developments in relation to collective investment. The goals of the unit are to develop a detailed understanding of the policies, technical rules and practical problems involved in the taxation of partnerships and trusts. 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 and trust beneficiaries in a small business/high wealth context; taxation of collective investment vehicles mainly in the form of trusts and partnerships, including AMITs and MITs, public trading trusts, LPs, venture capital, foreign hybrids, listed investment companies and investment manager regime.

This unit will exam they key aspects of the application of taxes to real property transactions. The unit will commence with an introduction to the tax policy considerations relevant to the taxation of real property. The application of taxes to real 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, GST, stamp duty (primarily NSW), and land tax on real property transactions.

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 advanced 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, particularly the OECD/G20 project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). Topics covered include a selection of: OECD and UN policy development processes, permanent establishment, high value services and the digital economy, transfer pricing, harmful tax practices, treaty abuse, non-discrimination, entities and tax treaties (especially partnerships and collective investment vehicles), transparency and assistance in collection, dispute resolution, BEPS multilateral instrument. The goal of this unit is to provide in depth analysis of the policy and practical issues in recent tax treaty developments. Upon completion of this unit, students will have a detailed understanding of the current driving forces and issues in the development of tax treaties and other international tax standards.

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.

How will Donald Trump's presidency affect international law and international relations? How do non-state actors like Islamic State challenge the existing international order? How do we respond to international health emergencies, such as the outbreaks of the Zika and Ebola viruses? These questions all raise issues of global governance, that is, how international affairs are governed on a global scale. They also raise questions about the roles and capacities of individual states within the global order. This unit explores how current systems of global governance operate, the place of states within those systems, and the significance of law to those systems. In doing so, the unit introduces students to a range of historical and contemporary approaches to understanding the role of law in international affairs, and gives students an opportunity to consider these in relation to current events of global import. The sorts of questions with which the unit is concerned may include the following: Are systems of global governance lawful? Are they democratic? What is the role of violence in the contemporary global order? How does/should international law seek to address pressing transnational issues, such as poverty, environmental degradation, global health threats and human rights abuses?

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.