The main purpose of this course is to build on the fundamental understandings achieved in Public Law and Federal Constitutional Law in order to provide a far broader and deeper understanding of the subject. This will be achieved by, first, examining in depth the fundamental aspects and tenets of constitutionalism in the Australian context and from a more jurisprudential perspective. Reliance will be placed on comparative jurisdictions, in particular the United States and the United Kingdom. A detailed analysis will first be attempted of the following major concepts in the more precise context of Westminster-based systems: the rule of law, parliamentary sovereignty, the ambit of executive power and the precise status and principles of responsible government, judicial review and constitutional rights, separation of powers, constitutional conventions, the reserve powers of the Governor-General, the status of common law principles as fundamental constitutional guarantees. A principal focus will be the nature and ambit of executive power, and the evolving jurisrprudence of the High Court on this question. The course will examine the evolving notion of parliamentary supremacy from Diceyan orthodoxy to the more recent debates involving leading constitutional scholars in the UK and Australia. In relation to separation of powers, the different constitutional consequences which result when the doctrine is entrenched in a written constitution (as in the US and Australia) on the one hand, and when it exists as a convention without being so entrenched, on the other, will be explored. The relationship between executive and legislative power will be the principal focus. This will enhance an understanding of the definition, nature and limits of judicial, executive and legislative power and their inter-relationship, an issue which becomes particularly important at moments of constitutional uncertainty and stress, especially at the crossroads of their power. The functionalist/formalist debate will be examined to determine the most appropriate interpretive methodology with respect to the application of the constitutional limitations which may emanate from the separation of powers. In so doing, the principal decisions of the High Court of Australia and other relevant courts in other jurisdictions. There will be an opportunity to evaluate major Australian constitutional decisions in a detail not possible in the prerequisite and undergraduate courses. A principal underlying theme will be the extent to which the tenets of constitutionalism are being complied with in Australia and the extent to which they can be. The course will be enriched and made more presently relevant by the exploration of current developing themes in constitutional law. The precise topics may vary from year to year. Depending on the topic, this may involve the introduction of completely new themes or the integration of developments with topics already examined.

The aim of the course is to build on the knowledge students have gained in the core contracts courses. The specific focus of the course for this year will be the regulatory use of contracts and contract law. During the course we will study both how governments regulate contractual relations and how contracts and contract law are used to achieve policy goals. The course will be research-driven and the specific areas of study will be chosen to reflect current developments in contract law both in Australia and internationally. Such case studies will be used to reflect in greater depth on some of the fundamental principles and doctrines of contract law studied in the core course.

This unit of study has as its objective the exploration of contemporary issues concerning debt and equity finance in Australian public and proprietary companies, with an emphasis on law reform in the areas of the raising of corporate finance; the positions of shareholders and creditors in the event of the company's insolvency; as well as aspects of external administration include receivership, voluntary administration, liquidation.

This unit critically examines the criminal law, criminal justice institutions and penal practices in the context of legal scholarly debates. Topics to be considered in any one semester may include criminal responsibility, capacity, gender and criminal law, corporate criminal liability, offence construction and trends in sentencing. In addressing these topics, the unit will attempt to respond to cutting edge developments in the criminal law as they arise. Each topic forms the lens through which larger or longer-term theoretical and others issues are discussed. By contrast with the foundational unit, Criminal Law, this unit does not adopt a content - driven approach to criminal law; instead, it adopts an explicitly critical socio-historical approach to the study of law, and draws on inter-disciplinary scholarship throughout. Discussion of relevant academic scholarship forms a core part of the subject matter of the course.

This unit provides an opportunity for students who are familiar with the basic institutions and processes of public international law to deepen their understanding by studying in greater detail than is possible in the introductory unit several areas of conceptual importance and contemporary relevance. It follows that a prerequisite is the unit, LAWS1023 Public International Law or LAWS5005 Public International Law, or an equivalent unit undertaken at another institution.
The topics covered by this unit are: (1) the international law of the sea; (2) international environmental law; (3) international refugee law and related human rights laws; and (4) the law of international organisations and systems of monitoring and compliance in international law. The different aspects of the course are tied together using disasters, climate change and forced migration as unifying themes. One half of the course addresses issues that involve the interaction of nation states under international law, while the second half deals with international law regulating the interaction of states with natural persons. The chosen topics are specialised, substantive areas of law which are of particular importance to global governance of resources, particularly for a large, ecologically diverse and maritime State such as Australia, and are extremely topical on the national and international agendas.

This unit further pursues the goals of Australian Income Tax and is to be regarded as an extension of that unit. In particular, the unit surveys some more advanced (and practically relevant) aspect of Australia's tax system, including special rules applicable to entities (partnerships, trusts, and companies) and their owners, international taxation, goods and services tax (GST), business cost recovery mechanisms (trading stock and depreciation), and tax administration. Together with Australian Income Tax, these units provide a basic understanding of the Australian tax system and a basis for further study and/or practice.

The objective of this unit is to enable students to examine and develop answers to the following questions: (i) What is discrimination and what harm does it cause? (ii) How has the law been used in Australia to address discrimination? (iii) What type of conduct does anti-discrimination law prohibit? Specifically, which attributes are protected, in what contexts and with what exceptions? (iv) What remedies can be sought for unlawful discrimination and how are these enforced? (v) What are the limits and future directions of anti-discrimination law? The law as it operates will be examined, focussing on examples of particular attributes of discrimination (such as sex, race, disability, age, or family responsibilities), but considerable attention is also paid to regulatory alternatives to explore how the law could be developed.

This unit introduces the Australian income tax system by exploring the operation of the income tax statutes, the underlying principles which those laws seek to implement, and fundamental issues in tax policy. Topics covered include the concept and categories of income, capital gains, fringe benefits, deductions and the treatment of capital expenditure, basic tax accounting principles, and legislative responses to tax avoidance. The unit also introduces the key concepts used to evaluate tax policy, including welfare economics, thereby providing students with a basic understanding of why taxation is of such fundamental concern in modern democratic societies. This unit is a prerequisite for Advanced Taxation Law.

This unit aims to provide students with:
* An overview of the legal regulation and supervision of banks and other Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs);
* An understanding of the legal basis of the relationship between banks, ADIs and their customers, and an overview of the more common rights and duties that adhere to the banker/customer relationship;
* An introduction to negotiable instruments (cheques and bills of exchange), letters of credit and performance bonds, and guarantees;
* An introduction to the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 and its impact on secured lending.

This unit will provide students with an overall picture of the modern Chinese legal system. It will develop a perception of its unique character by tracing its role through major social epochs and the role of law in a socialist market economy. It will examine the concept of law as a political function and the implementation of law, not so much through courts, as through administrative fiats and authority, making law essentially a function of politics and administration. The unit will illustrate these perceptions through the study of various legal regimes. Lecture topics may include: Chinese legal history; Chinese legal system; Criminal law and procedure; Constitutional law; civil law and procedure; legal profession; administrative law; contract law; property law; company law; intellectual property law; environmental Law; foreign joint ventures; arbitration and mediation; foreign trade law and taxation law.

In terms of content, this unit aims to explore in greater depth some important aspects of the law of real property which the compulsory Real Property unit does not cover. The topics which will be covered will be: leases (including covenants of leases, assignments of leases, remedies of landlords, relief against forfeiture and subleases); possessory title; mortgages (with special attention on the rights and remedies of the mortgagor and mortgagee; reverse mortgages); options and if time permits strata and community titles. Students who wish to practise in the area of property law are encourage to consider studying this unit, because the matters covered are indispensable for a career in property law. From a pedagogical perspective, the assessment is structured to improve the oral, research and problem-solving skills of students. There will be a problem-solving session at the end of the course. The classroom-style is structured to encourage students to participate in discussion and to learn collaboratively.

This unit of study examines competition law and policy in Australia. The central part of the course deals with Part IV of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The framework for analysis will include a critical examination of the fundamental purposes of competition law policy. Some references will be made to the restrictive trade practices provisions of comparative jurisdictions.
Topics include: (a) common law antecedents of competition law and history of competition law legislation; (b) National Competition Policy and legislation; (c) application of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth); (d) elementary economic theory of monopoly and the goals of competition policy; (e) fundamental concepts of competition, market definition, market power and public benefit; (f) mergers and acquisitions; (g) horizontal arrangements including cartel conduct, primary boycotts, and arrangements which substantially lessen competition; (h) vertical arrangements including exclusive dealing and third line forcing; (i) misuse of substantial market power; (j) notifications and authorizations; and (k) overview of remedies and enforcement. Additional topics may include resale price maintenance or access to essential facilities.

This unit deals with the principles relating to entry into, performance, and remedies for breach of contracts for the sale of land. While conveyancing is sometimes regarded as a mere matter of form filling and rote-learned procedures, it is one of the oldest and most complex areas of law, and requires the application of skill and strategy in deploying legal principles in practice. Modern conveyancing involves the application of an elaborate mix of real property, equity, and contract law concepts, and also principles of interpretation. The course will also deal with elements of the national system of electronic convenyancing. The unit of study is designed to provide the theoretical foundations necessary for expertise in commercial practice. The first part of the course deals with the formation of an enforceable contract for sale, including exchange of contract, identification of the subject-matter of the sale, and obligation of disclosure by vendors under common law and statute, and a brief treatment of statutory remedies under the Australian Consumer Law concerning land dealings. The second section deals with the law relating to the performance of the contract for sale intself, focussing on the standard form of contract for the sale of land in New South Wales. Special attention is paid in this section to the law relating to deposits, defects, the consequences of misdiscription of the land, and the legality of structures upon the land. The third section deals with the remedies available to vendors and purchasers, including notices to complete, specific performance, breach and termination, and relief against forfeiture.

This unit of study aims to introduce students to the theoretical issues associated with the definition and explanation of crime, criminality and crime control. Rationales for punishment are examined along with sentencing, and other possible responses to criminal behaviour are explored. The unit considers the impact of criminal justice policy and practice on particular groups which may include juveniles, women, Indigenous people, ethnic minorities and victims of crime. The regulation of particular types of offences such as hate crime are considered. Other topical issues are covered as they arise in contemporary criminological debate. Students are expected to take part in visits to a gaol and/or a juvenile detention centre.

This unit exposes students to the role and limits of law in addressing acute problems of socio-economic development and human rights in developing countries, through an interactive field school conducted over two weeks in Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries. The themes to be explored are likely to include: The transition from armed conflict to peace in the aftermath of a Maoist insurgency and the end of the monarchy in Nepal (including issues of transitional criminal justice, the drafting of a new constitution, and building a new legal and political system in light of Nepalese legal traditions and foreign legal influences); The protection of socio-economic rights (including rights to food, water, housing, and livelihoods), minority rights (of 'tribals', and 'dalits' in the caste system), and the 'right to development' under constitutional and international law; The interaction between local disputes over natural resources, human displacement caused by development projects, environmental protection and climate change in the context of fragile Himalayan ecologies; The legal protection of refugees (Tibetan or Bhutanese) in camp or mass influx situations, in the context of the limited resources of a developing country and the causes of, and solutions to, human displacement; and the experience of women in development and human rights processes. The issues will be drawn together by reflection upon the influence of, and resistance to, human rights and international law in developmental processes.

The mass commercialisation and uptake of renewable energy will be one of the most significant developments in the 21st century in terms of transforming both the industrial sector and daily life. The shift away from fossil fuels is already noticeable, with net investment in new renewable energy generation now exceeding that for fossil fuels. This unit explores the legal challenges associated with the increased uptake of renewable energy and emerging energy technologies. It considers approaches to electricity market design, and considers whether regulatory intervention in the market is warranted. Given the international nature of the renewable energy sector, students will explore and evaluate the effectiveness of the laws and policy approaches of different countries in promoting the increased deployment of renewable energy. Throughout this unit students will also have the opportunity to explore the issues that may arise throughout the life of a new renewable energy project, including environment and planning disputes, competition law issues, the need to successfully negotiate with key stakeholders, and to consider creative solutions to addressing them.

This unit will provide a framework for understanding environmental issues, outline the sources of environmental law and provide an overview of the different approaches to environmental regulation before examining a range of topical areas, including climate change, water management, pollution control, waste management, environmental planning, development control and environmental impact assessment. Overarching themes will include the implications of adopting the principles of environmentally sustainable development for legal structures and processes, the effects of scientific uncertainty on environmental regulation, and the importance of public participation for making the value judgements required in environmental governance.

Family Law deals with the core provisions of the Family Law Act 1975 governing parenting of children and the property of married couples and persons in a de facto relationship. This course is essential for those interested in Family Law.
Family Law will focus on the following topics: constitutional and jurisdictional issues; marriage, divorce and de facto relationships, the resolution of disputes relating to children under the Family Law Act 1975, property division under the Family Law Act; child support and maintenance.

This course explores the relationship between Indigenous peoples and national and international public law systems. We begin with an exploration of Indigenous legal systems and governance structures. Students will see how this different way of seeing the world, and being in the world, impacts upon interactions with the mainstream legal system. We will examine the differing perspectives on history to see how they have shaped ever-changing laws and government policies. We will investigate issues such as: changing definitions of Aboriginality that have been imposed upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in the criminal justice system; paperless arrest laws in the Northern Territory and fine legislation in Western Australia; the legal mechanisms used to execute the Northern Territory Emergency Response; the utility of International Law, Human Rights Law and International bodies to Indigenous people; meanings of self-determination; native title and land rights legislation; and contemporary examples of Indigenous nation building. Opinions on the issues covered in the course are many and varied so students will be encouraged to explore each topic through discussion and lively debate.

This unit is designed for final and penultimate year law students to undertake a project that allows them to work under the supervision of a University of Law School academic or with one of the University's industry and community partners. Students will work in teams on a real-world problem provided by the Law School or University partner. This experience will allow students to apply their academic skills and disciplinary knowledge to a real-world issue in an authentic and meaningful way. Participation in this unit will require students to submit an application.

The unit provides an introduction to the mainly statutory law regulating bankrupt individuals and insolvent companies. It explores the objectives and key principles of insolvency law, the pari passu principle, the various forms of insolvent administration including bankruptcy, liquidation, receivership and voluntary administration and associated procedures together with the avoidance of transactions in insolvency. The unit also considers the impact of insolvency on employees, unsecured creditors, shareholders and trustee's of trusts. The unit involves a significant component of statutory interpretation.

Insurance is an essential part of modern life covering a multitude of everyday risks and providing financial security in commerce and life generally. This unit covers the principles and concepts of insurance law and practice. A main focus will be on the rights and liabilities arising under contracts of insurance, under statute (principally the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)) and at common law. Broad categories and common forms of insurance, and to a lesser extent reinsurance, and the risks covered by them will be considered. Concepts central to insurance will be dealt with including the duty of utmost good faith, the duty of disclosure, third party rights, proportionality, contribution, subrogation and fraud. Other matters to be considered include the role of insurance brokers and underwriting agents, the regulation of insurers (the role of ASIC and APRA), the progression of insurance from contract formation to claims and the role that insurance plays in the community, corporate life and in dispute resolution. There will be a practical emphasis which involve considering some common types of insurance policies and issues arising under them illustrated by problem solving. Consideration will also be given to the role of risk transfer and insurance in contracting.

This unit is designed for final year LLB and JD students to participate in an interdisciplinary group project that allows them to work with one of the University¿s industry and community partners. Students will work in teams on a real-world problem provided by the partner, applying their disciplinary expertise and gaining valuable experience in working across disciplinary boundaries.

This unit of study aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of international commercial arbitration. The course covers the entire process of international arbitration: the significance of international commercial arbitration in international dispute resolution; the importance of a well drafted arbitration agreement; all procedural and conceptual aspects and legal issues arising during cross border arbitrations; arbitral awards and the enforcement of arbitral awards around the world through the 1958 New York Convention, and the relevance and use of mediation (and its hybrids) in resolving commercial disputes. The unit will address the role and significance of specialised forms of international arbitrations and organisations involved in administering international arbitrations, including investor-State arbitrations under investment treaties and free trade agreements.

The objective of this unit is to provide students with an introduction to a number of areas of international and cross-border business law and business transactions and to provide students with a basis which will allow them to study some of those areas in more detail. The course will begin with an overview of the scope of the law relating to international transactions. The core topics are international sale of goods, carriage of goods, international payments and financing of international sales, an introduction to the regulation of international trade, and methods of doing business in foreign markets, including international protection of intellectual property, dispute resolution in international business disputes, and the availability and use of available business structures and methods such as direct foreign investment. As part of the discussion of doing business in foreign markets and use of available business structures, students will look at the structure and drafting of international commercial agreements, and may participate in a skills exercise.

This unit of study introduces students to the principles and practice of international human rights law - a species of international law and policy and a field of ever-expanding dimensions. It will introduce students to some key concepts, debates, documents and institutions in this field, while encouraging critical examination of these from a variety of angles. In summary, this unit considers the question: What happens when we regard a situation or predicament as one involving a breach of international human rights law? What possibilities and problems does this entail? Addressing these questions, we will look at: (a) particular fora where international human rights law is being produced (international tribunals, domestic courts, multilateral bodies - including United Nations organs - regional agencies, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, and the media); (b) particular settings where international human rights law is being deployed (in Australia and elsewhere); and (c) particular identities/subjects that international human rights law aspires to shape, regulate or secure.

This unit of study will involve participation in one of three international moots, which in 2017 will be the Jessup Moot, the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, and the Tokyo Negotiation and Arbitration Competition. There will be a competitive selection process for enrolment in the course. For all moots, students will work as a team preparing written memorials and oral argument on a set problem as required by each moot.

Legal interpretation is the process by which the legal meaning of a text is ascertained, by reference to the text considered in context and with regard to its purpose. This course deals with the principles and methods of legal interpretation. While mainly relating to statutory interpretation, the unit will also cover aspects of the law of interpretation of private law instruments, the Constitution, and treaties.

The principles and methods of legal interpretation are directed to a purpose - to answer a question about contested legal meanings. The course will focus on the primary elements of interpretive practice: reading and understanding the text in its proper context, and in the light of its purpose and the objective intention of the drafter.

The course will cover:
* Approaches to legal interpretation, with emphasis on the function of interpretation in private and public law.
* Aspects of the interpretation of private instruments, wills, contracts, testamentary dispositions, collective agreements.
* Drafting and clear expression.
* Principles of statutory interpretation, including the conventions of grammatical interpretation of statutes; the use of technical words; the need to read the instrument as a whole; the role and function of interpretation acts, including legislation requiring consideration of Human Rights principles; approaches to ambiguity and inconsistency of language; specific common law principles and presumptions of interpretation; the use of extrinsic aids to interpretation, and the identification of statutory purpose.
* Aspects of interpretation of national and international instruments - Constitutions and treaties.

Part of the course content will be taught by eminent guest lecturers from the Faculty and the profession.

This seminar program is an introductory course in Islamic Law. It will focus on Shari'ah (the classical laws as derived from the religious sources), and will seek to explain its relationship to the contemporary laws of Muslim states and to the cultural practices of Muslim communities living in Australia and other predominantly non-Muslim states. The course aims to provide a basic understanding of the sources of Islamic Law, their interpretation, and of the 'Schools of Law' which predominate in the Muslim World. The case studies, in particular, aim to engage students to assess critically past and present understandings in the contexts of modernity, post-modernity, 'human rights', and social change.

This unit covers copyright and designs law, both recognised branches of intellectual property law. Their existence is often justified on the presumption that they encourage the exercise of inventive, creative and entrepreneurial skill and labour. The protection these areas of law provides is said to enable commercial exploitation of the resulting works or designs. This unit focuses on the requirements for the copyright and design protection and investigates the bases upon which infringement action can be brought. Particular emphasis will be placed on the expanding scope of copyright and the implications of the internet, as well as provisions in the Copyright Act intended to address the apparent overlap between copyright and design protection. Although the unit of study will emphasise legal doctrine and be taught from the perspective of a relatively depoliticised formalism, it is also recognised that the deployment and the regulation of intellectual property inevitably have substantial cultural, technological and economic consequences, which in turn inform and shape the development of legal doctrine. So, for example, Gone With The Wind, as a literary work still under copyright, is both an asset with a monetary value and the focus of a civil rights activism which demands the right to imitate the work for social and political criticism and parody. There will, accordingly, be some attention paid in this unit to the cultural, technological and economic consequences of intellectual property laws, to the significance of access to the public domain and to the effects of international trade pressure in the area

This unit focuses on legal rights concerning the marketing of products, specifically, trade mark law and passing off, and legal rights concerning invention, specifically, patent law. Most aspects of the law of registered trade marks, including some references to passing-off and misleading and deceptive conduct will be covered in the unit, as will the effect of these areas of law on new marketing practices on the Internet. Some specific topics which will be covered in depth are: the differences between registered trade marks, passing-off and unfair competition; character merchandising and the protection of the celebrity persona; the nature of signs and the special problem of shape trade marks; counterfeiting and parallel imports; trade mark infringement; the badge of origin, private property and cultural resource functions of registered trade marks. In patent law, there will be a particular focus on the requirements for patentability under Australian patent law; the requirements for patent specifications; the concept of inventorship and ownership of patents; and patent infringement and defences. Although the unit of study emphasises legal doctrine and is taught from the perspective of a relatively depoliticised formalism, it is also recognised that the deployment and the regulation of intellectual property inevitably have substantial cultural and economic consequences, which in turn inform and shape the development of legal doctrine. So, for example, pharmaceutical patents are both valuable assets to their owners, who accordingly demand extensive legal protection for those assets, and also the target of vigorous criticism in the developing world for the patents' potentially detrimental effect on public health in relation to, inter alia, HIV. There will, accordingly, be some attention paid in this unit to the cultural and economic consequences of intellectual property laws, to the significance of access to the public domain and to the effects of international trade pressure in the area.

This unit aims to develop the general skills of comparative lawyers, to effectively and critically assess contemporary developments in the legal system of the largest economy in our region. The unit is taught intensively in Japan after an introductory class in Sydney. The first week in Kyoto provides an introduction to how law operates generally in Japanese society. After an overview of comparative law techniques, Japanese legal history and its contemporary legal system, classes explore civil and criminal justice, politics and constitutionalism, government and law, gender and law, lawyers and the courts in Japan as well as consumers and law. The two days in Tokyo examine business law topics in socio-economic context in more detail, after an introduction to the Japanese economy and international trade policy. Topics include dispute resolution, investment and finance law, labour law and corporate governance.

This unit of study examines the legal regulation of work relationships in Australia in the 21st century. The course is designed to equip students with a broad understanding of the legal rules, principles and institutions which form Australia's system of workplace relations and to place that system in its global context.
The course concentrates primarily on the employment relationship (distinct from other types of commercial arrangements under which work is performed) and will examine the way in which that relationship is regulated by private contract law and statute.
The course offers both a theoretical and practical focus. Students are invited to reflect on the role of legal regulation of work relationships, and to critically assess the effectiveness of Australia's laws.
By completing this unit of study, student should acquire:
- A general understanding of the system of workplace relations in Australia, and the way that system has developed in recent years.
- Knowledge and understanding of the legal responsibilities of employers and employees at the workplace.
- A working knowledge of the framework and operation of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

The Honours Unit in Law consists of:
1. A dissertation written under the supervision of one member of academic staff, and
2. Participation in a non-assessable research workshop.
The dissertation will be a maximum of 12,000 words (inclusive of footnotes).

For students studying overseas on an official university exchange program.

This unit introduces students to the legal systems of Southeast Asia, focusing on Indonesia and Malaysia. The course emphasises legal pluralism - that is, the operation of different bodies of law for particular groups in those countries, colonial, national, Islamic and customary law - and compares how countries in Southeast Asia have handled it. The Indonesia component of the course will be taught at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, which has one of Indonesia's finest law faculties. Students will learn the fundamentals of the Indonesian legal system. The component will be geared towards not only those who want to practice commercial law in Indonesia, but also those who are interested in other areas, including law reform, human rights, Islamic law, constitutional law, environmental law and criminal law. The Malaysian component will be taught in the offices of Zico Law, the largest law firm in South East Asia and its most prestigious. Students will have lectures from prominent figures in academia, government, the legal profession and industry. Students will learn the fundamentals of the Malaysian legal system in the contexts of its competing ethnicities, religious diversity and political reform.

This unit of study analyses two areas of law which have a significant impact on the daily practice of journalism. Both of these areas of law relate to the personal interests of private plaintiffs and the legal recourse such plaintiffs may have against media outlets. The tort of defamation, which protects a plaintiff's reputation, is a well-established cause of action which notoriously has a "chilling" effect on what the media publishes. By contrast, direct legal protection of privacy against invasions by the media is a rapidly developing area of law in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the European Union. This unit of study provides a detailed examination of the principles of defamation law relating to liability, defences and remedies. It also examines how different common law legal systems are developing direct legal protection for individuals' privacy against intrusive media coverage. This unit of study provides a thorough doctrinal analysis of defamation, privacy and breach of confidence, as well as placing these areas of law in their broader historical, international, comparative, social and cultural contexts.

This unit of study provides an introduction to some of the legal issues that arise in modern health care. Issues to be covered in the course include: consent to medical treatment, professional liability of health professionals (including different forms of action for medical negligence), confidentiality, privacy, and access to medical records, the regulation of reproduction (including termination of pregnancy), and end-of-life decision-making, including assisted dying or "euthanasia". By the end of the unit, students will have a grounding in legislation and caselaw regulating the provision of health care services, and will also be aware of some of the ethical issues that arise in medical contexts. Student participation in class discussion will be expected.

Migration Refugees and Forced Migration is designed to introduce students to one of the most fast moving and engaging areas of public law. At one level, the unit is about government regulation of the entry of persons into Australia. As such, it is a branch of applied administrative law that concerns the very make-up of our society, affecting both who we live with and how we live our lives. Statistics show that more than one in four Australians were either born overseas or had an Australian-born parent. Dramatic skills shortages have seen unprecedented rises in the number of migrants brought to Australia on temporary and permanent visas. In spite of this, controversy persists over the nature of Australia's immigration program and the extent to which the government is doing enough to control both unlawful entry and the quality of the (lawful) migrants. Issues surrounding refugees and asylum seekers are a constant preoccupation. Covering both immigration law and domestic aspects of the law of forced migration the course is also a fine vehicle for exploring issues of human rights and the interaction between domestic and international law.
With Sydney receiving the lion's share of the migrants that come to Australia each year, migration law has become a growth area for both lawyers and for migration agents. By placing the current mechanisms for the controlling migration in their legal, social, historical and economic contexts, this unit provides an opportunity to explore the "big" issues raised by migration and to look at why the subject has assumed such a central role in the development of Australia's identity as a nation.
The unit of study is designed to foster the following skills:
a. Skills of statutory interpretation and problem-solving, through the study and use in practical situations of the Migration Act 1958 and its associated Regulations;
b. Skills of legal analysis and evaluation, gained through the examination and synthesis of relevant legislation; of court decisions and of rulings by the Migration Review Tribunal; the Refugee Review Tribunal; and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in its migration division; and
c. Oral and writing skills, through class participation, simulation exercises and the preparation of a major research paper.

The unit of study aims to encourage students to develop skills and knowledge about the police and policing, with particular reference to the shifting nature of policing. The unit includes critical analysis of theoretical and policy issues within contemporary criminal justice, but also examines policing (in its widest sense) including the pluralisation of policing. Students will examine: crime and crime control within a social and political context; policing and other institutions and processes of criminal justice in the light of contemporary research and policy debates; the major theoretical frameworks within which crime, policing and criminal justice policy are constructed and analysed; challenges for policing arising from changes in spatial arrangements, and from transnational developments in crime and crime control.

Private international law is the part of local or municipal private law which is concerned with questions which contain a foreign element i.e. a relevant connection between a fact or party and a foreign legal system. For example, private international law issues will require consideration if a question arises in New South Wales concerning the distribution of the property of a person who died domiciled in France or the validity of a mortgage of shares in a New York corporation or the recognition of the dissolution of a marriage by a Norwegian court.
In seeking to develop your understanding of the international dimension of private law and your appreciation of the fact that many legal questions which arise in everyday life are not confined within one legal system, this unit of study will address the following topics: (1) personal connecting factor (domicile, nationality, residence); (2) renvoi and the incidental question; (3) transactions involving immovable property (e.g. land, intellectual property rights) and movable property (e.g. ships, aircraft, artworks, shares, contractual rights); (4) devolution of property on death (succession); (5) marriage validity; and (6) dissolution and annulment of marriage, including the recognition of foreign dissolutions and annulments of marriage. In addition to these topics, an introductory survey will address the function, purpose and rationale of private international law, theories and methods (e.g. the territorial theory of law, the vested rights theory), historical development and the relationship between statutes and the common law rules of private international law.

Law has played an integral role in producing ideas about 'race' and in shaping the lives of racialised communities in Australia and elsewhere. Today however, some argue that the law is racially neutral and that we live in a post-racial society. This unit will explore influential scholarship in critical race theory and consider emerging debates on the relationship between law and race. By adopting a critical and intersectional perspective, this unit aims to deepen understandings of particular historical and contemporary laws and legal practices. The focus is on the explanatory and analytical utility of critical race theory. The examination of legal practices will include comparisons between the practices in various countries, and traverse various legal disciplines. Topics may include the law and: racial classification; racial profiling; identity based claims and recognition; spatial and temporal dimensions of racialisation; legal approaches to historical (and contemporary) injustices such as colonialism, slavery and war; property; the organisation and policing of borders; and forms of resistance. Class discussion is an important part of this unit and lively debate on the readings is encouraged.

The Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) Clinic is an experiential learning opportunity for a limited number of law students to engage in hands-on learning. This unit of study will act as a gateway between theory and practice for students interested in the delivery of legal services to clients attending a specific advice clinic. RLC will expose students to different facets of public-interest lawyering including communication with and interviewing of clients from diverse backgrounds management of case files legal research drafting advocacy and ethical obligations. At the end of this unit of study students should have: (a) Developed or enhanced their understanding of a particular area of law; (b) Developed or enhanced their understanding of systemic access to justice issues in a particular area of law; (c) Identified the personal demands on and professional/ethical obligations of a public interest lawyer engaged in practice; (d) Gained insights into the interpersonal skills necessary to survive and thrive in legal practice; (e) Developed and applied effective communication skills required for the provision of written and oral legal advice and; (f) Had the opportunity to work both independently and collaboratively to advance public interest objectives.

The course provides a general introduction to all aspects of Roman private law. It begins with an historical sketch of Roman institutions from the earliest times until the reign of Justinian (CE 527-565), together with an introduction to Roman legal history and the development of Roman legal concepts. It also deals with the reception of Roman jurisprudence into modern European legal systems and the common law. The Roman law of marriage and family, moveable and immoveable property, real and personal security, succession, and contractual, quasi-contractual and delictal obligations are then dealt with in depth. The Institutes of Justinian, in English, is the fundamental text for study and students are expected to read the Institutes in some detail. The Institutes constitute a map of the law and means of ordering the law. Roman law has always been, and still is, of great historical importance in the development of many areas of the common law. Roman law also provides a yardstick by which both the virtues and the shortcomings of the common law can be measured. Further, Roman law forms the jurisprudential background of most of the legal systems in force in continental Europe and those parts of the rest of the world that were colonised by continental European nations.

The process of creating effective security interests in personal property to secure performance of contractual obligations is a critical component of commercial dealings and financings. This unit examines how security may be taken over common forms of personal property through a detailed analysis of the legislative regime established by the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth), which became operative in January 2012. Providing an overview of the historical and economic development of the law in this area, the unit explores the rationale for the comprehensive legislation as well as its underlying general principles. An international and comparative perspective is offered through references to the Canadian and New Zealand experience in introducing equivalent statutory frameworks, with part of the course materials drawn from these jurisdictions.

The Social Justice Program will arrange for students enrolled in the course to work with various organisations which have agreed to participate in the Program. To date, such bodies include the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), the Public Interest Law Clearinghouse (PILCH), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Environmental Defender's Office (EDO). Through such organisations students will be exposed to real world cases and participate in a structured seminar program dealing with social justice issues and aspects of public interest law.
During semester hands-on experience with cases, clients and/or policy and research projects will be obtained one day per week in a 'social justice' placement site. Students will attend weekly seminars designed to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills required to participate in a working clinical legal organisation, and cover legal issues specific to the placement sites. The seminars will encourage discussion and reflection on the range of issues that may arise during the course of the placement.
At the end of the unit students should have: (i) enhanced their ethical, social and professional understanding of the practice of law; (ii) improved their ability to recognise, define and analyse legal problems flowing from real case files, and to identify and create processes to solve them; (iii) observed and practised communication and inter-personal skills involved in the practice of law; (iv) been introduced to aspects of legal practice such as legal writing, research, client interaction and time management; (v) had the opportunity to work both independently and collaboratively, in a way that is informed by openness, curiosity and a desire to meet new challenges.

In this unit of study students are afforded the opportunity to work the equivalent of one day per week during the semester in a 'public interest' placement site. In addition, students attend fortnightly seminars which are designed to promote discussion and reflection on a range of issues that may arise during the course of the placement as well as seminar presentations on matters relevant to public interest externships. The unit has a public interest focus which is reflected in the selection of placement sites.
At the end of the unit students should have:
* acquired a better sense of the professional and personal responsibilities associated with the practice of law;
* developed an appreciation that the law is a people profession;
* observed and participated in a high level of problem solving flowing from real case files (where appropriate);
* been introduced to the basic inter-personal skills involved in the practice of law;
* interacted with legal professionals in a flexible learning environment;
* been introduced to aspects of the practice of law such as legal writing, advocacy and time management; and
* developed the character and habits of a reflective practitioner.

This unit of study is offered annually under the supervision of the a member of the full-time academic staff and the Publishing Director of the Sydney Law Review. The unit is limited to 6 students per semester, who are selected on the basis of their academic results. Preference may be given to students in their final year in the selection of students for the unit. Each student will complete a range of tasks with respect to the Review, including editing and proofreading submissions and writing a review note (for assessment purposes only) and a case note for assessment and potential publication. (A limited number of casenotes are selected for publication each year, according to their merit.) Students selected for this unit must be prepared to serve for six months, so that duties may start before, and may continue after, the formal teaching and examination period.

A vital function of public international is its struggle against violence, both in preventing it from occurring and mitigating its effects once it gets under way. This unit explores two key areas of international law devoted to regulating intense violence involving governments or non- State actors: (1) International Law on the Use of Armed Force, and (2) International Humanitarian Law (also known as the Law of Armed Conflict or the Laws of War). The first part of the course considers the prohibition on the use of force under customary law and the United Nations Charter; exceptions to that prohibition in cases of self-defence by States or collective security action by the UN Security Council; controversies over pre-emptive self-defence, humanitarian intervention and the "Responsibility to Protect"; peacekeeping and peace enforcement; the role of regional and international actors; and the use of force by and against non-State actors. The second part of the course considers the origins, purposes and sources of international humanitarian law; its scope of application; the different types and thresholds of conflict; the permissible means and methods of warfare (including restrictions on weapons); the status and treatment of combatants and non-combatants and others (such as spies, mercenaries, "unlawful combatants", "terrorists", journalists, and "private security contractors"); the protection of cultural property and the environment; the relationship between human rights law and humanitarian law; and the implementation, supervision and enforcement of humanitarian law (including the prosecution of war crimes and the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross).

This unit will explore a number of contentious issues arising in the law of civil obligations and remedies. It will revise and build on the fundamentals in the areas of torts, contracts and equity and place particular emphasis on the interaction of these three fields of the law. Particular topics and problems will involve issues of: causation and scope of liability; controlling liability by contract; tort duties to third parties to contracts; assessing loss; duties of good faith; fiduciary duties and conflicts. The unit will also include a number of guest lectures, to be announced.

In this unit, the environmental law and policy of selected countries and regional organisations in the Asia Pacific will be studied against the background of relevant international environmental law and institutions. Unit topics will be divided into four sub-regions: Pacific Island Developing Countries; South East Asia Region (ASEAN and Mekong countries); North Asian Region (Japan, People's Republic of China); South Asian Region (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation [SAARC] Countries). In relation to each region, the implications of international and regional environmental law and institutions will be explored, followed by country specific case studies involving a range of issues such as biodiversity, access to modern energy services, natural resources and environmental planning; industrial pollution; environmental impact assessment; climate change; and protection of the marine and coastal environment. Case studies on regional environmental issues such as ASEAN Haze will also be included.

Biological diversity is the variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. Aside from whatever intrinsic value it may possess, biodiversity is crucial to support human life and welfare. Australia is fortunate to have some of the world¿s most complex and unique biodiversity - unfortunately, also to have one of the highest rates of extinction and loss of biodiversity. Despite a sophisticated system of environmental governance and a relatively high degree of environmental awareness, biodiversity continues to decline rapidly in Australia. This unit will consider the international legal regime related to the protection of biodiversity; how international instruments are incorporated into (or otherwise affect) Australia¿s regime; and the operation of Australia¿s regime at both national and state levels (the latter, particularly in NSW) - and will include consideration of various threats to biodiversity, different protection options (in situ and ex situ), and how biodiversity-related considerations affect and are affected by other Environmental Law fields

This unit of study examines the socio-legal complexities of responding to child sexual abuse in society. The unit presents students with a theoretical and multidisciplinary framework for understanding and evaluating contemporary issues relevant to child sexual abuse. More specifically the unit of study will analyse the nature of child sexual abuse and the underlying dynamics of such victimisation. Students will critically evaluate different strategies and models directed at identification and prevention of child sexual abuse and critically analyse legal responses to child sexual victimisation.

The object of this unit is to provide an overview of the income tax system of China and a detailed analysis of the most important legislative and treaty rules of China in the area of international income tax, especially in dealings with Australia. Upon successful completion of the unit, students will have an advanced understanding of the policies underlying the Chinese rules for taxing international transactions as well as a detailed knowledge of the principles of income tax law applicable to inbound and outbound transactions. This unit includes a study of: overview of the Chinese income tax system; taxation of inbound investment into China; taxation of outbound investment from China; transfer pricing issues, and China's tax treaties.

Climate change impacts are already being felt around the world and governments are called upon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, engage in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and respond to the loss and damage caused by climate disasters. Climate disasters demand an integration of multilateral negotiations on emissions reduction and adaptation, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, Human Rights and human security. Via detailed examination of recent law and policy initiatives from developed and developing countries, this unit offers students a unique approach to human and non-human Climate Justice and its application to all stages of a disaster: prevention; response, recovery and rebuilding; and compensation and risk transfer. The role of insurance plays an important part in compensation and risk transfer. The unit of study comprehensively analyses the complexities of climate science, economics and their interfaces with the climate law-and policy-making processes, and also provides an in-depth analysis of multilateral climate change negotiations dating from the establishment of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

This unit examines legal and policy frameworks for the management of coastal and marine areas in Australia. Topics addressed include the characteristics of Australian coastal and marine environments, the constitutional framework for the management of offshore areas, the regulation of marine pollution, marine parks and reserves, fisheries management, the regulation of offshore oil and gas resource extraction, and the management of climate change impacts on coastal and marine areas.

Comparative International Taxation is a detailed study of the basic principles of international taxation (residence, source, relief from international double taxation, anti-deferral rules, withholding tax, transfer pricing, thin capitalisation, and tax treaties). The unit is taught from a global perspective with the emphasis being on comparative analysis (focusing particularly on Anglo, US and continental European approaches, and also developed and developing country approaches). The unit examines the core issues in developing international tax rules and identifies different approaches countries have taken in dealing with these issues. As part of this study, recent trends in international tax rule development will be identified (particularly in the context of globalisation) and critiqued. Students should gain an understanding of the different approaches that countries have taken in the development of their international tax rules.

This unit will explore a range of recent trends and issues in corporate governance including:- the link between corporate scandals and corporate law reform; the board and independent directors; principles-based versus rules-based regulation; shareholder empowerment and institutional investor activism; takeovers and the regulation of executive pay. The unit will examine these issues from a comparative law perspective, analysing fundamental differences in corporate governance structure and techniques in a range of jurisdictions, including the US, UK, Germany, China and Australia.

This unit will cover recent developments in innovation and the law, including disruptive technology and new business models in a range of contexts including the sharing economy, fintech, and more. The unit will also consider the role of trust, the increasing importance of politics in corporate governance, and a range of new global public law issues that have affected the role of the corporation, and the impact of technology, in society. As well as discussing cutting-edge developments in innovation, the unit will discuss challenges for the regulator in staying abreast and ahead of these fast moving changes in society.

Today there is an apparent consensus in favour of corporate responsibility, as reflected in instruments such as ASX Principle 3 ("Act ethically and responsibly"), but behind the appearance of consensus lie difficult questions of principle, policy and practical application. This unit aims to equip participants to engage in a sophisticated manner in the analysis of such questions. The seminar is organized around two broad themes. First, the seminar will examine corporate responsibility in the traditional sense of the consideration that corporations may be expected to give to the impact of their activities have on society, even as they strive to earn profits for their shareholders. Topics include environmental responsibility, corporate philanthropy, and the respective roles of directors, managers and shareholders. Second, the seminar will deal with current debates about the rights and responsibilities that arise from corporate personhood, including those concerning corporate criminal responsibility, corporate political participation, and the status of corporations under international law. Participants will learn to work with relevant primary and secondary legal materials, including materials from selected foreign jurisdictions, especially in North America. They will also become familiar with the conceptual tools available from various interdisciplinary perspectives (e.g., law, economics, philosophy, politics) for analysing problems of corporate responsibility.

This unit provides an examination of research methods in the context of criminology. The relationship between theory and methodology is explored. The production of knowledge about crime is critically assessed. Sources and forms of crime data are discussed and their significance is assessed. Research design, evaluation and analysis are also studied.

This unit critically examines the theoretical and policy issues underlying the formulation and implementation of criminal law and the treatment of certain groups by the criminal justice system. Following analysis of the principles of criminalisation and theories of criminal responsibility a number of contemporary topics will be explored to foster an understanding of the policies and pressures that shape criminal law. Such topics include, how the law responds to violence (e.g. one-punch deaths, provocation, duress); sexuality and sex work; sexting by adults and young people; and anti-social behaviour.

This unit examines responses to crime and crime prevention with reference to shifting notions of crime and responsibility for crime. It encourages a critical appreciation of the limitations of criminal justice system responses to crime and the necessity to develop a broader approach to crime prevention policy which responds to economic, social and cultural issues. The unit examines different ways of thinking about criminal justice, such as a means of order maintenance, dispute resolution, or risk management, and the shifting focus towards the prevention of future harms. Specific topics may include: restorative justice specialist courts, privatisation and contractualism, security, policing, and approaches to crime prevention and community safety.

This unit is for law graduates who have, or intend to have, a practice that exposes them to cross-border financings and acquisitions. The unit highlights the distinctive concepts and practices relating to overseas securities and corporate laws in cross-border transactions (focusing to a significant extent on US laws and practices). It concentrates on resolving the challenges non-Australian issues can pose to transactions even if Australian law applies to many aspects of the deal. The US segment will begin with a brief examination the US Federal system in which corporate and securities law responsibility is allocated between the states and Federal government, proceed to a detailed discussion of the process of offering securities in the US and how it can affect non-US offerings in practice, and finally will conclude with an exploration of the regulation of takeovers under US law. Significant US M and A concepts and practices, including mergers, break-up fees, poison pills, and proxy fights will be discussed. The remainder of the unit will focus on deal regulation of selected other overseas jurisdictions in which there have been recent activity. We will also examine practical consequences of the regulatory requirements of these jurisdictions, particularly in so far as they relate to M and A, as well as certain subjects that have worldwide applicability. The unit will be taught by a series of seminars, and may include an occasional guest lecture/panel discussion. The purpose of the unit is to assist Australian and other non-US lawyers in: identifying potential cross-border issues; and being creative in solving the challenges that arise in international securities transactions. The lecturer writes the Dealpolitik column for The Wall Street Journal and was for over 30 years a merger and acquisition and securities lawyer in the US (resident for several years in Australia).

Western attitudes toward death have undergone a remarkable transformation in the last century. For many, death now takes place in the hospital or the hospice following the decision of a doctor to cease providing treatment. As the management of death has passed from the family to health care professionals, it now makes sense to regard the moment and circumstances of death as largely medical phenomena. Moreover, as 'autonomy' has taken a dominant place amongst ethical values, it also makes sense to describe and measure death in terms of its 'acceptability' both to the dying person and his or her survivors. In tandem with these changes, technological innovations have transformed the dead or dying body into a potential source of valuable (and recyclable) biological material. These developments have thrown up new and urgent challenges for legal understandings about the timing of, and criminal responsibility for causing, death both within and outside medical settings. These developments have also disturbed conventional understandings of the corpse as sacred. Topics to be covered may include: death in contemporary Australia, the legal definition of life and death, medical futility and the concept of 'lives not worth living', euthanasia (with and without request), physician-assisted suicide, refusing and withholding life-prolonging treatment in adults and children, the Shipman/Patel scandals, ownership of the corpse and body parts, dead donor organ transplantation, organ sale and theft, posthumous reproduction, 'mercy' killing outside medical settings and the jurisdiction of the Coroner. The unit will interrogate these and other contemporary challenges for the law relating to death and dying both within Australia and, where appropriate, other selected comparator jurisdictions (US, UK and Canada). These will be mapped against socio-historical understandings of the changing meaning of death, dying and serious disability in Western societies, and students will be encouraged to reflect on the broader legal implications of these developments.

This unit looks at the ways in which the exercise of discretionary judgment arises for consideration in the course of the criminal justice process and the ways in which that judgment should be exercised at each step. It deals with each stage from the reporting or observation of crime, through investigation, arrest, charging, bail, plea, hearing, appeal, retrial and publicity. It describes how actors at each step (citizens, police, prosecutors and judges) confront decision making, the laws (legislation, common law) and rules (prosecution guidelines, memoranda and procedures) that apply and provides examples of the exercise of such discretions. It also looks at the place of public commentary (personal, the media and political) in the process. The unit explores nuances in the conduct of any criminal prosecution aside from the application of the letter of the law.

This unit aims to provide an introduction to the legal and practical aspects of doing business in China. The unit will commence with an overview of the Chinese legal, political and economic system and will then move on to an examination of the system of commercial regulation in China, including contracts, land use, regulation of private and state-owned businesses and Chinese companies and securities laws. The unit will focus on Chinese contract law and the foreign investment regime and the related structuring and regulatory issues related to foreign participation in the Chinese market. Areas covered will discuss the principal issues relating to the establishment of a corporate or other presence in China and the related negotiation process. The unit will conclude with an examination of methods of resolution of disputes arising under contracts entered into in China. More specialized topics which may be covered include intellectual property, labour law, regulation of financial institutions and Chinese investment overseas.

The unit grapples with the issues of global energy and water security at a time of climate change and considers how different jurisdictions such as the United States, the European Union and Australia have developed very different law and policy responses to the issues. It investigates the inevitable links between energy and water security such as where governments choose to rely on hydroelectric power to generate renewable energy at a time of water scarcity, or where the extraction of energy resources might impact on water and food security. Australia is used as a case study to critically analyse how National Competition Principles and deregulatory tendencies may persuade governments to establish national markets to try to best allocate scarce resources. Australia's National Electricity Market and national water trading markets, as well as the corporatisation and privatisation of energy and water utilities, provide fascinating examples of this.

This unit focuses on litigation as a tool for resolving environmental disputes. The unit examines different types of environmental litigation and issues that can arise in litigation processes. Candidates will develop an understanding of the characteristics of environmental litigation, the advantages and limitations of different types of proceedings, and the range of outcomes that are possible for environmental litigation. The topics include litigation strategies, procedure and evidence, defensive actions (ie SLAPP litigation), and the outcomes of litigation. Reference will be made to recent cases, such as in the field of climate change, to illustrate the topics.

This unit has three aims. The first is to provide a sound analysis of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures and environmental planning laws in NSW and at the Commonwealth level. The second aim is to develop a critical understanding of EIA and environmental planning laws by examining their historical, ethical and political dimensions as well as relevant aspects of legal theory. The third and ultimate aim is to combine these doctrinal and theoretical forms of knowledge so we can suggest possible improvements to current laws and legal practices.

The expert evidence component of the unit will examine the role of expert witnesses, their reports and their testimony in civil and criminal cases. This will include an examination of the law governing the admissibility of expert evidence and the procedural means by which such evidence is adduced. Part of the unit will be devoted to current controversies surrounding the role of experts in particular civil and criminal cases.
The class actions component of the unit examines the substantive law, legal theories and procedural devices for the litigation and resolution of large scale, complex civil litigation. This encompasses representative actions, class actions and the use of other mechanisms for the aggregation and resolution of mass claims, including under bankruptcy law.
There will be a particular focus on Part IVA of the Federal Court Act (Cth) and representative action procedures available in Australia under the rules of court and statutory provisions in various areas (including discrimination, human rights, insurance law, privacy, corporations law and shareholder rights).
The unit will also cover comparative material on group litigation procedures and class actions under the laws of other countries, including England and Wales, Canada and the United States.

The unit is set up around a series of major policy questions central to the gender equality agenda, and linked to the post 2015 international development debates. Following an overview session about global and regional patterns, the unit will tackle a series of major policy challenges in turn, concluding with an examination of major global proposals. The unit will go beyond gender inequality in the labour market to explore patterns of violence and political participation, and the role of quotas, including on corporate boards, among others. Links to legal reform and human rights will be explored. Students will be asked to work on a specific policy challenge, applying and developing the findings discussed in class and in the readings. The unit is designed to facilitate student questioning, engagement and participation. No specific textbook is prescribed. There will normally be 2 to 3 required readings for each day, a paper and/or book chapters and additional readings for greater depth.

This unit provides a framework for understanding the role of law in: the discovery, financing, development and utilisation of energy and resources projects; energy trading on wholesale markets; mining and resources projects, including competition issues and access to essential infrastructure; addressing potential sources of conflict in the energy and resources sector including in dealing with international trade, native title and other indigenous issues, environmental and corporate social responsibility issues; and current national and international energy and resources controversies. Previous topics have included the role of renewable energy in energy security, challenges posed by energy and resources projects in Africa, conflict between Europe and Russia over gas supplies, energy storage, coal seam gas development, international maritime disputes in Asia over offshore oil and gas fields, corruption and transparency, and the Resource Curse in developing countries.

Today, domestic health and global health are recognized as intertwined and inseparable. The determinants of health (e.g. pathogens, air, water, goods, and lifestyle choices) are increasingly international in origin, expanding the need for health governance structures that transcend traditional and increasingly inadequate national approaches. In this unit, students will gain an in-depth understanding of global health law through careful examination of the major contemporary problems in global health, the principal international legal instruments governing global health, the principal international organizations, and innovative solutions for global health governance in the 21st Century. Class sessions will consist of a combination of lecture and interactive discussion, culminating in a global health law simulation. The class will cover naturally occurring infectious diseases (e.g. extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, malaria, Zika virus, and HIV/AIDS), past (e.g., SARS, influenza A H1N1 and Ebola) and future (e.g., Influenza pandemics), bioterrorism events (e.g., anthrax or smallpox), and/or major chronic diseases caused by modern lifestyles (e.g., obesity or tobacco use).

This unit introduces the key concepts that underpin the Australian GST, the policies underlying the tax, and the way those policies are (or are not) reflected in the design of the GST law. The aim is to give participants a working knowledge of the operation of the GST law and an awareness of the practical problems encountered in practice, informed by an understanding of the way in which the law is intended to operate.
The unit will commence with an examination of the basic design features of value added taxes in general and of Australia's GST in particular. It will then examine the core elements of the GST law, including: the taxpayer (entities, enterprise, and the obligation to register for GST), the liability for tax on supplies made for consideration; the value of taxable supplies and the amount of GST payable on supplies; the entitlement to input tax credits and the range of subsequent adjustments that may be required; attributing GST and input tax credits to tax periods; adjustments for adjustment events; basic principles of GST-free and input taxed supplies (including an introduction to real property transactions and intermediation services, primarily focussing on financial supplies); basic cross-border issues, including the treatment of imports and exports.

This unit examines government regulation of health care and professional practice. With regard to each area of government decision-making, issues are analysed by reference to the interplay between social goals, human rights, legal rights and ethical considerations. Topics covered include the constitutional and statutory sources of government power with respect to health care: regulatory models and reform of public health legislation; therapeutic goods administration; health insurance; pharmaceutical benefits and the pharmacy industry; human tissue legislation; discipline of health professionals with a focus on the National Law; health care complaints tribunals; a right to health care; ethical theories in law and medicine; the ethics of human experimentation; and ethics committees.

This unit will provide a foundation for further study in health law by examining laws that govern the liability of health professionals across a range of fields (eg criminal law, torts, contract, discrimination law) and mechanisms for the oversight and disciplining of health professionals. The unit will explore the role of law as a means to regulate/set limits on the conduct of health professionals and examine debates about the proper role of law in regulating the provision of health care. It will also critically evaluate law reform initiatives with respect to legal liability, complaints mechanisms and disciplinary action against health professionals where relevant. Topics to be covered may include: Legal and non-legal methods of regulating the practices of health professionals; the limits imposed on health professionals by the criminal law; the principles of negligence and their application to the liability of health professionals; contractual and fiduciary duties of health professionals; liability of hospitals; discrimination in health care; procedures for complaints against health professionals; disciplinary proceedings and the statutory reporting obligations of health professionals.

This unit will examine the growing use of individual labour and equality rights to protect working people, with the overall aim of assessing the capacity of this type of regulation to enhance justice, both in the workplace and more widely. It will use experience in the UK of a highly individualized workplace rights and enforcement system to identify strengths and weaknesses in this kind of workplace protection. This will involve consideration of EU and European Convention on Human Rights standards, while some comparative readings will also be set and students will be encouraged themselves to bring a comparative dimension to the issues and assignments. Jumping off from the UK experience, the unit will evaluate various strategies for enhancing the protective capacity of individual workplace rights. These include: (1) conceiving of such rights as fundamental human or constitutional rights; (2) imposing positive duties on employers and others to promote and secure observance of individual labour and equality rights; (3) institutional innovation to secure workplace protections, for example via equality and human rights commissions, labour inspectorates, ombudspeople, tax and criminal prosecution authorities; (4) involving third parties in the realization of individual labour standards, for example, NGOs, trade unions, parliamentary and other public inquiries, consumers, campaigners and the press; (5) focussing on employer activities that moderate individual labour and equality standards, like human resources practices, corporate social responsibility regimes and general managerial strategizing. Threaded through the unit will be consideration of different methodological approaches to legal research, with the twin goals of increasing what students take from the materials covered and of improving their legal research and analytical skills, including for use in the final essay. Prof Barmes draws on her extensive previous research in this area and her varied background, for example, in legal practice, conducting research for the Law Commission of England and Wales, as co-editor of the Recent Cases section of the Industrial Law Journal and as co-Director of the QMUL School of Law Centre for Research on Law, Equality and Diversity (LEAD).

This unit aims to provide an introduction to the framework, concepts, sources and techniques of international environmental law, and to provide an overview of international law responses to current and emerging environmental challenges. The history and framework of international environmental law will be examined before exploring a range of topical international environmental law issues, including atmospheric protection and climate change, hazardous substances and wastes, biodiversity and GMOs, the protection of marine living resources, the protection of freshwater resources and issues concerning trade. The unit will also survey the influence of international environmental law on domestic environmental law through case studies. Overarching themes will include the interdependence of environmental issues, the effects of scientific uncertainty on international environmental regulation, implementation of international environmental obligations between states at difference levels of economic development and the need for effectiveness in implementation and enforcement.

This unit is a comparative study of international import/export laws. It does not look in detail at Australian law. The material covered in the unit is based on the WTO multilateral agreements which the 159 WTO member countries have adopted and which bind them on the topics covered.
The unit commences with an introduction to the relevant WTO agreements underpinning international import and export laws affecting WTO members. It then provides an introduction to international import dispute mechanisms through the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding. The Kyoto Convention is then examined to determine the key elements of a modern customs statute.
The unit also examines: Free Trade Agreements; anti-dumping duty; discriminatory taxes/laws on imports; markings and intellectual property rights on imported goods; importers' remedies against customs decisions; customs valuation and tariffs; and, customs "post entry" audits.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with a broad overview, on a comparative basis, of the key legal issues commonly faced when investing and doing business in Asia. This unit looks at the regulation of investment across chosen jurisdictions across Asia, including Japan, China and Southeast Asia (particularly Indonesia, but it may also look at jurisdictions such as Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and India) and compares them with each other and with the Australian regulatory system. It also looks at international treaties which increasingly impact on foreign trade and investment regulation in the region; aspects of corporate governance, contract and/or competition law; corporate social responsibility and anti-corruption law; dispute resolution (especially international commercial and investor-state arbitration); and key issues in modern comparative law which may assist students in their study of 'foreign' legal systems. The unit also involves case studies and occasional guest lecturers.

The oceans cover two-thirds of the world's surface, and are vital to international commerce, are a store of important living and non-living resources, and provide indispensable environmental services including stabilising the global climate system. This unit reviews the major areas of the law of the sea as it has developed over the centuries. The unit takes as its focus the 'constitution' of the oceans, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and also considers a range of other international conventions and agreements, and current state practice. Each of the major maritime zones is assessed, and there is also a detailed review of several sectoral issues, including the protection of the marine environment, fisheries, navigational rights and freedoms, and military uses of the oceans. Where appropriate, reference will be made throughout the unit to relevant Australian law and practice, and to other state practice in the Asia Pacific Region.

This unit is about legal and regulatory responses to tobacco use, obesity, poor diet, harmful use of alcohol and sedentary lifestyle - the leading causes of preventable disease in Australia, in high-income countries generally, and increasingly, in developing economies. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and tobacco-related diseases (known as 'non-communicable diseases' or NCDs) are society's greatest killers. But what can law do - and what should law be doing - to prevent them? Unlike other health threats, NCDs and their risk factors are partly caused by consumer choices that are lived out every day across the country. The challenge of encouraging healthier lifestyles cannot be separated, then, from the regulation of the businesses that all too often have a vested interest in unhealthy lifestyles. Law's relationship with smoking, alcohol and food is complex and contested. Nevertheless, governments around the world are experimenting with a wide range of legal strategies to encourage healthier lifestyles. This unit will focus on developments in Australia and the United States, placing legal developments in these countries in an international context. During the course, we will confront some important over-arching questions. What are the global determinants of NCDs, and to what extent are global solutions needed? What do global solutions look like? To what extent should law intervene to influence the behaviour of populations-as distinct from treating lifestyle-related risk factors as the personal responsibility of each individual? Does a regulatory approach to the prevention of NCDs imply coercion? Does it signal the emergence of the 'nanny state'? Does progress depend on motivating people to consciously improve their habits and lifestyles? Is it possible to regulate business without micro-managing or dictating commercial decisions and 'legislating the recipe for tomato ketchup?' Throughout the unit, students will be encouraged to explore the tension between personal responsibility and freedom, and the broader public interest in a healthy population and a productive economy. Key topics include: Frameworks for thinking about law, and environments that support healthier lifestyles; Global health governance and the prevention of non-communicable diseases; Tobacco control: where to from here? Personal responsibility for health, and law's role; Regulating alcohol; Obesity prevention; and Law's role in improving diet and nutrition, and encouraging active living.

This unit provides a critical overview to law and justice reform in international development. It analyses the global reform experience over the past half-century. It interrogates the nature and justification(s) of reform 'theory', studies the empirical evidence of various approaches, and examines the conceptual/practical challenges of evaluating development endeavour, using case studies from the Asia/Pacific region. Students enrolling in this unit will develop an evidence-based understanding of the use of law and justice reform in broader development strategies.

This unit aims to introduce students to key concepts at the heart of capital market regulation focusing on practices that threaten the integrity of global securities markets. The unit focuses on recent developments (including high profile prosecutions for market abuse) in Australia and the United States while selecting other jurisdictions (most notably China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Europe and Hong Kong) that are relevant to the different subjects considered. The topics addressed will include: market manipulation, insider trading, non-disclosure and fraud-on-the-market, penalties, regulation of hedge funds and developments in emerging markets.

There are striking similarities and overlaps between Australian and English media law, reflecting their common origins, but there are also important differences and divergences. In relation to English media law, the impact of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is a significant factor. This unit of study analyses a number of key issues in media law, ranging from defamation law, privacy and breach of confidence, contempt of court, open justice, suppression and non-publication orders and other restrictions on court reporting, as they arise in Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 2016, the unit taught in Cambridge will include guest lectures by leading media law academics, lawyers and commentators from the United Kingdom.

This unit deals with the law relating to mental health issues in Australia including human rights principles. Background material on the nature and incidence of mental illness, psychiatric and medical issues, as well criminological and public policy literature will be considered where relevant. The unit covers substantive issues from civil treatment, welfare law, and criminal law. Topics covered will include: the social context of mental illness and the current and historical approaches to treatment of the mentally ill; contemporary State, Territorial and Federal involvement in mental health policy and legislation; the present framework of NSW mental health law and related welfare law including the Mental Health Act, Guardianship Act, Protected Estates Act and Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act; the process of scheduling persons with a mental illness; review mechanisms including the roles of the medical superintendent, magistrates, the mental health review tribunal and the Supreme Court; longer term detention of the mentally ill; community treatment and community counselling orders; protected estates and guardianship orders; electroconvulsive therapy; consent to surgery and special medical treatment; the defence of not guilty on the grounds of mental illness, the review of forensic patients and the exercise of the executive discretion; the issue of unfitness to be tried; the involuntary treatment of prisoners in the correctional system; and proposals and options for reform.

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 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 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.

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?

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 is on work health and safety law and practice. Its main focus is on the role of law in preventing disease, injury and death at work, principally by focusing on the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), the relevant case law, and the enforcement of the Act. The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 will be placed in its broader context, including the extent of injury and disease at work, the principles of work health and safety management, changing work arrangements, the history of work health and safety regulation and broader principles of regulatory theory. Regulatory provisions governing health and safety in the mining, transport and clothing, textile and footwear industries will also briefly be examined.

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.

The unit aims to provide a broad overview of the functioning of the juvenile justice system and its relationship to juvenile offending. There is a specific emphasis on NSW in terms of understanding the operation of a particular system, however reference is frequently made to the wider Australian and international context. The unit analyses the historical development of a separate system of juvenile justice and the system of ideas about juvenile delinquency as distinct entities separable from broader notions of criminality and criminal justice. The unit also analyses the contemporary nature of juvenile crime and specific issues in relation to offending, policing, community-based corrections and detention centres. Social relations which mediate between the juvenile justice system and young people will be investigated through a focus on gender, race and class. The broader political determinants surrounding the operation of the juvenile justice system and moral panics in relation to juvenile offending will also be examined. The unit aims to develop a critical understanding of the link between theory and juvenile justice policy, and to develop an appreciation of the multi-disciplinary nature of criminological explanation.

The aim of the unit of study is to provide an understanding of the economic analysis of law and to clarify fundamental differences between legal argument and the analysis of public policy. The unit defines the role of government within the framework of welfare economics and examines the social and economic effects of legal regimes within that framework. Particular attention is given to the concept of a competitive market, to the available empirical evidence on market failure, and to the need for government intervention in response to market failure and its negative consequences for social justice. Topics covered include: theoretical concepts of social justice; social insurance; externalities and the environment; monopoly regulation, tort rights and remedies; asymmetric information, adverse selection and moral hazard with applications to medical malpractice; agency, corporate governance and managerial incentives; family law; taxation; and the measurement of inequality.

This unit of study introduces elementary approaches to social theory to understand how law and legal institutions regulate or influence communities in various localities or social-scapes: the urban; the local; the national; the state; the international; and the global. Each of these 'worlds' or social configurations present questions for sociological thinkers about the form and technique of laws; the interactions between law and other social institutions; the ideological missions of law; and how law supports or regulates the experience and expectations of justice, freedom, prosperity and peace. Sociological thinkers ask these 'big' questions for lawyers to prompt new thinking about what law does right and what is necessary for it to do better. Students will discover the writings of various 'classical' and 'contemporary' sociological thinkers (including Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Foucault, Bourdieu, Beck, Bauman and Sassen) in the contexts presented by various social-scapes or 'worlds'. The course will use various examples to encourage students to understand the relevance of social theory to them as lawyers. The unit does not presuppose prior knowledge of social theory. This unit satisfies the Part 2 (Jurisprudence) requirement of the LLB.

This course examines and evaluates theories of law through the perspective of the criminal law. It has been supposed that criminal law may be understood as an application of certain tenets of liberal moral and political philosophy. But the rapid development of criminal laws in Australia and elsewhere over the last 50 years and the co-evolution and fragmentation of notions of personhood, citizenship, and community challenges this assumption. The course surveys leading theories of criminal law and attempts to use them to critically assess the evolving mix of criminal law doctrines, practices and procedures in place in legal systems such as those of Australia. Topics include the nature of criminal responsibility, the moral limits of the criminal law, objects of criminalisation and legal subjectivity. This unit satisfies the Part 2 (Jurisprudence) requirement of the LLB.

This course examines and evaluates traditional theories of law through the lens of their deployment in the changing context of world society and global governance. It has been supposed that there is no difference in kind between the law internal to a state, and that which exists in the global arena. But the rapid development of norms and institutions used in global governance over the last half century has cast doubt on this assumption. The course surveys leading theories of law and attempt to apply them to the vast and evolving array of international law-related activity. Topics include the nature and role of customary law, enforcement and compliance, transnational authority, 'hard' and 'soft' law, human rights, and international responsibility, among others.

This unit of study will introduce the fundamental notions of jurisprudence understood as a theory about the aims, functions and values of law and legal system. It will aim to provide students with the critical understanding of the central issues in philosophy of law understood as a general, abstract, normative reflection on law as such rather than an examination of a concrete legal system. Nevertheless, the purpose will be to provide students with the conceptual means allowing them to conduct a critical scrutiny of particular legal systems and legal rules with which they are familiar. The course will consider, in particular (1) the notions of legitimacy, validity and authority of law; (2) the idea of rights and the nature of the rights discourse; (3) the justifications and limits of liberty rights; (4) the concept of justice, as applied to law, (5) the sources and limits of our obligation to obey the law, etc. The Berlin course will include guest lectures by distinguished German legal scholars on jurisprudential traditions and controversies in Germany

The unit of study will introduce the student to the basic concepts of sociological theory and methodology and will show how these concepts can be applied to the observation of the functioning of law. On the basis of such a primary understanding of how societies organise themselves and their law it will become possible for the student to appreciate and evaluate critically the efforts of socio-legal research and the conceptions of some major contributors to the sociological theory of law. The first part of this unit will look at what sociological theory and research can offer today in the description of social life, the explanation of how societies are organised, why people do what they do. Elementary sociological concepts like norm, role, group, power, class, social structure and social system will be related to the operation of the law. Concepts like these provide the tools which make it possible to examine and study systematically and carefully the social organisation and structure of legal systems, the operation and the social environments in which and in relation to which they are operating.

This course will explore the nature and value of the rule of law through a critical examination of classical and contemporary writings in jurisprudence. Among the problems we will consider are: What features of a legal system contribute to bringing about the rule of law? What is 'legality'? What is the relationship between the rule of law and the rule of good law? Is it always a virtue, other things being equal, to apply valid legal rules? How far is the rule of law consistent with the indeterminacy of law or with discretionary decision-making? Is the rule of law an 'unqualified human good'? Why is it good? Should the rule of law ever be sacrificed for the sake of other goods? What does the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index measure? Is it defensible from a jurisprudential point of view, and useful in determining the nature and value of the rule of law? Readings will include historical sources from the ancient Greek and early modern periods, contemporary essays in legal, moral, and political theory, and other primary legal sources.

This unit asks whether obedience to legal norms is required by morality. It examines various arguments for a moral obligation to obey the law.

This unit of study aims to provide students with a critical understanding of contemporary philosophical debates about justice. The unit focuses on liberal conceptions of justice and critiques thereof. It examines various moral values in terms of which the law might be assessed. The moral values that it considers include liberty, community, utility, fairness and equality. Among the themes that it explores are the limits of and connections between these ideals, the prospects for their realisation in contemporary societies as well as the politics with which each is associated.

This unit seeks to facilitate critical reflection on prominent responses of both philosophers and sociologists to a single question: what is law? Among the notions to which their answers refer (and on which the unit focuses) are power, class, patriarchy, norms, rules, authority, principles, convention, morality, adjudication and interpretation.

This unit examines the largely diffuse concepts of social control and the functions of law and proposes a more specific approach to legal theory which incorporates the latest findings of socio-legal research on the social effects of law. As a result of this discussion, a more specific concept of social control and an explanatory assessment of the social effects of law, including its political use, are presented with their theoretical implications for legal and political systems and applied, as examples, to historically and societally varied situations.

Many legal doctrines in both criminal and civil law depend upon being able to characterise conduct as intentional, leading to ascriptions of fault, blame or responsibility. Most serious criminal offences depend upon establishing mens rea as a relevant mental element. Civil liability is often dependent upon whether conduct was intended, or whether the cause of loss was brought about by either intentional conduct or conduct involving some lesser notion of fault. All of these doctrines make important assumptions about the nature of our mental states and the operation of mind. Many of these assumptions are philosophically controversial and current developments in the philosophy of mind may lead us to reconsider or radically revise our attitudes to the law. The unit will look at contemporary philosophical work on free will consciousness, mind, and causation and apply this work to present problems in regard to concepts of legal responsibility.

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.