Health Law

Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
 

Not all units of study listed are offered in a given year. Please refer to the latest Sydney Law School lecture timetable.

Students are advised that given the current pandemic context, it may be necessary, at very short notice, to change unit of study details, including mode of delivery and assessment. Students should check unit of study details provided in the unit outline at the start of each unit of study and continue to check for any changes throughout the semester.

Health Law

Exemption from core units of study should not be assumed to be automatic. Formal approval must be obtained from the University of Sydney Law School prior to enrolment.
Master of Health Law
For the award of the Master of Health Law, students must complete 48 credit points, comprising:
(i) for students without a law background, 24 credit points of core units of study and 24 credit points of elective units of study; or
(ii) for students with a law background, 18 credit points of core units of study and 30 credit points of elective units of study.
Graduate Diploma in Health Law
For the award of the Graduate Diploma in Health Law, students must complete 24 credit points; comprising:
(i) for students without a law background, 18 credit points of core units of study and 6 credit points of elective units of study; or
(ii) for students with a law background, 12 credit points of core units of study and 12 credit points of elective units of study.

Core

Master of Health Law and Graduate Diploma in Health Law
Students without a law degree from a common law jurisdiction must undertake LAWS6252 prior or concurrent to enrolling in other law units.
LAWS6252 Legal Reasoning and the Common Law System

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Amelia Simpson Session: Intensive April,Intensive September,Semester 1a,Semester 2a Classes: Group A (S1a): Feb 21, 22 and 24, 25 (9-5), Group B (S1CIAP): Mar 14, 15 and 21, 22 (12-4.30) and Mar 29 and 31 (4.30-8.30), Group C (S2a): Aug 1, 2 and 4, 5 (9-5) and Group D (S2CISE): Aug 22, 23 and 29, 30 (12-4.30) and Sep 1 and 8 (4.30-8.30). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Prohibitions: LAWS6881 Assessment: 1200wd 48hr take-home test (20%), 1200wd essay (20%) and 3600wd assignment (60%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Students must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in this unit prior to commencing other law units of study. Law graduates from a non-common law jurisdiction are strongly recommended to undertake this unit. This unit is not available to students who have acquired a law degree from Australia or another common law jurisdiction. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-visitors.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This is a compulsory unit for all postgraduate students who do not hold a law degree or equivalent from a common law jurisdiction entering the: Master of Administrative Law and Policy; Master of Business Law; Master of Environmental Law; Master of Environmental Science and Law; Master of Health Law; Master of Labour Law and Relations as well as Graduate Diplomas offered in these programs. The unit has been designed to equip students with the necessary legal skills and legal knowledge to competently apply themselves in their chosen area of law. Instruction will cover the legislative process; the judiciary and specialist tribunals; precedent; court hierarchies; legal reasoning; constitutional law; administrative law; contracts; and torts. Some elements of the unit will be tailored in accordance with the requirements of the particular specialist programs.
Master of Health Law
Master of Health Law students are required to complete three of the four core units of study listed below.
Where a core unit of study is not available, students may apply for special permission to replace a core unit of study with an elective unit of study.
LAWS6839 Critical Issues in Public Health Law

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Roger Magnusson Session: Semester 1a Classes: Intro Class: Feb 21 (6-8) then Mar 3, 4 (9-1) and Apr 4, 5, 20 and 22 (9-1).For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: Option 1: 2000wd short response question or short presentation (20%) and 6000wd essay (80%); Option 2: short presentation (20%), 2000wd short response question (20%) and 4500wd essay (60%); Option 3: short presentation (20%), 3500wd essay (40%) and 2500wd take-home exam question (40%) OR Option 4: 3500wd essay (40%) and 4500wd essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit provides an introduction to public health law. It begins by asking the question ‘What is public health law’? It explores the historical concerns and conceptual focus of public health law and how they have evolved over time. Next the unit reviews a series of case studies that illustrate the sources of public health law including the impact of international law on access to essential medicines in low income countries and the impact of constitutional rights on governments capacity to protect public health. The case studies illustrate the wide variety of legal issues that arise in public health as well as debates about the appropriate limits for law in protecting health in a liberal democracy and the irreducibly political nature of public health law. The unit then considers three foundational topics in public health law. These are Australia’s legal framework for responding to public health emergencies with a focus on pandemic influenza and other contagious diseases with pandemic potential laws role in regulating sexual health and transmission of STIs and tobacco and nicotine control. Key topics include: The definition and role of public health law Case studies illustrating the sources of public health law. The legal framework for managing pandemic influenza and other acute public health threats. An introduction to tobacco control law and laws role in promoting sexual health. Throughout the unit students will be trained to identify legal issues and to critically evaluate the impact of law on efforts to protect the public’s health with due regard to civil liberties and other competing public and private interests. A flexible assessment regime will allow students to focus on issues of interest within the unit.
LAWS6052 Govt Regulation, Health Policy and Ethics

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Cameron Stewart Session: Intensive October Classes: Sep 22, 23 and Oct 13, 14 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: class presentation (20%) and 7000wd essay (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6054 Health Care and Professional Liability

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Cameron Stewart Session: Intensive April Classes: Mar 17, 18 and Mar 31 and Apr 1 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: 20-30min class presentation (20%) and 7000wd assignment (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Core unit for GradDipHL students. MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6058 Information Rights in Health Care

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Belinda Reeve Session: Intensive October Classes: Sep 9, 10 and Oct 7, 8 (9-5) Prohibitions: LAWS3452 or LAWS5152 Assessment: online participation (10%), 1500wd essay (15%), class presentation (5%) and 5000wd assignment (70%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Core unit for GradDipHL students MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252 Students who have previously completed LAWS5152 LAWS3452 or equivalent Medical Law unit in their undergraduate degree are not permitted to enrol in this unit. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit deals with patients¿ rights to information in the modern health care system. The unit will focus on consent to treatment and will include discussion of capacity the duty of health professionals to disclose the risks of treatment refusal of treatment and emergency health care. The unit will also examine duties of confidentiality in health care ownership of and access to medical records and information rights in medical research.
Graduate Diploma in Health Law
Graduate Diploma in Health Law students are required to complete both the core units of study listed below.
Where a core unit of study is not available, students may apply for special permission to replace a core unit of study with an elective unit of study.
LAWS6054 Health Care and Professional Liability

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Cameron Stewart Session: Intensive April Classes: Mar 17, 18 and Mar 31 and Apr 1 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: 20-30min class presentation (20%) and 7000wd assignment (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Core unit for GradDipHL students. MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6058 Information Rights in Health Care

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Belinda Reeve Session: Intensive October Classes: Sep 9, 10 and Oct 7, 8 (9-5) Prohibitions: LAWS3452 or LAWS5152 Assessment: online participation (10%), 1500wd essay (15%), class presentation (5%) and 5000wd assignment (70%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Core unit for GradDipHL students MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252 Students who have previously completed LAWS5152 LAWS3452 or equivalent Medical Law unit in their undergraduate degree are not permitted to enrol in this unit. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit deals with patients¿ rights to information in the modern health care system. The unit will focus on consent to treatment and will include discussion of capacity the duty of health professionals to disclose the risks of treatment refusal of treatment and emergency health care. The unit will also examine duties of confidentiality in health care ownership of and access to medical records and information rights in medical research.

Electives

LAWS6052 Govt Regulation, Health Policy and Ethics

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Cameron Stewart Session: Intensive October Classes: Sep 22, 23 and Oct 13, 14 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: class presentation (20%) and 7000wd essay (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6096 Work Health and Safety: Law and Policy

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Richard Johnstone Session: Semester 2a Classes: Aug 12, 13 and 26, 27 (9-5). For latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assumed knowledge: LAWS6252 or a law degree and LAWS6071 (MLLR students) Assessment: 4000wd assignment (50%) and 4000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-visitors.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6130 Dispute Resolution in Australia

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Tania Sourdin Session: Intensive June Classes: May 16, 17 and 20, 21 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: class participation and presentation (Pass/Fail), 3000wd problem question (50%) and 4000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: This unit has a restricted class size. Priority will be given to students who are currently completing a Sydney Law School master's degree or graduate diploma. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-visitors.html.
The unit is designed to give students a broad understanding of the theory, policy and practice of ADR. It will enable students to understand various alternative dispute resolution processes, their advantages and limitations; understand the application of ADR in particular areas of practice: understand key theoretical debates about mediation; be able to advise others about ADR processes; be better participants in ADR processes; be better able to evaluate the possible applications of various dispute resolution methods. The use of ADR in employment and health care disputes will be considered.
LAWS6307 Class Action Litigation in Australia

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Jason Betts Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week. For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Prohibitions: LAWS6230 or LAWS6869 Assessment: 10-15min oral presentation and debate (20%), 2000wd case study (30%) and 5000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Note: Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-visitors.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit of study will focus on the practice and procedure of class actions, which have emerged as the fastest growing species of litigation in Australia. Students will review the threshold requirements of commencing a class action, the processes by which class actions are brought to mediation and trial, and the perspectives of plaintiffs, defendants and third party litigation funders. The intersections of the legal and economic aspects of class actions will be considers in the context of a variety of species of this litigation, including shareholder, consumer, product liability, mass torts, environmental and cartel conduct claims. Students will review the relevant state and federal legislation governing class actions and case law that has developed in this area, together with developing a real-world practical understanding of how this litigation is conducted before the Courts.
LAWS6330 Fundamentals of Regulation

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Belinda Reeve Session: Semester 2b Classes: Sep 8, 9 and Oct 6, 7 (9-4). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: compulsory online participation (10%), with students choosing from a combination of the following options to make up the remaining 90% of their grade: short response question (20%), class presentation (20%), problem question (40%), 5000wd essay (70%) and 7000wd essay (90%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Available to MLLR students who commenced after Jan 2015. Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit acts as a general introduction to key theories, concepts, and debates within the field of regulatory studies, as well as to the main tools and instruments of regulation. Focusing on social regulation, it uses practical examples to analyze the implementation and enforcement of regulatory regimes in various areas, including public health, workplace health and safety, and environmental protection. It explores corporate responses to regulation, as well as the roles, practices, and accountability of regulatory agencies, and of other actors involved in the administration, and enforcement of regulation. The unit will be of interest to lawyers and other professionals engaged in regulatory compliance and enforcement, as well as to students with an interest in regulatory theory and practice more broadly. It also aims to provide a gateway for further study in more specialized areas of regulation. Please note that this unit does not focus on a specific area of regulation and does not cover financial services regulation or economic regulation more generally. While available to students in the Master of Health Law program, it does not focus on healthcare regulation.
Textbooks
Robert Baldwin, Martin Cave and Martin Lodge, Understanding Regulation: Theory, Strategy and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed, 2012)
LAWS6839 Critical Issues in Public Health Law

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Roger Magnusson Session: Semester 1a Classes: Intro Class: Feb 21 (6-8) then Mar 3, 4 (9-1) and Apr 4, 5, 20 and 22 (9-1).For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: Option 1: 2000wd short response question or short presentation (20%) and 6000wd essay (80%); Option 2: short presentation (20%), 2000wd short response question (20%) and 4500wd essay (60%); Option 3: short presentation (20%), 3500wd essay (40%) and 2500wd take-home exam question (40%) OR Option 4: 3500wd essay (40%) and 4500wd essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: MHL students may select this unit as one of the three core units required in addition to LAWS6252. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
This unit provides an introduction to public health law. It begins by asking the question ‘What is public health law’? It explores the historical concerns and conceptual focus of public health law and how they have evolved over time. Next the unit reviews a series of case studies that illustrate the sources of public health law including the impact of international law on access to essential medicines in low income countries and the impact of constitutional rights on governments capacity to protect public health. The case studies illustrate the wide variety of legal issues that arise in public health as well as debates about the appropriate limits for law in protecting health in a liberal democracy and the irreducibly political nature of public health law. The unit then considers three foundational topics in public health law. These are Australia’s legal framework for responding to public health emergencies with a focus on pandemic influenza and other contagious diseases with pandemic potential laws role in regulating sexual health and transmission of STIs and tobacco and nicotine control. Key topics include: The definition and role of public health law Case studies illustrating the sources of public health law. The legal framework for managing pandemic influenza and other acute public health threats. An introduction to tobacco control law and laws role in promoting sexual health. Throughout the unit students will be trained to identify legal issues and to critically evaluate the impact of law on efforts to protect the public’s health with due regard to civil liberties and other competing public and private interests. A flexible assessment regime will allow students to focus on issues of interest within the unit.
LAWS6848 Law, Business and Healthy Lifestyles

This unit of study is not available in 2022

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Roger Magnusson Session: Intensive April Classes: Intro Class: Mar 2 (6-8) then Mar 12, 13 & Apr 20, 21 (9-5) Assessment: Option 1: one short response question (20%) and 6000wd essay (80%) or Option 2: one short response question (20%), 3000-3500wd essay (40%) and one take-home exam question (40%) or Option 3: one short response question (20%) and two 3000-3500wd essays (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: For 2020 only, this unit will be a substitute for the MHL core units, LAWS6058 Information Rights in Health Care or LAWS6839 Critical Issues in Public Health Law. Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6877 Mental Illness: Law and Policy

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Christopher Rudge Session: Semester 2b Classes: Sep 2, 3 and Oct 21, 22 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: 3500wd assignment (40%) and two page research paper outline (non-graded) and 4500wd research paper Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6889 Death Law

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Cameron Stewart Session: Semester 1b Classes: Apr 13, 14 and 28, 29 (9-5). For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Assessment: 20min class presentation (20%) and 7000wd assignment (80%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Academic Profile: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/list.php. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
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.
LAWS6970 Forensic Psychology

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Helen Paterson Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week. For the latest information, please visit Your Studies in the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-your-studies Prohibitions: PSYC1001 or PSYC3020 Assessment: class participation (10%), 3500-4000wd essay (40%) and 2hr exam (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Note: Academic Profile https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-visitors.html. The unit is also available on a Continuing Professional Development basis https://sydney.edu.au/law/study-law/continuing-professional-development.html
Forensic psychology is the application of psychological knowledge and theories to all aspects of the criminal and civil justice systems. It is currently one of the fastest developing and most popular aspects of psychology. In this unit we will draw upon psychological evidence to explain and understand some of the people and processes involved in the legal system. Through a series of interactive seminars, we will discuss topics such as lie detection, profiling, interviewing, jury deliberation, eyewitness memory, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and police officers.
Master of Health Law
The following units are only available to students undertaking the Master of Health Law
LAWS6147 Independent Research Project

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Supervised by an appointed Sydney Law School academic staff member Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Assessment: one 8000 to 10,000wd research project (100%) due on 15 June (Semester 1) or 15 November (Semester 2) of the semester in which a student is enrolled in the research project Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Applications close on 30 November (Semester 1) and 30 May (Semester 2). Applications should only be lodged after the completion of at least 24 credit points. Late applications may be accepted from those with incomplete results. For further information, please visit the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-research-projects or E: law.postgraduate@sydney.edu.au
The goal of this unit of study is to provide students with an opportunity to pursue advanced research in an area of their choosing, under the limited supervision of a School member. The unit is only available to eligible students in special circumstances, and with the approval of the relevant Program Director.
LAWS6182 Independent Research Project A

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Supervised by an appointed Sydney Law School academic member Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Assessment: one 15,000 to 20,000wd research project (100%) due on 15 June (Semester 1) or 15 November (Semester 2) of the final semester in which a student is enrolled in the research project Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Applications close on 30 November (Semester 1) and 30 May (Semester 2). Applications should only be lodged after the completion of at least 24 credit points. Late applications may be accepted from those with incomplete results. Students must complete both LAWS6182 and LAWS6183 within one or over two semesters. For further information, please visit the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-research-projects or E: law.postgraduate@sydney.edu.au
The goal of this unit of study is to provide students with an opportunity to pursue advanced research in an area of their choosing, under the limited supervision of a School member. The unit is only available to eligible students in special circumstances, and with the approval of the relevant Program Director.
LAWS6183 Independent Research Project B

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Supervised by an appointed Sydney Law School academic staff member Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Assumed knowledge: LAWS6182 Assessment: one 15,000 to 20,000wd research project (100%) due on 15 June (Semester 1) or 15 November (Semester 2) of the final semester in which a student is enrolled in the research project Mode of delivery: Supervision
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: Applications close on 30 November (Semester 1) and 30 May (Semester 2). Applications should only be lodged after the completion of at least 24 credit points. Late applications may be accepted from those with incomplete results. Students must complete both LAWS6182 and LAWS6183 within one or over two semesters. For further information, please visit the Law Student Portal https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-coursework-research-projects or E: law.postgraduate@sydney.edu.au
Please refer to LAWS6182 Independent Research Project A.