The course deals with the law which a court will apply to an action which contains some "foreign" element - ie, one or more of the facts of the case occurred outside the State or Territory which is hearing the matter.

It also deals with the basis upon which a court in Australia may take jurisdiction over a defendant not resident within the jurisdiction, and the circumstances in which judgments obtained overseas, or arbitral awards given overseas, may be enforced in Australia.

Selected topics include:

• Choice of Law in Contract;
• Choice of Law in Tort;
• Jurisdiction in actions in contract, tort, for misleading conduct and estoppel;
• Refusal to exercise jurisdiction (forum non conveniens);
• Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and arbitral awards.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course is designed to provide students undertaking a masters degree in law with the opportunity to undertake a supervised research project in any area of law not previously studied in their program.

The research project is designed to build upon previous foundational and elective courses and allow students to develop cutting-edge legal research under the supervision of a member of staff.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course explores how law and policy is shaping and being shaped by digital economies. Big technology companies dominate the stock exchange and Fortune 500. Mobile apps support mega marketplaces, supported by seamless online payments systems. Gig economy networks are disrupting traditional service and employment models. This ecosystem is fueled by data. Our every movement, search, post, sentiment, purchase, and deletion is saved, scraped, stored, analysed, and sold. Our personal information is being harvested and fed back to us. Topics include:

• Defamation on social media;
• Industrial relations in gig economies;
• The supreme court of Facebook;
• Accountability of algorithms;
• Smart contracts in financial markets;
• Crypto-bubbles and Ponzi schemes.

The legal and policy challenges to be examined include deciding jurisdiction, identifying participants, antitrust regulation, monitoring taxable events and financial surveillance.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The course looks at the intersection of Information Technology with law. Five broad subject areas have been identified within which this intersection is explored: from the impact of digital content, through the challenges and opportunities of a vastly more interconnected, perhaps "borderless" society. Anyone who was intrigued by the movie "The Social Network" will be interested in this course.

The 5 areas of study are:

   information technology and intellectual property;

   censorship;

   privacy;

   computer crime and evidence; and

   e-commerce and IT contracts.

An important component of the course is the cultivation of an understanding of the technology underlying information technology.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The course covers aspects of the law of restitution as it has developed in Australia, England and (to a lesser extent) Canada, and considers the inter-relationship between restitution, contract, equity, and other categories of legal obligations.

The course considers the relevant law from three perspectives: historical, conceptual and doctrinal.  It provides a useful overview of the private law of obligations and property. 

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

A participant who has successfully completed this course should have a clear understanding of:

• the conventional and customary law obligations of States in respect of refugees and other asylum-seekers and of the rights of applicants
• the protection mechanisms, both national and international, that operate for the immediate and long-term protection of refuge-seekers and the policy considerations that affect contemporary State attitudes to such groups
• the legal problems affecting national interpretations and application of refugee concepts, with particular emphasis on definitional problems, status determination procedures and non-refoulement.

The course will focus mainly on the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, supplemented by additional materials that assist in the interpretation, construction and critique of these instruments. Particular attention will be paid to national implementation of refugee protection and status determination procedures in Australia, comparing and contrasting the approach taken, where appropriate, with that of other nations.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course introduces students to the legal systems and legal traditions of South East Asia in the context of their plural societies, and considers the relationship between law, governance and development in the region over the span of modern history, with an emphasis on current issues in law and society.

The course will cover key literature and pressing issues concerning law, governance and development (and the development of law) in the region, including:

• pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial law, including customary and religious law, and the impact of these on law and society at the present time;

• the influence of legal transplants, state-building, and development initiatives;

• critical consideration of theoretical frameworks used to make sense of a diversity of social, economic and political conditions in the region;

• key issues relating to constitutionalism and nation-building, including representative democracy, and political movements;

• domestic challenges such as ethnic and sectarian conflict;

• the role of law in bringing socio-economic change in the developmental states of the region.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The technology of blockchain, smart contracts, and AI is set to revolutionise many industries. It allows for automated, trust-minimised interactions that limit the need for gatekeepers and middlemen. The widespread adoption of the technology could have profound impacts on the law, lawyers, and the justice system since lawyers and governments are key gatekeepers and middlemen in the justice delivery process. This course examines the legal issues underlying the "Lex Automagica" tech stack of blockchain, smart contracts, and AI. It provides an overview of each layer of the technology, how they can interact, and an examination of the many legal and policy issues arising from the implementation of the technology. It will examine the many other uses to which blockchain is or may be applied, including the development of so-called smart contracts. It concludes with an holistic view of the ways blockchains may impact the shape of our legal systems and our societies as more and more social and commercial interactions are forced “on-chain”.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

‘Principles of Australian Migration Law and Practice’ takes students through a comprehensive overview of Australian migration law and policy by examining the fundamental principles and the legal framework under which migration law exists, and some of the key concepts in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). It prepares graduates for careers in legal practice or in migration law and policy making.

Taught online, this course is designed to increase the students' knowledge and understanding of the relationship between levels of legislation, case law and policy in the migration law context. Students will experience legislation in operation through statutory interpretation and analysis, review and analysis of complex legislative requirements including visa validity and eligibility. The course informs academic scholarship in this area and increases students' experience in practice by teaching them to critically analyse legislative requirements, and to apply their integrated knowledge to help in providing migration related services and in managing client and stakeholder relationships.

The course complements and expands the knowledge and skills needed in professional legal practice. It is one of the four courses on aspects of migration law and practice. The other three courses are 'Family, humanitaian and other non-skilled visas', 'Skilled, employer sponsored and business visas' and 'Compliance, visa cancellation and review'.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The 'Family, Humanitarian and Other non-skilled visas’ course takes students through the statutory framework and its application to visas relating to family, humanitarian and other non-skilled visas. It enables students to understand the context and working mechanisms of these Australian visa systems, and prepares graduates for careers in legal practice or in migration law and policy making. It allows students to experience migration legislation in operation through statutory interpretation and analysis, review and analysis of complex cases in examining the range of specific requirements of these visas.

This course will inform academic scholarship in this area and increase students’ expertise in practice by teaching them to refer to legislation first, then analyse complex cases and correctly interpret legislation and policy. Students will learn how to apply their integrated knowledge when providing migration related legal services and managing client and stakeholder relationships. Students will be required to conduct research to evaluate law and policy on family, humanitarian and other non-skilled visas and produce submissions for the consideration of government decision makers in relation to visa applications.

The course complements and expands the knowledge and skills needed in professional legal practice. It is one of the four courses on aspects of migration law and practice. The other three course are 'Principles of Australian Migration Law and Practice', 'Skilled, employer sponsored and business visas' and 'Compliance, visa cancellation and review'.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

Although a subset of legal drafting, commercial drafting is extremely broad, with areas like contract law, corporate law, banking and finance and intellectual property constituting well established specialisations in legal practice.

Principal topics in this online course include: Drafting techniques; Structure of commercial contracts; Sources of ambiguity and drafting solutions; and   Specific contract drafting issues (e.g. dispute resolution clauses and confidentiality clauses).

A professional background in commercial law is not a pre-requisite to the course. Legal drafting covers the whole range of legal practice – an almost impossibly broad range as attempts such as Butterworths Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents demonstrates. A comprehensive coverage of commercial legal content areas is not possible in this course. Rather, the course covers drafting techniques and a range of particular drafting issues to prepare students for the two major assessment tasks of Document Analysis and Original Drafting. 

In addition, it is important for students to note that, although contractual interpretation/construction is relevant to much of commercial drafting, due to the practical focus of this course, we will not be providing in depth coverage on this aspect of contract law. The course will provide students with practice and feedback in solving common drafting problems, particularly in a commercial context.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course has been designed for lawyers who practice in, or who desire to practice in Federal Litigation.

This course will teach students how to apply the Federal Court Rules 2011 when commencing and conducting federal court litigation. The course includes the legal requirements and the following important principles of Federal Court litigation:

•   The Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011;

•   Pleadings

•   Class Actions

•   Applications to the Court on the Papers Active Case Management

•   Complex Litigation and Discovery

•   Errors of Law

•   Appointing an Expert Witness.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course has been designed for lawyers who practice in litigation.

Students successfully completing this course will gain a practical understanding of 10 key areas under the Evidence Act 1995 including:

• Standard of Proof;
• Relevance;
• Discretions to Exclude;
• Tendency & Coincidence Evidence;
• Opinion Evidence;
• The Hearsay Rule;
• Documents;
• and The “character” of the accused in a criminal trial.

Students, on successfully completing this course, will be able to apply these principles when considering whether evidence is capable of being admitted in a court or tribunal.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The Contracts course is one of the foundation subjects in the JD programs. It examines a central aspect of the law of obligations. In this course we look at the evolution of contract, its central role in a market economy and the criteria for making legally enforceable promissory obligations. The requirements for the formation of a binding contract are examined together with the content of agreements. This involves an examination of the associated rules and doctrines used to ascertain the meaning and scope of the obligations expressly or impliedly undertaken by the parties to a contract.  

We will also be looking at breach of contract and its consequences, including a consideration of the remedies available at common law and in equity. The law of contract is affected and influenced by a range of other legal doctrines and statutory measures, notably the doctrines of estoppel, duress, undue influence and unconscionable conduct and the statutory prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct. Throughout the course we consider the foundational rules and doctrines of contract law and the effect on contract law of these other areas of law.  

Contract law is an important foundation for other compulsory and elective courses taken later in the degree including Property and Commercial Law.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

Statutory interpretation is taught asynchronously online so that as long as a student participates each week (about 10 hours a week) then the student can choose when they do the work.

So you can do this in your own time at your own pace over the six week period.

Legislation dominates the contemporary legal landscape.  Almost all fields of legal regulation involve legislation in some form. The ability to interpret and understand the operation of legislation is a skill essential to understanding law and its operation.
This course will provide an advanced study of the rules and principles governing statutory interpretation.
Students who have encountered statue law in a variety of contexts (criminal law, torts law, administrative law etc) and been introduced to the relevant common law principles, will benefit from a more detailed consideration of statutory interpretation as a fundamental skill involved in all areas of practice but particularly those areas involving government.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

The course is intended to be a follow-up course to LAWS8182 Principles of International Law.  It too will focus on general international law, seeking to identify, in particular, the impact of the relevant norms on the conduct of international relations and national decision-making in this area.

Subject matter coverage will centre on those parts of general international law that are not covered in Principles of International Law, yet are regarded as necessary for a well-rounded knowledge of the subject matter befitting a specialist degree in Public International Law. Some continuing attention will be devoted to further developing the students' capacity to apply international legal norms in concrete settings.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course is designed to meet the needs of practising lawyers and of senior public and private sector managers who have had experience in the field of government contracting.

The course will examine the use of contract for various public purposes and will analyse the legal issues that are peculiar to government contracting.

The course covers: policy issues relevant to the use of contract by government; the applicability of the ordinary law of contract; the power to make government contracts; the procedures and other issues relevant to contract formation; Crown immunity; the application of the competition consumer legislation to government commercial activity, tenders (including the impact of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement); use of public law remedies.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

Good governance', 'rule of law', 'strengthening access to justice' and 'land reform' are currently high on the agenda of governments and donors in the South Pacific region. Law reform is often presented as a remedy to political instability, corruption, disappointing economic growth, and conflict.

This course introduces students to the legal systems of the independent nations of the South Pacific and examines the relationship between law, governance and development in the region

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course 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 provides both a stand-alone introduction to WTO law and a solid basis for further study (eg, LAWS8073 Trade Remedies Law: WTO & Domestic Implementation).

The course considers the functions of the WTO through the consideration of some basic economics or trade, or public choice and game theory. It reviews the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) regulating trade in goods, 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. 

It also includes a detailed study of the WTO dispute settlement system under the WTO Understanding on Dispute Settlement, its concepts, procedures and enforcement. 

The course will examine the framework of rules under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the relationship between regulation of trade in goods and regulation of trade in services; and the rules of the Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), emphasizing patents, copyright and trademarks

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.

This course is in two parts. Part A is a self-paced online module that provides students with the theoretical content and practical skills to design and develop a legal app that can be used in most common law jurisdictions.  The particular legal process that this app will streamline is the generation of a defence. The app will also automate the production of two additional key documents for the preparation of a defendant's case. The defence generator will be a precedent, a checklist, and a risk management tool, all combined into one bespoke easy-to-use product. This module takes approximately 12 hours to complete and culminates in an online quiz to assess your design decisions. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate of competency from Neota Logic. During the process of developing the app, students will submit researched and referenced blog posts about their understanding of the rules of pleading and best practice in relation to legal app design. In Part B of this course, students will research and submit an essay that explores the risks and benefits of using artificial intelligence and new technologies in legal contexts.

For an overview of this course, learning outcomes, indicative assessment and workload requirements, please refer to Programs and Courses. The class summary will be published on Programs and Courses two weeks prior to the teaching start date.