Overview
LAWS12056 Equity examines Equity Law, the secondary body of English law as developed by the Courts of Chancery, supplementing the Common Law, together with reform initiatives including the Judicature Act 1873 (IMP). The unit has three main parts. The first part surveys the origins of Equity Law and its contested relationship with the Common Law. The second part addresses: equitable rights, titles and interests; equitable assignments; estoppel in equity; fiduciary obligations and unconscionable transactions. The third part deals with equitable remedies including declarations, specific performance, injunctions, rescission and damages together with equitable defences. This unit together with LAWS12060 Trusts meets the LPAB requirements for equity.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: LAWS11057, LAWS11059, LAWS11061 & LAWS11062
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Course coordinator observation, some student comments.
Unit materials (audio lecture recordings, course notes) would benefit from an update.
Unit materials should be reviewed and updated, with new audio and video resources provided.
Feedback from Course ratings.
Students value detailed feedback on assessment tasks.
Continue to offer a marking sheet that positions a student's work on a matrix for that task, as well as offering personal comments and a grade. Continue to offer individual phone calls or group zoom feedback sessions for those students who don't understand their feedback or who require elaboration to be able to integrate it into their future work.
- Explain the principles of Equity and their relationship to broader legal principles
- Identify relevant equitable doctrines (equitable rights, titles and interests; equitable assignments; estoppel in equity; fiduciary obligations and unconscionable transactions) and remedies and apply them to problem scenarios
- Critically analyse the role played by Equity in common law jurisdictions
- Research, critically analyse and evaluate cases and secondary material with reference to equitable doctrines and remedies
- Identify and critically assess different theoretical arguments relevant to equitable doctrines and remedies
- Analyse and predict how unresolved or ambiguous questions of equitable doctrine could be resolved by the courts.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||
| 2 - Examination - 60% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Examination - 60% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts
3rd edition (2015)
Authors: Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart,
Lexis Nexis Australia
Melbourne Melbourne , Victoria , Australia
ISBN: 9780409340433
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 3rd ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
a.mcewan@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Equity
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapters 1 and 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 1 7pm Thursday 8th March AEDT
Note: daylight savings finishes the first Sunday in April
https://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/facts-and-figures/time-zones-and-daylight-saving
Module/Topic
Relationship between the Common Law and Equity
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 2 7pm Thursday 15th March AEDT
Module/Topic
Equitable Estates and Interests
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 8.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 3 7pm Thursday 22th March AEDT
Module/Topic
Confidential Information
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 9.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 4 7pm Thursday 29th March AEDT
Module/Topic
Fiduciary Obligations
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 10.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 5 7pm Thursday 5 April AEST
Note: Daylight savings finishes the first Sunday in April
https://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/facts-and-figures/time-zones-and-daylight-saving
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Undue Influence
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 6 7pm Thursday 19 April AEST
Module/Topic
Unconscionable Transactions
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 7 7pm Thursday 26 April AEST
Module/Topic
Equitable Estoppel
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 8 7pm Thursday 3 May AEST
Equity assignment due Wednesday 2nd May, 2018 11:45 PM
See the CQU Assessment Policy and Procedure (HIGHER EDUCATION COURSEWORK) for details regarding extension requests and late penalties.
Equity Written Assignment Due: Week 8 Wednesday (2 May 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Remedies 1
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 28, 29, 30, 31
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 9 7pm Thursday 10 May AEST
Module/Topic
Remedies 2
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapters 32, 33, 34, 38
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 10 7pm Thursday 17 May AEST
Module/Topic
Defences
Chapter
Peter Radan and Cameron Stewart, Principles of Australian Equity and Trusts (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, 2016) Chapter 39
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial 11 7pm Thursday 24 May AEST
Module/Topic
Revision
Chapter
Revision problem questions to be uploaded to Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Revision tutorial 7pm Thursday 31 May
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Dear Students,
Welcome to LAWS12056 Equity.
My contact details are as follows:
Email: a.mcewan@cqu.edu.au
CONSULTATION HOURS: I am generally available for consultation and to assist you with your queries on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 12 noon (Eastern Standard Time) on 03 9616 0620. I am located in Melbourne and am on campus Mondays and Wednesdays. If you are in Melbourne you are welcome to make an appointment to meet with me in person. I am available at other times subject to prior arrangement with me.
Best wishes,
Alex
1 Written Assessment
Assessment Paper: Due Week 8 – Wednesday, 2 May 2018 11:45 PM
Maximum Word Limit: 3000 words
40 marks (40%)
Task Description
Students will be required to solve an Equity Law problem question.
Students will be required to refer to relevant case law and statute and to apply legal reasoning, critical thinking skills and to engage in research to support arguments. Students must reference their work in accordance with the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC). Further details of the assignment will be uploaded to Moodle and discussed during tutorial 1.
Week 8 Wednesday (2 May 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Monday (14 May 2018)
Marking will be completed according to a rubric. The rubric will be uploaded to Moodle and will be attached to the assignment instructions.
- Explain the principles of Equity and their relationship to broader legal principles
- Identify relevant equitable doctrines (equitable rights, titles and interests; equitable assignments; estoppel in equity; fiduciary obligations and unconscionable transactions) and remedies and apply them to problem scenarios
- Research, critically analyse and evaluate cases and secondary material with reference to equitable doctrines and remedies
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
Examination
Law dictionaries, Business and Law dictionaries (discipline specific dictionaries) are authorised.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
