Overview
LAWS13017 Civil procedure explores the issues of cost, delay and access to justice as critical issues in modern case management. In this unit you will examine in detail the following issues in civil litigation: court adjudication under an adversary system; the cost of litigation and the use of costs to control litigation; service of originating process - as foundation of jurisdiction, including service out of the relevant State or Territory and choice of forum; joinder of claims and parties, including group proceedings and the defence of prior adjudication as instances of the public interest in avoiding a multiplicity of proceedings and inconsistent verdicts; defining the questions for trial - pleadings, notices to admit and other devices; obtaining evidence - discovery of documents, interrogatories, subpoena and other devices; disposition without trial, including the compromise of litigation; extra-judicial determination of issues arising in the course of litigation; judgment; appeal; enforcement; alternative dispute resolution; and obligations of parties and practitioners relating to the resolution of disputes. This unit meets the LPAB requirements for civil dispute resolution.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: 48 credit points of law
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 2 - 2021
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 Have your Say
Retain the practical pleading exercise.
Practical exercises will be included in future assessment.
Feedback from Have your Say
More information on how to undertake practical exercises.
More scaffolding is required for practical assessments. Further pleading examples could be provided as a scaffold for drafting exercises. Further clarification could be provided on assessment rubric marking criteria for drafting exercises.
- Comprehend and critically examine the court adjudication process under the adversarial system in Australia in comparison with the Civil Law inquisitorial system
- Articulate and apply Supreme Court civil procedure, referencing legislation, rules, practice directions and court forms
- Research and draft appropriate pleadings for a hypothetical fact situation
- Apply civil procedure knowledge in a clinical setting.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||
| 2 - Practical Assessment - 35% | ||||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 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 - 35% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Practical Assessment - 35% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) - 30% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Civil Procedure Commentary and Materials
Edition: 7th (2019)
Authors: Colbran, Spender, Jackson, Douglas
LexisNexis
Chatswood Chatswood , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9780409348842
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Docs
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 4th ed
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.colbran@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Court adjudication, Case management and ADR
Chapter
1, 2, 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 1-3
Module/Topic
Jurisdiction and Limitation of Actions
Chapter
4, 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 4, 5
Module/Topic
Instituting proceedings and Notice of Intention to Defend
Chapter
7, 8, 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 6-8
Module/Topic
Parties and Joinder, Non-compliance, Amendment and Time
Chapter
5, 10
Supreme Court of Queensland Practice Direction No 2 of 2017 Representative Proceedings.
Kylie Downes QC and Hamish Clift, “Queensland’s new class action regime”. 2017 May Proctor 28-29.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 9, 10
Module/Topic
Pleadings and Summary Disposition
Chapter
12, 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 11-17
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Disclosure
Chapter
14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 18, 19
Module/Topic
Further means of obtaining evidence and Affidavits
Chapter
15, 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 20-22
Pleading assessment Due: Week 7 Tuesday (31 Aug 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Interlocutory procedures
Chapter
17
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 23, 24
Module/Topic
Disposition without Trial
Chapter
18
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 25, 26
Module/Topic
Trial
Chapter
19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 27-29
Practical assessment Due: Week 10 Tuesday (21 Sept 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Appeal and New Trial
Chapter
20
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 30-32
Module/Topic
Costs and Enforcement
Chapter
17, 19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial problems 33-35
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
This task will involve drafting or reviewing a pleading. Detailed facts will be provided in week 2.
Week 7 Tuesday (31 Aug 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
Week 9 Tuesday (14 Sept 2021)
| Criteria | Excellent | Good | Poor |
| Basic goals (20%): | |||
| Identification of primary issues | Identification of all major issues. | Identification of most major issues. | Identification of some major issues. |
| Demonstrated understanding of the subject matter | Excellent demonstrated understanding of the subject matter. | Good understanding of the subject matter. | Lacks understanding of the subject matter. |
| Structured argument | Superbly structured document. | Well-structured document. | Poorly structured document. |
| Higher order goal (7.5%): | |||
| Analytical ability | Demonstrated a high level of analysis. | Some analytical errors or omissions. | Numerous analytical errors or omissions. |
| Skills (7.5%): | |||
Demonstrated clear and concise written expression
|
Clear and concise written expression.
|
Some unclear or verbose written expression.
|
Numerous examples of unclear or verbose written expression.
|
- Articulate and apply Supreme Court civil procedure, referencing legislation, rules, practice directions and court forms
- Research and draft appropriate pleadings for a hypothetical fact situation
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Practical Assessment
The 35% Practical Assessment for LAWS13017 Civil Procedure is a practical exercise. The exercise will involve you choosing one of the following options:
· Option 1 - Research article on strategies to enable self-litigants to conduct their own litigation.
· Option 2 - A law reform submission/proposal.
· Option 3 - Researching and reflecting on the law for an actual client matter you are able to source.
Week 10 Tuesday (21 Sept 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Tuesday (12 Oct 2021)
Detailed rubrics for each assessment option are available on the Moodle site in the document entitled "Practical Assessment 2021 Instructions".
- Articulate and apply Supreme Court civil procedure, referencing legislation, rules, practice directions and court forms
- Apply civil procedure knowledge in a clinical setting.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
3 Online Quiz(zes)
Other
Review/Exam Week Tuesday (12 Oct 2021) 11:59 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Tuesday (12 Oct 2021)
Automated return after the quiz expiry via the Moodle Gradebook.
The quiz does not have an assessment rubric. The complex multi-choice questions are designed to test student knowledge across the entire unit.
- Comprehend and critically examine the court adjudication process under the adversarial system in Australia in comparison with the Civil Law inquisitorial system
- Articulate and apply Supreme Court civil procedure, referencing legislation, rules, practice directions and court forms
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
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?
