LAWS11063 - Torts A

General Information

Unit Synopsis

LAWS11063 Torts A introduces students to the law of torts in Australia as one of the main categories in the law of civil obligations. Along with contract law, this unit will provide you with a solid foundation in many of the civil law issues faced in legal practice. Tort law is constantly evolving and often raises unique and complex social and moral questions. The unit will develop your ability to think critically about the relationship of law to social, economic and political conditions. The unit commences with an overview of tort law origins, structure and theory. The unit will examine the intentional violation of the legal rights of individuals, personal and real property; nuisance; liability for animals; and vicarious liability. The unit concludes with a consideration of the role and classification of damages in tort awards including modifications to personal injury awards under the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld). Consideration will also be given to relevant defences and remedial relief for the torts covered, limitation periods, wrongful death and survival of actions. This unit together with LAWS11064 Torts B meets the LPAB requirements for torts.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite or co-requisite: LAWS11057

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 30%
2. Portfolio 20%
3. Examination 50%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2020 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 98.57% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 46.67% response rate.

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.

Source: Student Evaluations, informal student feedback
Feedback
Generally positive response to assessment feedback in this unit. However there was some requests for an assignment answer guide and some feedback that students were unclear on what a HD paper required.
Recommendation
Continue with providing a detailed marking rubric and self-evaluation component to the first assessment task. Continue providing student exemplars of HD quality for each assessment piece. Consider providing an answer guide to the class on the problem assessment in addition to the individual feedback. Ensure external markers are providing sufficient and quality feedback. Continue providing students with the opportunity for additional individual feedback after assignments are returned.
Action Taken
The UC provided a detailed marking rubric and ensured external markers were provided with sufficient feedback to provide students.
Source: Staff reflection, student evaluation
Feedback
Generally positive response to the moodle site layout and learning resource collection. Some feedback received on the amount of learning resources provided and required reading.
Recommendation
Conduct a review of the current collection of learning resources to ensure they remain relevant. Review the filing method for zoom recording links for ease of identification. Conduct a review of lecture podcasts and powerpoint slides and make updates where relevant. Provide a short video to students on how to navigate the unit moodle site. Continue to remind students of the expected 12.5 hour per week commitment to this unit as suggested by the university. Continue to provide students with advice on how to manage workload and readings.
Action Taken
The UC carried out a review of all resources to ensure they are up to date and relevant.
Source: Student evaluations
Feedback
Tutorial questions and answers. Mixed feedback received on the provision of tutorial answer guides after zoom sessions and lack of students attempting tutorial questions.
Recommendation
Review the current set of tutorial questions. Review the current practice of providing dot point tutorial answer guides and consider removing them altogether in this unit. Remind students of the importance of completing tutorial questions and encourage greater engagement on the moodle forums.
Action Taken
The UC actively encouraged students to complete tutorial questions and to engage on Moodle forums and in zoom sessions.
Source: There are no recommendations as this unit has been terminated.
Feedback
There are no recommendations as this unit has been terminated.
Recommendation
There are no recommendations as this unit has been terminated.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Evaluate the essential elements of tort obligations and their place in the broader domain of obligational law
  2. Compare the operation of Australian tort law with overseas tort law, particularly in relation to nuisance
  3. Identify and analyse legal wrongs at common law (other than negligence) as supplemented by the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) and other legislation
  4. Research, interpret and apply legal principles to the analysis of tort obligations and disputes
  5. Demonstrate skills in communication, critical legal thinking, reasoning and reflection.


Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Portfolio • • •
3 - Examination • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • •
2 - Portfolio • • • • • • •
3 - Examination • • • • •