LAWS11069 - Torts

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit introduces you 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. You will gain an understanding of civil wrongs as developed by the common law yet increasingly supplemented by legislation. This unit will commence with an overview of tort law, its development and aims. You will also study the torts of negligence, trespass, nuisance and defamation, including available defences. Forms of concurrent liability are also considered along with remedies in tort and alternative statutory compensation schemes. Finally, the unit will consider the protection available in tort from unfair business practices. 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. This unit meets the Legal Practitioners Admissions Board 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

Co-requisite:  LAWS11057 Introduction to 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2023

Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Online
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Online

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 40%
2. Take Home Exam 60%

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 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 85.71% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 31.53% 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 unit and teaching evaluation
Feedback
Too much content to cover
Recommendation
Because of requirements set by the Law Practitioners Admissions Board, there is limited scope to reduce the content of the unit.
Action Taken
No action on this item was taken. The requirements set by the Law Practitioners Admissions Board provide limited scope to reduce the content of the unit.
Source: Student unit and teaching evaluation
Feedback
Some of the tutorials went beyond one hour
Recommendation
It will be necessary to reduce the number of tutorial problems to be discussed during the tutorials and focus on core legal principles. In any event, should the tutorials go beyond one hour (which can present problems for students who have to go to another unit tutorial), there is a recording that students can watch later.
Action Taken
I reduced the number of tutorial problems and focused on those that would highlight the key legal principles under discussion.
Source: Student unit and teaching evaluation
Feedback
Tutorials were very engaging
Recommendation
The real-life, problem-based scenarios used for the tutorials should be continued as they fully engage the students and stimulate discussions. It is also important that tutorials be facilitated in a way that continues to strongly engage and encourage students to participate.
Action Taken
I continued to use real-life, problem-based scenarios that encouraged during to active engage and participate in tutorials.
Source: Student unit evaluation
Feedback
Many of the legal principles are complex and difficult to grasp
Recommendation
The use of real-life, problem-based scenarios in lectures and tutorials will assist in illuminating complex legal principles and enable students to relate complex legal principles to daily life (e.g. road and workplace accidents, duty of care of doctors, employers and lawyers, defamation, nuisance, etc.). In addition, it may help to remind students that devoting sufficient personal time for study and learning of Tort Law is crucial. Finally, students should be made aware of support that they can access through the CQU Academic Learning Centre and Studiosity.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student unit evaluation
Feedback
Tutorials tend to go beyond one hour
Recommendation
Very few students actually raise this as an issue. In fact, every time tutorials extend beyond one hour, it is upon the request of students who have joined the tutorials. In any event, the number of tutorial problems should be reduced so that if tutorials go over the one-hour schedule, they extend by only a few minutes.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student unit evaluation and unsolicited emails
Feedback
Tutorials are very engaging
Recommendation
The real-life, problem-based scenarios used for the tutorials should be continued as they fully engage the students and stimulate discussions. It is also important that tutorials be facilitated in a way that continues to strongly engage and encourage students to participate.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Explain the essential elements of tort obligations and the development of tort law in response to changing social, economic and political conditions
  2. Explain the principles of tort law at common law and as supplemented by the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) and other legislation
  3. Apply relevant legal principles and exercise legal reasoning to determine obligations, rights and remedies in tort disputes
  4. Demonstrate written and oral communication skills in response to a legal scenario

This unit satisfies the Priestley 11 requirements for Torts as approved by the Legal Practitioners Admissions Board.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Take Home Exam • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • •
4 - Information Literacy • •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
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