LAWS13017 - Civil Procedure

General Information

Unit Synopsis

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

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites: LAWS11059, LAWS11066, LAWS11069, LAWS12066.

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).

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Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

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 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 73.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 31.91% 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: Unit coordinator and tutorial discussions.
Feedback
Students find it difficult to transition from blackletter law to incorporating civil procedural processes.
Recommendation
Change the second assessment from student choice to a set civil procedure problem. Perhaps along the lines of a running file.
Action Taken
This action was not implemented due to alternative problem simulations likely to consume large amounts of student time and impacting on their ability to study other units.
Source: Unit coordinator observations.
Feedback
Introduce a second practical assessment.
Recommendation
The second assessment will be altered to a practical exercise.
Action Taken
This was not implemented in 2023, but will be implemented in 2024 subject to changes in course mapping being approved by the College..
Source: Moodle site.
Feedback
The second major assessment should be a practical assessment removing the flexibility previously afforded enabling students to choose their topic or work experience.
Recommendation
The second major assessment will be restructured as an authentic practical learning activity undertaken by all students. The choice of assessment option will be removed. Care will be taken to ensure the simulation is very narrow in an attempt to limit the amount of time students will need to devote to the task.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Sound level of audio recordings need to be higher.
Recommendation
Sound levels of all audio will be checked prior to upload.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.