Commercial Law is designed to give students an understanding of the key areas of commercial law and how they relate to each other. The focus is on the areas of personal property and aspects of commercial contracts, as these form the basis of all commercial law. The course will consider the concepts of bailment and agency and the complex provisions dealing with the sale of goods. It is suitable for those students who want an overview of commercial law as well as those who want to bring themselves up to date with recent developments in this field. This course is an elective that builds on material in the compulsory course Contracts and articulates with Corporations Law, Property and other commercially focussed electives such as Restrictive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection and Product Liability, for example.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Consistent with student-centred learning, the course is directed towards achieving the following
student learning outcomes:
- the acquisition of a detailed knowledge of the principles of commercial law covered in this subject and the ability to demonstrate understanding of the development and application of these principles;
- the ability to apply this knowledge and understanding to hypothetical fact scenarios in order to identify legal issues in such a scenario and provide advice to a hypothetical client on the strengths and weaknesses of the client's case;
- the ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing their knowledge and understanding of the principles of commercial law covered and the way in which that knowledge is applied to resolve hypothetical problems involving the topics covered in the course; and
- the ability to demonstrate where relevant an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the topics covered.
At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
- demonstrate their understanding of the areas of commercial law dealt with in this course;
- demonstrate their ability to think critically about the topics covered in the course through their participation in discussions and online forums;
- demonstrate more developed and sophisticated problem-solving skills than those demonstrated by first year students;
- construct a proposition of commercial law established by case law;
- identify the relevant legal issues that arise on a given set of facts in the areas of commercial law dealt with in the course;
- where applicable, distinguish the facts in decided cases from those in a given set of facts; build this into an argument and structure an answer to a problem question in a logical and coherent manner; and
- demonstrate an ability to co-operate with their colleagues within limits set by rules governing proper academic discourse.
Other Information
This course provides essential background for advanced commercial law courses.
Indicative Assessment
The assessment for this course will involve a compulsory piece of written assessment during the semester, a final exam in the examination period and continuous assessment for class participation in seminars and online activities.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The contact hours for this course will be 3 hours each week. The usual format is a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour lecture in the first week of the semester. From week 2, the 2-hour lecture is replaced with a 2-hour interactive seminar.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Please refer to the course home page.
Preliminary Reading
The preliminary reading required for this course will be available from the course home page at least one week prior to the commencement of the course.
The reading guide for this course is set out in the course outline.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Students continuing in their current program of study will have their tuition fees indexed annually from the year in which you commenced your program. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $1626 | |
| 2014 | $2808 | |
| 2013 | $2808 | |
| 2012 | $2808 | |
| 2011 | $2778 | |
| 2010 | $2718 | |
| 2009 | $2670 | |
| 2008 | $2670 | |
| 2007 | $2670 | |
| 2006 | $2646 | |
| 2005 | $2298 | |
| 2004 | $1926 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1994-2003 | $2916 |
| 2014 | $3762 |
| 2013 | $3756 |
| 2012 | $3756 |
| 2011 | $3756 |
| 2010 | $3750 |
| 2009 | $3426 |
| 2008 | $3426 |
| 2007 | $3426 |
| 2006 | $3426 |
| 2005 | $3234 |
| 2004 | $2916 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3590 | 17 Feb 2014 | 07 Mar 2014 | 31 Mar 2014 | 30 May 2014 | In Person | N/A |
