This course provides an understanding of Australian corporate law. The course is structured to meet the admission requirements for practice as a legal practitioner in the Australian states and Territories. The following topics will be covered:
- forms of business association, including partnership;
- incorporation and the concept of separate legal personality;
- the corporate constitution;
- membership of the corporation and share capital;
- corporate contracting;
- duties and liabilities of directors and officers;
- basic features of the management of companies;
- shareholders' remedies;
- company credit and security arrangements; and
- winding up.
.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
This course seeks to do two things:
- to encourage in students a critical appreciation of the important role of corporations and corporate law in modern society
- to give students an understanding of the principles and rules of Australian corporate law to a level that is sufficient to satisfy the requirements for admission to legal practice.
Having completed this course, a student should be able to:
- describe the basic rules and concepts of corporate law, such as separate legal personality, limited liability, and the duties of company directors
- evaluate corporate problems, identifying appropriate legal obligations, duties, rights and remedies
- demonstrate competency with the use of statutory material and its integration with common law principles.
Throughout the course, a student should aim to:
- develop an awareness of the socio-legal and economic dimensions of modern corporate law
- identify areas of corporate law in need of reform and be able to argue why that reform would be beneficial.
Other Information
This course is a prerequisite for Takeovers and Securities Industry Law and Bankruptcy and Insolvency. Corporations Law is normally taken in either third or fourth year of a combined degree.
Indicative Assessment
The assessment for this course will comprise an optional mid-semester assessment (either a case analysis or research essay) and a compulsory end of semester exam. More information about the means of assessment, including the relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes of the course, will be available on the course home page by the first week of semester.
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
This course involves two two-hour lectures per week for the first seven weeks of the course. From week eight until week thirteen, students will attend a one hour tutorial; during this part of the course lectures will reduce to one two-hour and one one-hour lecture per week.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
There is a choice of textbooks in this course - either
RP Austin and IM Ramsay, Ford’s Principles of Corporations Law, 16th edition, 2015, published by LexisNexis
OR
P Redmond, Corporations and Financial Markets Law, 6th edition, 2013, published by Lawbook
Preliminary Reading
The preliminary reading required for this course will be available on the course home page at least one week prior to the commencement of the course.
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. Tuition fees are indexed annually. 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 |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $2958 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $4146 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1457 | 16 Feb 2015 | 06 Mar 2015 | 31 Mar 2015 | 29 May 2015 | In Person | N/A |
