The traditional meaning of ‘Equity’ refers to the concepts, doctrines and remedies that originated in the English Court of Chancery before 1874. This course goes further and focuses upon the modern role of Equity by exploring how its concepts, doctrines and remedies are manifested across Australian private and public law, including in legislation. It also examines judicial methods characteristic of Equity. The course provides in-depth consideration of concepts, doctrines and remedies that are not generally studied at undergraduate level. The course also considers fundamental questions concerning judicial method, the organisation of private law, and the rule of law. The law will be covered from doctrinal and theoretical perspectives with emphasis upon topics that are the subject of recent litigation, public debate or academic scholarship. The course will cover seven broad topics (the content of which may vary):
- Equitable concepts (eg: conscience; the fiduciary principle; the trust; charity);
- Equity and contract (eg: relief against forfeiture; penalties; subrogation);
- Equity’s protection of relationships of trust and confidence (eg: trusts; fiduciary relationships; confidential information);
- Equity and statute (eg: consumer law; Torrens systems; corporations law; charity law; Lord Cairns Act);
- Equity and procedure (eg: subrogation; injunctions);
- Equitable method (eg: judgment in the round; remedial discretion);
- Equity in context (eg: relationship to unjust enrichment).
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Correctly identify, succinctly describe and analyse the equitable concepts, doctrines and remedies studied in the course;
- Synthesise complex information, critically evaluate and theorise Equity’s concepts, doctrinal content and judicial methods;
- Critically analyse, evaluate and apply equitable concepts, doctrines and remedies to a complex legal and/or public policy question and effectively advise a client, court or policy-maker on its resolution.
- Through independent research, investigate and critically reflect on the theoretical and doctrinal material studied in the course;
- Plan and execute the outcomes of independent research and critically reflect on the theoretical and doctrinal material in an extended piece of writing that complies with the conventions of scholarly writing.
Indicative Assessment
- Online course engagement tasks (10) [LO 1]
- Short writing task (20) [LO 1,2,3]
- Research essay (70) [LO 4,5]
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Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week.
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Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Students must rely on the approved Class Summary which will be posted to the Programs and Courses site approximately two weeks prior to the commencement of the course. Alternatively, this information will be published in the Program course list when known.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you 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). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found 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 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
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