Conflict of Laws, also sometimes called Private International Law, is concerned with what happens in cases where not all of the facts are tied to one jurisdiction. In the federal system of Australia, this can occur both within a domestic intra-Australia context and in an international context. While this course deals with a number of specific theoretical frameworks, it is taught largely from a practical standpoint aimed at preparing lawyers for handling cases with trans-jurisdictional issues. The three core components of the course investigate:

• Jurisdiction: When domestic courts can hear cases that involve parties and property from outside the territory of the court.
• Choice of Law: Which law is applicable when a case has connections with a number of different jurisdictions. In particular, this course considers contract, family and tort disputes that involve a variety of jurisdictions.
• Enforcement of Judgements: How to enforce a court judgement or arbitral award from another jurisdiction in local courts.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• explain the similarities and differences between international and domestic civil litigation in practical and theoretical terms
• describe the three stages of international litigation, and explain the relationship between them
• explain and apply the principles relevant to determining the Australian courts' jurisdictional competence and the circumstances in which they will decline to exercise that jurisdiction
• explain and apply the principles relevant to determining whether a foreign judgement, and an international arbitral award, will be recognised in Australia and how foreign judgements and international arbitral awards can be enforced
• explain the choice of law process, and be able to identify and apply choice of law rules which are applicable to internation disputes, particularly those relevant to contract, tort and family matters
• analyse, research and resolve problems in international litigation from theoretical and practical perspectives.

Please refer to the course home page

36 contact hours plus private study time

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.

Please refer to the course home page.

Students wishing to gain an understanding of the subject may wish to read the introductory chapter in either M Davies, AS Bell and PLG Brereton, Nygh's Conflict of Laws in Australia (8th ed, 2010) or R Mortensen, Private International Law in Australia (2006).

This is an extremely useful course both for people who plan to practice litigation in a domestic and international context. People who intend to be transactional lawyers will also benefit from having a sound grounding on the issues to be able to draft predictable outcomes in light of Conflicts risks.