When a person has been harmed by the conduct of another it is the law of torts which determines who has to bear the loss.   This is an important aspect of the civil law (in contrast to criminal law).  Historically, it derived largely from judicial decisions, and hence was largely what we call common law but in more recent times legislation has become increasingly important.  The law of torts protects people against, and compensates them for, unreasonable interferences with a wide range of interests, including their bodily integrity, property, reputation, and financial interests.  It does this through a range of different torts, including trespass, negligence, nuisance and defamation.  In this basic and introductory course we will focus on the use of the torts of trespass and negligence in contexts where people suffer personal injuries.  We will also look at the tort of trespass to land.  We will focus on the common law and relevant ACT legislation (in particular the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT)).  

As this is generally the first substantive law course that students encounter in their law program, we will also begin to teach students some of the basic skills which you will need - in particular, to read, understand and apply case law and legislation.  We will also explore in a basic way the interaction between case law and legislation.

At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the core principles of the tort of negligence, including its fundamental components of duty of care, breach of duty, and causation and remoteness of damage;
• demonstrate an understanding of the torts of trespass to the person and trespass to land, their historical background and their relationship with the tort of negligence;
• demonstrate an understanding of the law of personal injury damages;
• demonstrate an understanding of the law of vicarious liability and the role it plays as a loss-distribution mechanism for tortiously-casued harm; and
• demonstrate an unerstanding of how the common law of negligence has been modified in the ACT by the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT).l

Details of the assessment for this course will be provided on the course home page by the first week of semester.

In the first two weeks of the semester there will be four hours of large group classes per week.  From the third week of semester there will be three hours of large group classes and one hour-long tutorial per week.  In addition, students will be expected to read in advance of classes, to prepare any tasks indicated during class, and to prepare preliminary answers to tutorial questions.  Students are generally expected to devote approximately 10 hours overall per week to this course, with additional hours needed in the lead-up to assessment tasks.  Students often report that reading takes them longer than this at the beginning of semester, as they are just developing their skills.

Teachers in this course do NOT assume that you have done a Legal Studies course at school, and you will NOT be at a disadvantage if you have not done such a course.  As with all your law courses, it will be important that you have good written communication skills in English.  Students who have not done language-rich courses in English in years 11 and 12, must expect to do some extra work to bring their skills up to the required standard.  The ANU's Academic Skills and Learning Centre provides courses to help you.  

Foundations of Australian Law LAWS1201

Please refer to course home page. 

A detailed reading guide will be available on the course web page.