Course coordinator
Mr Timothy Thomas
Please note that my office is on Level 5 of the Forgan Smith Tower.
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Law School
This course is designed to deepen understanding of the foundations, organisation and purposes of the private law; as well to provide a more detailed analysis of the areas of tort law, contract law, commercial law and property law.
Private law is the branch of the law that deals with the legal relationships between different individuals, as opposed to the relationship between the Government and an individual. This course aims to provide an overview of private law to non-law graduates undertaking post graduate study and law graduates who have not previously studied private law within a common law jurisdiction.
The Course examines the following key subsets of Australian private law:
- Tort Law - covering multipleﾠelementsﾠof Tort Law, including the major area of Negligence;
- Contract Law - from formation to termination;
- Consumer Law - focusing on particular provisionsﾠof the ACL;
- Competition Law - focusing on particular provisions of the Competition & Consumer Act; and
- Commercial Law - including agency and business structures (partnership).
Course requirements
Assumed background
Students should have successfully completed, or be concurrently enrolled in, LAWS7936 (Fundamentals of the Common Law) or its equivalent.
Companion or co-requisite courses
You'll need to complete the following courses at the same time:
LAWS7936
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
LAWS7001
Restrictions
LLM(16), LLM(24), MICLaw(16), MICLaw(24) and MICLaw/MCom
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Aims and outcomes
Teaching Mission Statement
The mission of the TC Beirne School of Law is to educate students in and about law. We seek to assist you to think critically about the law and to investigate its structures, principles, policies, and values. This is achieved by engaging with you as fellow investigators in a range of critical and intellectual conversations about the law and its place in society. Our role is thus to guide you in your own intellectual journey in the law and to equip you with the necessary skills that will enable you to continue that journey long after you have left the School.
Courses Aims
LAWS7025 aims to provideﾠan introduction to someﾠfundamental areas of the Australian legal system, including:
- Reviewingﾠthe nature ofﾠnegligence as a legal phenomenon by exploring the Common Law and legislative aspects of this topic;
- Providingﾠan overview of the crucial aspects of contractual obligations in a personal and business setting, with coverage of the Australian Consumer Law;ﾠand
- Introducingﾠstudents to the Commercial Law system in Australia and outliningﾠthe structures for the conduct of business between individuals.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Gain a broad understanding of how Private Law in Australia impacts upon Society and an individual's social and personal responsibilities.
LO2.
Critically analyse relevant legal problems in Australian Private Law and provide appropriate and rational solutions to those problems using the ILAC method.
LO3.
Read, interpret and understand Australian case law and legislation and apply that case law and legislation to legal problems in order to provide solutions to those problems.
LO4.
Understand the philosophy underpinning the Law of Torts and critically examine, in particular, the way in which the law of Negligence has developed through case law and legislation.
LO5.
Identify and articulate the fundamental principles underlying Contract Law - from the formation to the termination of a contract.
LO6.
Identify how the fundamental principles underlying Contract Law, relate to legal relationships between the Consumer and a Business under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
LO7.
Critically analyse and apply Commercial Law principles to business relationships.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay/ Critique |
Case Study
|
20% |
23/05/2025 2:00 pm |
| Examination |
Problem Scenario - completed in class
|
20% |
13/05/2025 7:40 pm
The exam will commence at 6:10pm and finish at 7:40pm. See task description. |
| Examination |
End-of-semester Examination
|
60% |
End of Semester Exam Period 7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025 |
Assessment details
Case Study
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Essay/ Critique
- Weight
- 20%
- Due date
23/05/2025 2:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07
Task description
Developing your own Case Study
Students are asked to develop and create their own legal question and answer, based upon a real life experience.
This exercise requires you to use the Australian Common Law studied in LAWS7025 (Private Law) to help answer a legal question that you have created. You must write an ORIGINAL question (based upon a previous life experience) that can be resolved using the ILAC technique and the law that has been studied throughout the Semester.
The question should be reasonably sophisticated and similar in style to the questions that will be asked of you throughout the Semester in Seminars and in class Examinations. Adequate factual details should be provided to make it an interesting legal "case". You must not use a scenario that has already been provided to you during the Course or that has been created with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (see below).
Students should write the question using the "1st person". A number of examples of the types of scenarios you may write about might be:
Example 1: In 2010, I was walking home from University along the footpath of a busy road when..."
Example 2: In 2015, I went to the shops with my parents and bought myself a new computer. When I arrived home and unpacked the computer..."
Example 3: In 2020, I started to work from home for a telephone company. The contract that I signed with the company said..."
Please note that your answer should be confined to only ONE area of the law that is studied during Seminars and only Course materials should be used to answer the question.
Students will have most of the Semester in which to prepare and submit this exercise. Your answer to this task can be uploaded to Blackboard at any time from Tuesday 11th March at 8pm to 5pm on Friday 23rd May.
The task will be graded out of 20%. The marking criteria will be discussed in more detail in Teaching Week 1.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct Policy.
Submission guidelines
Assignments must be submitted electronically via the submission link on the course Blackboard site.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Extension to Assessment Due Date
Where an extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered is available, any extension is limited to one week (7 days). In exceptional circumstances, extensions may be granted for more than one week, but in no case will an extension exceed four weeks (28 days) in total. Where a student is incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, they should apply for removal of course.
A student may apply for an extension to assessment due date if they are unable to meet an assessment deadline due to extenuating circumstances. Please refer to the Applying for an extension page on my.UQ for further details on acceptable reasons for an extension and for instructions on how to apply. Additional information on extensions can be found within the Assessment Procedure .
Spoken or written notification of difficulties with assessment deadlines to a course coordinator or the School does not constitute an authorised extension.
Applications to be submitted before the due date: Applications for extension (whether they be medical or exceptional circumstances) shall be made by the due date and time for the assessment. Requests for extensions received after the assessment item submission due date and time, must include evidence of the reason for the late request, and will require the decision maker listed in the Student Grievance Resolution Procedure to accept the request for consideration.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Penalties for Late Submission
The following penalties apply to late submission of an assessment item, assuming that an extension has not been approved, and that late submission is academically possible (e.g., it does not delay feedback to a cohort, or interfere with course delivery).
First 7 periods of 24 hours (or part thereof) - 10% per 24 hours of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item. For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.
More than 7 periods of 24 hours - 100%.
Problem Scenario - completed in class
- In-person
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 20%
- Due date
13/05/2025 7:40 pm
The exam will commence at 6:10pm and finish at 7:40pm. See task description.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L06, L07
Task description
The Exam will be OPEN BOOK and include one (1) short-answer "problem-style" question.
The Exam will commence at 6.10pm on Tuesday 13th May. Students will have 10 minutes perusal time and then 80 minutes working time in which to complete the Exam.
Students must attend class at the designated time in order to sit this Exam.
This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of Generative AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct Policy.
Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 80 minutes |
| Calculator options | No calculators permitted |
| Open/closed book | Open Book examination |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
The Exam must be completed in person, during class time.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
End-of-semester Examination
- In-person
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 60%
- Due date
End of Semester Exam Period
7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07
Task description
Any additional written or printed material is permitted, and it may be annotated. This includes dictionaries, texts, notes, and annotations. The exam is invigilated and will be centrally scheduled by the University during the Exam Period.
There will be 120 minutes (2 hours) working time and 10 minutes planning time.
The exam will consist of 3 x ILAC problem style questions.
The exam covers all materials in Teaching Weeks 2-12. The exam will NOT cover the materials in Teaching Week 1.
Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | No calculators permitted |
| Open/closed book | Open Book examination |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 19 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 20 - 47 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 48 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
Unless otherwise advised, all assessment is to be electronically submitted on Learn.UQ (Blackboard).
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (24 Feb - 02 Mar) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 1 The first Seminar is typically 1 hour in length. 3 topics will be covered: 1) An introduction to LAWS7025 - an understanding of the foundations and purpose of Private Law. 2) Expectations for the Course - assessment; reading materials; Course content. 3) The process of answering legal problems in Australia: an introduction to the ILAC Method. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Week 2 (03 Mar - 09 Mar) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 2 Tort Law (I) - Tort of Negligence 1 Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04 |
Multiple weeks From Week 3 To Week 12 |
Case-based learning |
Answering Your Own Question Students are asked to develop and create their own legal question and answer, based upon a real life experience. This task is to be submitted anytime between Tuesday 11th March and Friday 23rd May. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05 |
Week 3 (10 Mar - 16 Mar) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 3 Tort Law (II) - Tort of Negligence 2 Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04 |
Week 4 (17 Mar - 23 Mar) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 4 Tort Law (III) - Introduction to the Law of Torts. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04 |
Week 6 (31 Mar - 06 Apr) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 6 Contract Law (I) - Formation of a Contract. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L05 |
Week 7 (07 Apr - 13 Apr) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 7 Contract Law (II) (Part 1) - Termination and Breach, Capacity to Contract. Contract Law (II) (Part 2) - Disclaimer Law. ILAC Workshop on Disclaimer Law (note: this may be taught in Teaching Week 7 or 8). Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L05 |
Week 8 (14 Apr - 20 Apr) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 8 Contract Law (III) - Vitiating Factors and Remedies. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L05 |
Workshop |
In-Semester Exam Feedback Individual feedback for the In-Semester Exam will be released to Blackboard in Teaching Week 8, in preparation for the upcoming Problem Scenario Exercise in Teaching Week 11. Learning outcomes: L02, L03 |
|
Week 9 (28 Apr - 04 May) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 9 Competition and Consumer Law (I) Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L06 |
Week 10 (05 May - 11 May) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 10 Competition and Consumer Law (II) Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L05, L06 |
Week 12 (19 May - 25 May) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 12 Law of Agency and Business Structures. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L07 |
Week 13 (26 May - 01 Jun) |
Seminar |
Teaching Week 13 In this Seminar, we will discuss the End-of-semester Examination and provide you with a brief overview of all the material that has been covered throughout the Semester. The final Seminar is typically 1 hour in length. This presentation may be held via Zoom. We will discuss this as the Semester progresses. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
School guidelines
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: