Telephone 831 36302
Email bernadette.richards@adelaide.edu.au

Please note that the lectures for this subject commence in week 3.  There is a detailed teaching outline available on MyUni.

Legal Practitioners' Education and Admissions Council (LPEAC) sets rules for the academic requirements for admission to legal practice in South Australia. Students must demonstrate a satisfactory level of understanding and application of 11 core areas of legal knowledge. This course teaches the following topics within these core areas:

• Negligence, including defences
• A representative range of torts (other than negligence) and their defences (intentional torts to the person and to goods, nuisance and negligent statements leading to pure economic loss).
• Damages

General Introduction

There is no comprehensive or exhaustive definition of ‘torts’.  Any definition that attempts to cover everything that amounts to a tort is likely to also cover things not usually treated as torts at all. Commentators, teachers and judges in this area nonetheless provide good working definitions of ‘torts’.  At its broadest, a tort is described as a "wrong" committed by one person (the ‘defendant’) against another person (‘the plaintiff’).  In essence the law of torts provides that the plaintiff  who suffers injury or loss because of that wrong is entitled to a remedy from the defendant.   The remedy is usually in the form of monetary compensation (damages) designed to put the plaintiff in the position they would have been in if the defendant had not committed the wrong. The proper role and place of the law of torts and its relationship with other areas of the law such as crime and contract is conceptually both difficult and controversial.  By the end of this course you will have considered the nature, role and proper place of the law of torts in Australia’s legal landscape along with the relevant principles embodied in both the common law and in statute.

As indicated by the above working definition, the scope of the law of torts is certainly very wide. It covers cases where one person has caused physical injury to another or damaged their property; where one person has interfered with another's rights over property, for example by taking it, refusing to return it or disposing of it without authority or has interfered with their use of their land; where one person has deprived another of liberty or has harmed another's reputation; and where one person has harmed the economic interests of another. But it is not comprehensive in the interests it protects; for example it does not generally protect privacy or a claim not to be discriminated against. And it determines the behaviour from which the interests it does cover will be protected. For example liability for causing physical injury or damage to property generally depends on the injury or damage being caused intentionally or negligently while liability for causing economic loss depends more often on an intention to cause it in a defined way and is allowed only in very restricted circumstances where it is caused negligently. On the other hand intention to harm or negligence is often not required where the law is protecting your title to property: if I sell your property believing on all reasonable grounds that it is mine and having no way of discovering that it is yours I nevertheless commit the tort of conversion and must compensate you. 

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Analyse the foundational principles of tort law, undertake legal research at a foundational level, and evaluate legal information.
2. Use appropriate legal problem-solving techniques. Apply tort law to complex problems and critique the operation of tort law from a theoretical/policy perspective.
3. Structure and sustain concise and cohesive written and/or oral arguments for a mixed audience. Communicate effectively individually and as part of a team.
4. Exercise judgement in the application of tort law to simulated client situations in an academic environment.
5. Analyse the impact of tort law from a policy perspective.
6. Reflect on their ability to effectively undertake work as a member of a team.
   
   

1. Course materials available on MyUni
2. Bernadette Richards and  Melissa de Zwart Tort Law Principles, 2nd edition (Thomson Lawbook, 2017)
3. C. Sappideen, P.Vines, P.Watson, Torts: Commentary and Materials (Thomson, Lawbook Co. Casebook, 12th Ed, 2016)

(The two texts are available as a package from the University Bookshop).

1. Harold Luntz et al, Torts: Cases and Commentary (LexisNexis Butterworths, 8th ed, 2017)
2. Carolyn Sappideen & Prue Vines (ed), Fleming's The Law of Torts (Lawbook Co, 12th ed, 2016),
3. Martin Davies and Ian Malkin,  Torts (LexisNexis Butterworths, 8th ed, 2017),
4. Francis Trindade, Peter Cane and Mark Lunney, The Law of Torts in Australia (Oxford, 4th ed, 2007),
5. RP Balkin and JLR Davis, Law of Torts (LexisNexis Butterworths, 4th ed, 2009),
6. Frances McGlone and Amanda Stickley, Australian Torts Law (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2nd ed,2009), and
7. Pam Stewart and Anita Stuhmcke, Australian Principles of Tort Law (Cavendish Australia, 2005).

All course materials are available on MyUni and please remember to check your student email as course-related announcements are communicated via email.

Due to the large enrolment in this subject we are actively encouraging the use of Discussion Boards. Please do not email questions regarding the substantive law to your lecturers or tutors, we will only ask you to post them on the Discussion Board. There is a Discussion Board available for substantive law issues and it will be checked every afternoon. We encourage students to engage in the discussion and actively participate creating an active learning forum.

The course is designed around presentation of theory during the lectures and practical problem-solving skills during the seminars. The approach to learning and teaching in this subject is based upon the premise of students as “active” learners and not passive recipients of information. It follows that it is absolutely essential that you do the work that is set for each week and all sessions will be conducted on the assumption that the relevant reading has been completed. You must come to the seminars with prepared written answers to each seminar question

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of up to 48 hours per week to their studies. In law, this figure represents the bare minimum necessary to an understanding of the concepts covered. Students in this course are expected to attend all lectures throughout the semester plus one seminar session each week. Please refer to Access Adelaide for your timetable and enrolment details.
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/access/

There is an expectation that all allocated reading for the week is completed and that students attend the seminars prepared to actively participate in the problem solving activity.

Students will have 9 weeks of intensive teaching in this subject. The first lecture will be held in Week 3, with seminars commencing in Week 4. Students will be expected to attend a two hour lecture and a two hour seminar. The programme of all activities is as follows:

Week 3 Lecture	Week 3 Seminar
Intentional Torts to the person • Assault • Battery • False Imprisonment	No seminars for this subject. See Foundations of Law
Week 4 Lecture	Week 4 Seminar
Introduction to negligence • Duty of care • Mental Harm • Standard of care	Intentional Torts to the person
Week 5 Lecture	Week 5 Seminar
• Finish Standard of Care • Omissions	Finish off Intentional Torts Consider questions of mixed issues, workshop duty (physical duty complete), Mental Harm NB: Redeemable assignment due during the mid-semester break
Week 6 Lecture	Week 6 Seminar
Causation and remoteness	• Standard of Care
Week 7 Lecture	Week 7 Seminar
Finish off causation Defences and damages	• Assignment feedback • Omissions
Week 8 Lecture	Week 8 Seminar
Vicarious liability	Causation and remoteness
Week 9 Lecture	Week 9 Seminar
Defamation	Defences and damages
Distribute Part A of the exam. This assignment will be a mix of intentional torts and negligence and intentional torts will NOT be covered in the final exam. This assignment will be due at the end of Week 10, for marking and return at the end of Week 12 for revision purposes. This is a component of the exam: No extensions will be granted.
Week 10 Lecture	Week 10 Seminar
Nuisance	Vicarious liability
Exam Part A is due Friday in week 10
Week 11 Lecture	Week 11 Seminar
Revision	Defamation
Week 12 Lecture	Week 12 Seminar
Q&A Lecture Feedback of Take-Home component of exam and feedback.	Nuisance
Week 13 Lecture	Week 13 Seminar
	Revision

Assessment Task	% of final mark	Dates	Length	Task Detail (Individual or Group)	Redeemable	Learning outcomes
Problem question (intentional torts to the person)	20% or 0%	Due: 2pm Friday,6th April 2018 (during mid-semester break)	1500 words	Individual	Yes (provided a bona fide effort is achieved, evidenced by a grade of at least 35%)	1-6
Online Exam Part A	20%	Due: 2pm Friday 18th May, 2018 (Week 10)	1500 words	Individual	No	1-6
Online Exam Part B	80% or 60%	Mid- year exam period	1500 words	Individual		1-6

All three components of assessment are compulsory. This means that if any of the items of assessment are not undertaken/submitted, the marks assigned for that assessment will be irrevocably lost and the final mark obtainable reduced by that.

Problem question 20% or 0%

This will involve responding to a problem based question. Only intentional torts to the person will be covered in this problem and it will be redeemable by performance in the final exam provided that it represents a bona fide effort.

A strict limit of 1500 words will be enforced

DUE DATE: 2pm 6 April 2018 (during mid semester break)


Online Exam Part A 20%

One examination-style problem question will be distributed to students during Week 9. Every student must complete an answer to the problem for submission at the end of Week 10. The question will be available at 9am, Monday 14th May and is due at 2pm Friday 18th May. This is an individual piece of assessment and will form the basis of the revision discussion. It is not to be done in collaboration with any other student.

A strict limit of 1500 words will be enforced

This is a component of your exam. It is NOT redeemable and no extensions will be granted.

This is an individual piece of assessment and will form the basis of the revision discussion. It is not to be done in collaboration with any other student.

A strict limit of 1500 words will be enforced

This is a component of your exam. It is NOT redeemable and no extensions will be granted.

DUE DATE: 2pm Friday 18 May 2018


Online Exam Part B 60% or 80%

There will be a final examination in the examination period scheduled by the University at the end of the semester. All students will be required to take this examination. You will note that when the exam schedule comes out, there is a two hour exam scheduled for this subject. This schedule simply provides the DATE for the exam. On that nominated day your exam will be made available to you at 9am (on MyUni). You will have 6 hours to complete the exam and submit it via Turnitin. There will be no extensions for this exam, where unforeseen circumstances intervene you will have to apply for a supplementary exam which will be scheduled during the supplementary period. Further information will be made available closer to the time.

All assignments must be submitted electronically via Turnitin. This means that all papers will be electronically checked for plagiarism. 
All papers are marked and returned electronically in this subject.

1. Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
2. When an assessment is submitted after the due date, and without an extension, 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc. Hard copy submissions made after 5.00pm on a Friday will be assumed to have been submitted on the next business day and will be penalised 5% per day for every day including weekend days and public holidays.
3. Online exam late penalty is 10% per hour late.

Word Length: Assignments which exceed the allocated length (word length or page limit) will be subject to a penalty of 5% of total marks possible per 100 words or part thereof (ie with a word limit of 3,000, an essay graded 63% will have 5% deducted if it is 3001 words long, for a final grade of 58%, 10% if it is 3101 words long, etc). Words are calculated including all footnotes and headings within the text but excluding cover page information. Quotations and all referencing information are included in the word count.

Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, or any postgraduate law program, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

• assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
• detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
• sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
• reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
• comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
• automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
• the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

Students are expected to demonstrate:

1. ability to identify the ratio decidendi of relevant cases and apply this to the facts of novel tortious issues
2. ability to work with the relevant statutory schemes that relevant to the facts of novel tortious issues
3. ability to distinguish one case from another in the context of applying case law to the facts of novel tortious issues
4. ability to identify the relevant factual issues involved in novel tortious scenarios
5. legal problem solving skills

Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, or any postgraduate law program, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program

Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our Facebook page, website and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support

The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.

Academic Honesty

Academic dishonesty is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Academic dishonesty is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic dishonesty (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.