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Consumer Contracts and Product Defects

LAWS6227

This unit examines some recent developments granting special legal protection to consumers. The unit is concerned with aspects of the liability of suppliers of goods and services to consumers, sometimes called 'post-sale' consumer protection. An assessment will be made of the effectiveness of recent legislation in this field, and there will be considerable comparative analysis referring especially to relevant European Community directives, related developments in the Asia-Pacific (eg Japan), and some trends in the US. The topics to be covered are: Introduction (the 'consumer' concept and some policy factors leading to consumer protection developments); Outline of terms implied in contracts for the supply of goods and services to consumers; Judicial and legislative control of exclusion clauses; Unconscionable and unfair contracts (control under the general law and by statute); The liability of manufacturers for defective products under: the general law; statutory liability of manufacturers to consumers and strict products liability (under the Australian Consumer Law, with special reference to the similar EC directive on products liability); Product safety regulation (also with reference to the EC directive on general consumer product safety); Consumer access to redress (especially class actions).

Unit of study details

Unit of study level: Postgraduate

Credit points: 6

Commencing semesters: 110

Further unit of study information

Unit of study handbook: LAWS6227

Costs and scholarships information: Costs and Scholarships

Final dates to withdraw from units of study: Census Dates

Available for study abroad and exchange: No

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