Postgraduate coursework

LAWS6889 - Death Law

Objectives

Examine the new and urgent challenges for legal understandings about the timing of, and criminal responsibility for causing, death both within and outside medical settings.
Interrogate these and other contemporary challenges for the law relating to death and dying both within Australia and, where appropriate, other selected comparator jurisdictions (US, UK and Canada).
Examine socio-historical understandings of the changing meaning of death, dying and serious disability in Western societies, and reflect on the broader legal implications of these developments.

Content

Death in contemporary Australia; the legal definition of life and death; medical futility and the concept of `lives not worth living'; euthanasia (with and without request); physician-assisted suicide; refusing and withholding life-prolonging treatment in adults and children; the Shipman/Patel scandals; ownership of the corpse and body parts; dead donor organ transplantation; organ sale and theft; posthumous reproduction; `mercy' killing outside medical settings; the jurisdiction of the Coroner.

Session

Semester 1 Intensive
5-6 & 26, 27 April 2013

The timetable is subject to frequent changes. Please refer to the latest version of the Postgraduate Timetable.

Assessment

1 x Class Presentation (10%)
1 x 2,000 Word Essay (30%)
Take-Home Exam (60%)

Legal Professional Development (LPD)

You can credit this unit towards Legal Professional Development (LPD). Units of study that are part of Sydney Law School’s Postgraduate Program meet the necessary Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) of the Law Society of New South Wales and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of the New South Wales Bar Association. You may complete this unit of study by enrolling on a non-degree basis or on an audit basis only with no assessment via Single Unit Enrolment.

Courses this unit is available in

The University of Sydney - Sydney Law School