Skip to main content
Unit of study_

LAWS6357: The Statutory Foundations of Negligence

2023 unit information

This unit presents the major aspects of the law of negligence from the perspective of statute. While there is detailed coverage of the Civil Liability Act, the larger goal is to demonstrate that for at least a century, much of the law of negligence is a product of, or a reaction to statute. That is most obvious in areas such as contributory negligence, tortfeasor contribution and personal injury damages, although the true extent of the role of statute is greater than is often perceived. But statute is at the forefront of basic areas such as duty of care and causation, in important aspects of breach (notably, for professional negligence), in the availability of damages for psychiatric injury, as well as having been central to the immunities of highway authorities and other public authorities for many centuries. The unit will also facilitate a greater appreciation of the range of statutes and the different ways in which they interact with judge-made law.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Sydney Law School

Study level Postgraduate
Academic unit Law
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
None
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
None
Assumed knowledge:
? 
undergraduate law degree

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. demonstrate familiarity with the application of and ongoing interaction between statutes and judge-made law.
  • LO2. demonstrate a deeper understanding of the law of negligence and an appreciation of its historical development.
  • LO3. demonstrate an applied understanding of the principles of statutory interpretation and of the development of the law.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

There are no availabilities for this year.
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Intensive April - May 2021
Block mode Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Intensive January - February 2023
Block mode Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Find your current year census dates

Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.