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
Academic unit | Law |
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Credit points | 6 |
Prerequisites
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None |
Corequisites
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None |
Prohibitions
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None |
Assumed knowledge
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undergraduate law degree |
Available to study abroad and exchange students | No |
Teaching staff
Coordinator | Barbara McDonald, barbara.mcdonald@sydney.edu.au |
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Lecturer(s) | Barbara McDonald, barbara.mcdonald@sydney.edu.au |
Mark Leeming, mleeming@mcs.usyd.edu.au |