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Unit of study_
LAWS6991: Fundamentals of Contract Law
2025 unit information
Learn how contracts operate as risk management tools by examining the legal principles arising in the formation, construction and discharge of contracts. This unit will provide students with an understanding of remedies available for breach of contract and factors that may vitiate a contract. The unit prepares students for a range of units* across law specialist areas in commercial law, corporate, securities and finance law and international business law where a basic understanding of contractual law principles is valuable. Unit content includes: contract as a risk management device; formation of contracts: agreement, consideration, intention to create legal relations, certainty, privity, formalities; construction principles: contractual parties, contractual terms (express and implied), classifying terms, principles of interpretation; estoppel; vitiating factors: misrepresentation, misleading and deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct, mistake, duress; discharge: performance, breach, termination and frustration; remedies: key statutory and common law remedies. * excluding the following advanced contract law units available to law graduates only: LAWS6809 Breach of Contract, LAWS6872 Contract Negotiation, LAWS6851 Construction Law, LAWS6915 Current Issues in Defamation Law, LAWS6954 Financial Risk Allocation in Equity, LAWS6903 Interpreting Commercial Contracts, LAWS6969 Principles of Patent Law, LAWS6919 Problems in Contract Formation and units as listed in the University of Sydney Law School Handbook. This unit is only available to non-law graduates who have not undertaken any previous study in contract law. Students must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in LAWS6252 Legal Reasoning and the Common Law System before undertaking this unit. Students who have previously completed a law degree or studies in contract law from a common law jurisdiction must not enrol in this unit but are encouraged to enrol in LAWS6328 Contract Management. MLLR students who commenced after Jan 2015 may enrol in this elective unit of study. Refer to the Sydney Law School timetable - https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-lecture-timetable
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Law School
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Law |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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None |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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LAWS6252 |
| Prohibitions:
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LAWS1002 or LAWS1015 or LAWS2008 or LAWS5002 or students who have undertaken the equivalent of contract law in Australia or a common law jurisdiction |
| Assumed knowledge:
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This unit is designed for students who have not previously studied contract law in Australia or any common law jurisdiction. Those who have completed LAWS6991 or equivalent units are advised to enrol in LAWS6328 Contract Management instead |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. identify and analyse the fundamental principles of contract law.
- LO2. articulate the fundamental principles of contract law using logically structured legal arguments and communicate these to diverse audiences
- LO3. synthesize legal principles to devise solutions for complex problems in contract law.
- LO4. apply the conventions of legal writing to develop sound written arguments including citation using the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th Edition).
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.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Intensive March - April 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney | |
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Semester 2a 2025
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Block mode | Camperdown / Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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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.
