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Course

Unfair Contracts - LAWS3173

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Kensington Campus

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Prerequisite: Contracts (LAWS1075/JURD7175) OR Contracts 2 (JURD7172/LAWS1072). Co-requisite: Resolving Civil Disputes (LAWS2371/JURD7271) OR Litigation 1 (JURD7211/LAWS2311).

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

The many legal and practical issues which arise from unfair contracts, while relevant and real, have often not been dealt with as a subject on its own partly due to the traditional approach to contract law. However with increasing emphasis on a more modern social justice and welfarism approach to contract law and in the light of consumer law developments locally and internationally, an understanding of the main concerns arising from contractual unfairness, judicial attitudes towards it and statutory regulatory frameworks to control unfair contracts is important. The course will cover the law and developments in Australia and significant international regimes (US, EU, UK) as well as a comparative overview in selected Asian jurisdictions. It will also include the practical aspects of its application on commercial and consumer transactions and potential litigation.

Course Objectives

  • To ensure that students gain a sound understanding of the main concerns arising from contractual unfairness, the general law (common law and equity) and statutory control of unfair contracts and its associated remedies.
  • To stimulate students to examine the law of contract in a social justice context. This involves comparing the economic and social conditions in which principles of contractual fairness were developed in the light of contractual interests protected in both theory and practice; and observing changes in the social function performed by the law of contract over time. Students should develop wider perspectives on existing legal doctrines.
  • To enable students to make a comparative study of unfair contracts in different jurisdictions, which includes civil law and common law notions of contractual fairness.

Assessment

  1. Seminar paper - 40%
  2. Final exam - 50%
  3. Class participation - 10%
Basser Steps

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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