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Sport and the Law - LAWS1812
 Landscape with Library

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 8
 
 
EFTSL: 0.16667 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 4
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: LAWS1001, LAWS1011; or LAWS1610; Corequisite: LAWS2311 or LAWS1010.
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
  

Description

Sport is a central part of modern Australian society and culture. Not surprisingly, as professionalism has become the norm, those involved with sport, be they players, managers, administrators and/or supporters, are increasingly looking to the law to protect their rights and/or resolve their problems. How and why has this happened? The course touches on a number of different areas of law such as administrative law, business associations, contracts, criminal law, discrimination, industrial relations, taxation, trade practices and torts. The aim is to draw upon specific issues from these various branches of the law and to place them in an historical and modern day context so as to give participants an understanding of the developing role the law is making in the world of sport as well as the policy and ethical issues facing those involved.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The key aims of the course are:
  • To draw upon specific issues from various branches of the law and to place them in an historical and modern day context in relation to the world of sport
  • To give students an understanding of the developing role the law is making in the world of sport
  • To consider the policy and ethical issues facing those involved in the regulation of modern sport
  • To have students engaged in practical and scholarly research
  • To develop effective oral and written communication skills in students both generally and in specific legal settings related to the world of sport

Main Topics

  • What is sport and when should the law intervene?
  • The Australian legal system and the development of a "Law of Sport"
  • Clubs, crowds, ideology, gender and race
  • Who owns the game?
  • The business: general protection issues
  • The individuals: restraint of trade; before the mercy of the court – preparing the plea
  • Liability and protection issues: defamation, discrimination and drugs
  • The international arena: national identity; the future
  • Theory in action

Assessment

Seminar presentation 30% (allocated during the course)
Debate 10% ((allocated during the course)
Plea in mitigation 10% (last day of the course)
Class participation 10% (awarded after the end of the course)
Research essay 40% (due 10.00am Tuesday 23 December
 

Course Texts

Prescribed

  • T.V. Hickie, A.T. Hughes, D. Healey and J.A. Scutt (eds), Essays in Sport and the Law, ASSH, Melbourne, 2008. (Available from your lecturer, or order online from www.sporthistory.org/orderform.html
  • Readings - Study Kit: A Study Kit of readings for the course (in three volumes) will be available for purchase from the UNSW Bookshop.

Supplementary Texts
Supplementary Texts in Law Reserve (UNSW Law Library):
R. Cashman, Paradise of Sport: The Rise of Organised Sport in Australia OUP, Melbourne, 1995. Reprinted 1998, 2000 (Walla Walla Press). ISBN 0 19 553298 8
D. Healey, Sport and the Law, 3rd edn, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2005
G.M. Kelly, Sport and the Law, Law Book Company, Sydney, 1987. Call no: L/KN186.6/k1/1 (Although somewhat dated, this should assist as a starting point for many of the topics.)

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.