Course Coordinator:Teddy Henriksen (thenriks@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces you to the law of civil wrongs, known by lawyers as torts. You will examine the history and purpose of this body of law, identifying the various interests it seeks to protect. In part A of the course you will consider the intentional torts. These protect people against unauthorised interference with their bodies, reputation, land, goods and economic interests. You will also examine the strict liability torts of nuisance and breach of statutory duty.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Online Learning Materials | 1.5hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On-Campus Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
| Introduction to Course and the Law of Torts |
| Interference with Person |
| Interference with Land |
| Interference with Goods |
| Interference with Economic Interests |
| Defamation |
| Private and Public Nuisance |
| Privacy |
200 Level (Developing)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of some of the elements of the major torts. | Knowledgeable |
| 2 | Identify legal issues, apply legal reasoning and reach arguable conclusions in response to a broad range of events that reflect real life scenarios. |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
| 3 | Demonstrate the research skills that are needed to provide effective legal advice. | Empowered |
| 4 | Demonstrate the skills of organisation and time management to complete problems within a set time. | Empowered |
| 5 | Demonstrate the ability to explain legal concepts and lead a discussion of peers | Engaged |
| 6 | Demonstrate effective communication skills | Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
LAW102
LAW101 and enrolled in AR391
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
In your tutorial in weeks 3-6, you will engage in activities that ask you to self-assess and reflect on your learning; and provide peer feedback on tutorial answers.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 10% | 20 Multiple Choice Questions, 60-minute time limit |
Week 4 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Written Piece | Individual | 25% | 1250 words maximum, no minimum word count |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Oral | Individual | 15% | 5 minute presentation |
Week 12 | Online Submission |
| All | 4 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 50% | 3 Hours |
Exam Period | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Case/readings quiz | |||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to assess your ability to find, read and comprehend a key torts case. The case will be made available in week 1. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | 20 multiple choice questions. The quiz will be made available on Canvas on Monday in Week 3. There is a 60-minute time limit. You can have only one attempt at the quiz. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Problem solving, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Legal Advice | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to assess your understanding of tort law and your ability to provide sound legal advice to a legal problem from a hypothetical factual scenario. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Written legal advice in response to a hypothetical scenario made available in week 5 of semester |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Oral Video-Recorded Feedback | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to assess your ability to reflect on your learning by addressing feedback provided to you on your task 2 assessment. |
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| Product: | Oral | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Recorded oral presentation uploaded into Canvas |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation |
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| All - Assessment Task 4:Invigilated Final Examination | ||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to assess your understanding and application of some of the principles of tort law and your ability to provide sound legal advice to hypothetical legal problems. |
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| Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | This is an individual assessment. This assessment task is an online, open-book and invigilated exam. You will be required to attend a live Zoom session throughout the duration of the exam and need access to a working computer, a stable internet connection, and a webcam. You may use any materials to construct an answer to unseen legal problems drawn from any part of the course. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Nichola Corbett-Jarvis and Brendan Grigg | 2020 | Effective Legal Writing | 3rd Edition | Lexis Nexis |
| Required | Joanna Kyriakakis et al | 2024 | Contemporary Australian Tort Law | 2 | Cambridge University Press |
Nil
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.