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Corporate Law and Regulation - LAWS3089
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Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 8
 
 
EFTSL: 0.16667 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9220 or 5750
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

Corporate law, the main object of inquiry in this course, has undergone significant changes over the last few years and further change is contemplated, influenced in part by some of the high profile corporate collapses in Australian and also in the United States - in Australia, HIH, OneTel and Ansett, in particular, and in the US, WorldCom and Enron. Who should have responsibility for corporations and their actions; whose interests should be considered and protected; what is the role of shareholders within the corporation; and who should be held accountable for these collapses? These are all corporate law questions.

Corporate law, of course, is not just about business. For better or worse, the influence of corporate law is finding its way through to other areas of law and public life. Consider, for example, the current debate about the "corporatisation" of universities; or the exclusion in 2002 (until its re-admittance) of the Rabbitohs (South Sydney) from NRL competition for inadequate club "management" practices. Corporate law, therefore, has immediate relevance to broader social and public policy issues.


Credited Programs

Legal Studies students only.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

One objective of the course is to make you an effective corporate law problem-solver. This skill embodies a number of components:
  • Identifying who the human stakeholders are and how their interests might interact and conflict in any given problem
  • Navigating and interpreting the legal texts - both statutory and judicial - that regulate the rights and liabilities of the stakeholders
  • Determining the policy context(s) within which these legal texts function
  • Evaluating the extent to which these policy contexts provide a meaningful, coherent or suitable environment for regulating the interests and expectations of stakeholders

Main Topics

This course comprises of an introduction and five themes:
  • Corporate existence
  • Corporate decision making
  • Corporate personality
  • Corporate governance
  • Corporate finance

Assessment

Class participation Preparation and engagement in class 15%
Research essay 3,000 words 35%
Final exam Open book, 3 hours 50%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed

  • A copy of the Corporations Act which is available in the following format: Butterworths Australian Corporations Legislation. Please ensure that you have the 2006 edition.
  • A supplementary set of Reading Materials is also prescribed for the course. The Reading Materials are divided into two volumes and will be available at the first class. The Reading Materials include overviews for each class, a guide to the required reading and additional learning resources. You should bring these to each session.

Recommended
Phillip Lipton and Abe Herzberg, Understanding Company Law (Lawbook Co, 11th ed, 2002)

Resources

  • H A J Ford and R P Austin, Ford's Principles of Corporations Law (Butterworths, 11th ed, 2003)
  • S Woodward, H Bird and S Sievers, Corporations Law in Principle (Lawbook Co, 5th ed, 2001)
  • R Tomasic, J Jackson and R Woellner, Corporations Law: Principles, Policy and Process (Butterworths, 4th ed, 2002)
  • R Tomasic, S Bottomley and R McQueen, Corporations Law in Australia (The Federation Press, 2nd ed, 2002)
  • P Hanrahan, I Ramsay and G Stapledon, Commercial Applications of Company Law (CCH, 3rd ed, 2002)

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© 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.