Glossary

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Family Law - LAWS3391

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:

Pre-requisite: Crime & Criminal Process (LAWS1021/JURD7121) & Criminal Laws (LAWS1022/JURD7122) OR Crim. Law 1 (LAWS1001/JURD7101) & Crim. Law 2 (LAWS1011/JURD7111). Co-requisite: Litigation 1 [LAWS2311/ JURD7211] OR Res. Civil Disp. (LAWS2371/JURD7271)

Excluded: JURD7491

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

Family Law deals primarily with the legal principles, processes and institutions applicable to different types of domestic relationships, especially those arising from marriage and various forms of unmarried cohabitation (heterosexual and same-sex), and those arising between parents and children. The course will be especially relevant to students with an interest in the legal regulation of family relationships, including issues arising from sex and gender and notions of children’s rights, and to students who wish to qualify themselves for general legal practice (especially in suburban and country firms) or for specialised family law practice.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

As a result of activity at both the federal and state levels in recent years, the volume of family law legislation and case law has grown dramatically, both in the central area of the regulation of domestic relationships and the resolution of disputes arising from relationship breakdown, and also in relation to the links between family law and other areas of law dealing with child welfare, bankruptcy, corporations, trusts and superannuation, and succession and family provision. For this reason, the Family Law course is presented as an introductory "overview" type of course, rather than one which purports to provide extremely detailed coverage of each relevant topic. The main objectives are:

To give a thorough outline of the fundamental principles, processes and institutions involved in federal and state family law
To develop a critical perspective on the operation and interaction of the various areas of family law, with an awareness of the social and economic context in which family law operates
To emphasise the relevance of empirical, historical and comparative material (both legal and non-legal) to the analysis and understanding of family law issues
To develop skills necessary for the formulation of legal advice and argument in family law situations, as well as the provision of practical advice designed to encourage the peaceful resolution of family law disputes
To develop a sense of the ethical issues, both professional and otherwise, which arise in the family law context

Main Topics

Perspectives on 'family', historical background, and constitutional aspects
Marriage and other domestic relationships
Divorce
Financial aspects
Parents and children
Process in family law
Domestic violence
Status of children

Assessment

Class participation (0-20%, optional and maximisable); and
2 exams (50% each); or
1 exam and research essay (50% each)

Note on assessment in Summer Semester:
Class Participation (0-20%, optional and maximisable)
1 casenote (25%)
1 exam (75%)

Course Texts

Prescribed
There is no prescribed text book for the course. Instead, students will be required to obtain the following volumes of materials from the University Bookshop:

Introductory Perspectives, Historical Background, Constitutional Aspects, Marriage and Divorce
Financial Adjustment (Spousal Maintenance, Property Adjustment, Financial Agreements, Non-Marital Relationships, Comment and Reform)
Parents and Children, Process, Domestic Violence, Status of Children

In addition, it is important that each student have an up-to-date copy of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), including amendments which came into force on 1 March 2009.

Recommended
Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.

Order from UNSW Bookshop

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer.