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Equity and Trusts - LAWS2385

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 5

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: LAWS1075 or JURD7175 Pre-requisite: LAWS1072 or JURD7172

Excluded: JURD7281, JURD7285, LAWS2381

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course introduces students to the doctrines of equity and the law of trusts. It traces the historical development of equity and its relationship with common law. Students will critically consider the appropriate application of a range of equitable doctrines to particular scenarios and the availability of different remedies. Students will also be introduced to the law of trusts and, in particular, the nature of a trust, legal requirements in establishing a trust as well as the rights, duties and powers associated with trusts. The course assumes familiarity with equitable doctrines taught in Principles of Private Law and Contracts (alternatively Contracts 1 and 2), for instance promissory estoppel, undue influence, unconscionability. For students who have not completed Principles of Private Law, the course will include a transitional module on personal property to introduce subject matter that was previously taught in Property, Equity and Trusts and will in future be taught in Principles of Private Law. This is an important pre-requisite for learning about trusts, which involve property.

This course is one of the core subjects for law and will normally be taken after completion of Contracts. It fits within the private law stream, which includes such subjects as Torts, Contracts and Land Law. It provides a good grounding for further studies in this area.

In addition, the course will incorporate on-line and classroom tutorials that teach students how to refine their skills in retrieving legal research, working through complex legal research problems and writing up research in professional contexts.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

Basic understanding of personal property and contracts and an understanding of the structure of the Australian court system

Course Aims

This course introduces students to the doctrines of equity and the law of trusts. It traces the historical development of equity and its relationship with common law. Students will critically consider the appropriate application of a range of equitable doctrines to particular scenarios and the availability of different remedies. Students will also be introduced to the law of trusts and, in particular, the nature of a trust, legal requirements in establishing a trust as well as the rights, duties and powers associated with trusts. Students will develop efficient strategies for research and writing.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

Demonstrate awareness of principles of equity and trusts and their relationship to the broader context;
Identify important equitable doctrines and remedies and apply them to hypothetical fact scenarios;
Engage in critical analysis of the role played by equity in the legal system;
Apply knowledge of trust law to critique and suggest improvements to clauses in a trust deed;
Demonstrate effective oral communication skills by discussing and debating course concepts in a scholarly, reflective and respectful manner;
Work as a member of a team in contributing to class discussion and completing a group assessment task;
Demonstrate effective written communication skills by articulating and applying legal concepts clearly, persuasively and appropriately.
Retrieve legal research, work through complex legal research problems and write up research in a variety of professional contexts.

Main Topics

This course introduces students to the doctrines of equity and the law of trusts. It traces the historical development of equity and its relationship with common law. Students will critically consider the appropriate application of a range of equitable doctrines to particular scenarios and the availability of different remedies. Students will also be introduced to the law of trusts and, in particular, the nature of a trust, legal requirements in establishing a trust as well as the rights, duties and powers associated with trusts. Students will develop efficient strategies for research and writing.

Convenors

Session 1 2014

Simone Degeling (simone.degeling@unsw.edu.au)

Session 2 2014

Lyria Bennett Moses (lyria@unsw.edu.au)

Legal Research and Writing components

Alana Maurushat (a.maurushat@unsw.edu.au)

Assessment