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The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
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LAW8500 Australian Commercial and Corporations Law

Semester 2, 2020 Online
Short Description: Aust Commercial & Corps Law
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Law and Justice
Student contribution band : Band 3
ASCED code : 090901 - Business and Commercial Law
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBZ or MBSI or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM or MPPM

Other requisites

Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at

Rationale

Given the complexity within which commercial transactions are conducted today, an appreciation of the legal system and its impact on commerce and trade is a sine qua non for business students. This is especially pertinent to accountants going for professional accreditations such as CPA.

Synopsis

This course is designed to provide students with general legal knowledge that covers the components of the Australian legal system, civil liability in contracts and in torts, and the theory of agency and trusts, with particular emphasis on Australian company law.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. demonstrate mastery of theoretical knowledge of the relevant law;
  2. apply legal principles and theories studies in the course, including the principles of precedent and statutory interpretation, and relevant statutes and case law, to factual business situations;
  3. utilise critical legal thinking skills to analyse legal issues arising from contracts, torts, trusts, agency, and inCorporations;
  4. defend legal analysis and conclusions in professional and academic settings;
  5. reflect critically on the theory and professional accounting practice as required by the relevant law.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Foundations of the legal system including sources of law, constitutional framework, and courts system. 10.00
2. Contract law including classical contract theory, breaches of contract and specialised commercial contracts 20.00
3. Principles of torts 10.00
4. Trusts 10.00
5. Agency theory 10.00
6. Corporations law including incorporation, governance, liability, membership, dividends and insolvency 40.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=LAW8500)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

James, Nickolas & Chapple, Ellie & Wong, Alex & Baumfield, Richard & Copp, Richard et al 2017, Business and company law, John Wiley & Sons.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Bender, M & Do, C, ‘How to pass business law’, CCH Australia Ltd, North Ryde, New South Wales.
(latest edition).
Crosling, GM & Murphy, HM, 'How to study business law: reading, writing and exams', LexisNexis Butterworths, Chatswood, New South Wales.
(latest edition).
Ipp, D & Weerasooria, WS (eds), 'Butterworths business and law dictionary', LexisNexis Butterworths, Sydney, New South Wales.
(latest edition).
Macken, CE, 'The law student survival guide: 9 steps to law study success', Thomson Reuters, Rozelle, New South Wales.
(latest edition).
Miles, C & Dowler, W, ‘A guide to business law’, Thompson Reuters, Pyrmont, New South Wales.
(latest edition).
Thampapillai, D, Bozzi, C, Tan, V & Matthew, AF, ‘Australian commercial law’, Cambridge ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, Port Melbourne, Victoria. (latest edition).

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 40.00
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 25.00
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 100.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
ASSIGNMENT 1 - PROBLEM-SOLVING 20 20 07 Aug 2020
ASSIGNMENT 2 - RESEARCH 30 30 09 Oct 2020
ONLINE EXAM 50 50 End S2 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. This will be an online exam. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via ¾«¶«´«Ã½appDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the Alternate Assessment Schedule has been released.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    Online: There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

    On-campus: It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

    Requirements after S2, 2020:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

    Requirements after S2, 2020:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the weighted marks available for that assessment item.

    Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.

    To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure (point 4.4.2).

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.

    Requirements after S2, 2020:
    This will be an open examination. Candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are: The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date.

    Requirements after S2, 2020:
    Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments:

    The Australian Guide to Legal Citation (AGLC) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use AGLC style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The AGLC style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at .

Date printed 6 November 2020